Ben - aged 28

Bowelscan

Bowel cancer can strike at any age. It is most common in people over 50, but that statistic doesn't mean much to me, because I have it and I am 28.

Bowel cancers often start as polyps

Polyps take years and years to turn into cancers.

Studies show that bowel cancers in young people are normally diagnosed at a later stage (a more serious cancer) compared to older people. The main reason: old people are checked for bowel cancer even if they have no syptoms, young people are not.

If you live in Queensland, you can order a $12.95 kit online from Bowelscan Queensland and have yourself tested until April 30. You have to drop the test off at a pathology centre and the results will tell you if you have a polyp and maybe cancer. People in other states can order the test at different times throughout the year.

Nice bum

Bowelscan Queensland is also holding an event in Brisbane to set a record for the most number of people in a public space in their underwear. I can't be there because I will be busy having my bum zapped by radiation. Here I am in spirit:



Ben, aged 28: bowel cancer



Local terror, distant bliss

PET results are back.

The last test in the Trio did not pick up any distant disease. The CT, MRI and PET are all in agreement that it appears, for now, I don't have any other tumours calling my body home.

The game changes when you go from having no tumour to having your first tumour. That's a big jump from healthy to diseased. Having distant disease (secondary tumours) changes the game again. I imagine the jump from diseased to more diseased is as scary as the first jump. For now I only need to focus on combating the one tumour.

Collective phew.

One problem at a time is just that much easier to handle

88 fear

Eight is pronounced 'ba' in Chinese. The Chinese web community puts two of these together to produce the equivalent of 'bye bye'.

Bye bye fear.

It happened four days ago but I can't remember when exactly. I am also unaware of the why or how. My fear just packed its things and left. The anxiety and worry about my mortality that had been residing in my belly (dangerously close to my sigmoid) decided to leave too.

I feel calm about my cancer now. And I feel informed, in control and supported.

Naked on a table

Because my greedy tumour is big and invading other tissues I need preoperative chemoradiation therapy before surgery. Radiation is a very serious therapy because getting it right maximises the dose given to the tumour and minimises the dose inflicted upon currently healthy bits of me.

You can't have body image issues when you have cancer. Luckily for me I don't. In the last week I have had my genitals examined and a finger up my bot bot and yesterday I was naked on a table while four people counted my vertebrae, felt my tail bone and drew lines down the crack of my bum.

Finding the right position

The purpose of this session was to find out the best position for me to lie in while radiation enters my body. The radiation will later be fired at me from three directions.

Using a felt pen the technicians drew lines and cross hairs on my body. These aligned with a laser light system that will later guide the direction and angle of the radiation. I need to have the radiation in exactly the same spot each time. Because of that I ended up with four tattoos.

I never thought I would have a tattoo

The tattoos are four dots that line up perfectly with the laser light system that will later guide the beams of radiation. The tattoos are permanent.

If I was fair skinned I would have been more worried about them. But my four tattoos blend in perfectly with the other 254 dots that cover my body (yes, I counted my moles one day).

This is me.

Tip me

I have cancer in a part of my body that digests food and diet is known to play a large role in the development of cancer.

So I have made some changes to my diet and lifestyle, if you have any further tips I would love to hear them  (commenting below means everyone can learn from you).

Changes Ben has made since being diagnosed with cancer:

• Breakfast: Bran, puffed millet, puffed rice, psyllium husk, ground flax seed, bee pollen + soy milk.
• I juice twice a day. Each juice has green tea leaves, turmeric, black pepper, garlic and bee pollen as its base. Ingredients are a mix of beetroot, tomato, cucumber, celery, carrot, zucchini, apple, lemon, lime, orange, strawberry, broccoli, pineapple.
• Two bowls of mixed berries per day.
• I swim 1.5 km per day and run for a minimum of 30 minutes.
• I aim for two meditations (30 min each) per day. 
• No dairy products, no meat products.
• No fats except olive oil and flax seed oil.
• Green and rooibos tea all day.
• Two glasses of pomegranate juice per day (thanks Rach).
• I read through a series of affirmations when I remember to (thanks Sana).
• I use a non-BPA and non-leaching drink/tea bottle.
• I don't warm things up in the microwave in plastic containers.
• Refined sugar intake is limited to three squares of 70% cocoa chocolate per day, I usually eat this alongside 100 ml of red wine.