If you live in the Macarthur area and have been diagnosed with bowel cancer, support is available.
The Macarthur Bowel Cancer Support Group meets each month, providing friendship, informed discussions and engaging guest speakers to talk on topics such as diet and exercise, meditation and relaxation.
The next meeting will be from 7pm on Monday, August 7 in the Wests Leagues Club Acacia/Eucalyptus Room.
For further details or to RSVP please call Bobbie on 0477 741 569 during office hours or email Roberta.Elston@sswahs.nsw.gov.au.
New figures from the Cancer Institute NSW show that by the end of 2021 a further 3,200 people in South West Sydney will be diagnosed with bowel cancer and 1,040 will lose their life to the disease.
However, experts say it is possible to change these figures through a very simple test.
The National Bowel Cancer Screening Program sends a bowel cancer screening kit to all Australians 50 to 74 on a regular basis.
This kit, which can be done in a person’s home, can detect potential warning signs of bowel cancer at a very early stage, before symptoms develop.
South Western Sydney Local Health District [SWSLHD] cancer services director Geoff Delaney said bowel cancer was the second most common cancer in the district and the second most common cause of cancer deaths.
“Early detection of bowel cancer is critical, if discovered early, the survival rate is relatively high,” Professor Delaney said.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”] “I always explain to my patients that if bowel cancer is caught early enough, it is extremely treatable which is why screening is so important,” he said.[/social_quote]
The National Bowel Cancer Screening Program is a free service which mails screening kits to people aged 50 to 74 years. For more information and to check your eligibility, visit cancerscreening.gov.au or call 1800 118 868.
