Greg’s story

In January 2024 I was diagnosed with Stage 3 bowel cancer, after experiencing minimal symptoms.

In early December 2023, and a couple of days after a short bout of diarrhoea and upset tummy that I thought was related to food poisoning, I noticed some small spots of blood in my stool.

I was off to the GP immediately, and although it was considered ‘probably nothing to worry about’ she referred me to a specialist just in case. I managed to see the specialist just before Christmas and we booked a colonoscopy for when we returned from overseas in January.

My symptoms were getting worse over Christmas and the New Year, with a frequent feeling of needing to poo, more blood and some stomach pains on two occasions.

January 23rd, 2024 kicked off my side hustle for the year, fighting bowel cancer. With an approximately 6cm tumour eating its way through my lower-anterior bowel, I was referred to a surgeon and in less than 2 weeks I’d had a lower-anterior bowel resection to have the tumour removed and a temporary stoma.

There was lymph node involvement but thankfully only about 50% of the lymph nodes removed showed involvement. The cancer had not yet spread to any other organs.

My year has involved a number of surgeries, 9 months with a stoma, 6 months of chemo, countless blood tests and scans, and a lot of time off work. I am in the period following treatment now, but still finding my way back to health and wellbeing.

Through it all, Bowel Cancer Australia has provided me with support and guidance.

A Bowel Care Nutritionist and a Bowel Cancer Nurse have contacted me regularly to discuss my experiences and help me manage the difficulties the year has brought with it.

I could not be more grateful for how they have helped me and will fundraise each year from here on out so that someone else can receive the same support I did.