Winter News 2013 - Beating Bowel Cancer
Winter News 2013 - Beating Bowel Cancer
Winter News 2013 - Beating Bowel Cancer
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<strong>Bowel</strong> <strong>Cancer</strong> Voice<br />
Jacquie’s story<br />
Our <strong>Bowel</strong> <strong>Cancer</strong><br />
Voices are a network<br />
of people affected by<br />
bowel cancer and their<br />
relatives who are happy<br />
to share their story to<br />
support others. Some<br />
of our <strong>Bowel</strong> <strong>Cancer</strong><br />
Voices donate their<br />
time for patient-topatient<br />
support, where<br />
they talk to other<br />
people about their<br />
experience of bowel<br />
cancer and support<br />
them through their<br />
treatment. One of these<br />
is Jacquie Fraser, 62,<br />
who is a retired nurse.<br />
It was during Jacquie’s<br />
work at a hospice<br />
20 years ago that she<br />
became interested in the<br />
psychological effects of<br />
a cancer diagnosis and<br />
retrained as a counsellor.<br />
Jacquie was 57 years old<br />
when she experienced<br />
a small amount of rectal<br />
bleeding for 3 weeks,<br />
which she thought was<br />
piles. Her GP did an<br />
examination and referred<br />
her urgently to a colorectal<br />
surgeon.<br />
Jacquie was<br />
subsequently diagnosed<br />
with Stage 3 bowel cancer<br />
and had radiotherapy and<br />
chemotherapy followed by<br />
surgery. A small tumour on<br />
her liver was successfully<br />
treated by radio frequency<br />
ablation. “I have worked<br />
all my life with people<br />
who have life-threatening<br />
conditions, but I was still<br />
shaken to my very core”,<br />
says Jacquie, who is now<br />
free of cancer but has six<br />
monthly reviews.<br />
During her treatment,<br />
Jacquie called our Nurse<br />
Advisors for support.<br />
“I found them enormously<br />
helpful and once I was<br />
well I was very keen to<br />
give something back to<br />
the charity, so I offered<br />
to support other patients. I<br />
was sent some very helpful<br />
guidelines which gave me<br />
the confidence to pick up<br />
the phone and call my first<br />
contact. Marion* was a<br />
bowel cancer patient who<br />
had also suffered from<br />
long term depression.<br />
I think I helped Marion,<br />
because I am a couple<br />
of years further on in<br />
my treatment and could<br />
reassure her that, while a<br />
cancer diagnosis changes<br />
you forever, after time you<br />
don’t wake up every single<br />
day feeling so raw.”<br />
If you would like<br />
to talk to another patient<br />
or carer, please get in<br />
touch with our Nurse<br />
Advisors: nurse@<br />
beatingbowelcancer.org<br />
or call 08450 719301.<br />
*Name has been changed<br />
4 www.beatingbowelcancer.org
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