Cancer Council Victoria warns of drop in bowel screening rates

Laurie’s negative bowel cancer test put his mind at rest — until he was tempted to toss out the follow-up screening.

It has been a year to remember for Laurie Cronin.

He marked his 30th wedding anniversary before watching his daughter graduate with a teaching degree and then took a road trip before his son moved to London for work.

Each moment was savoured because the advertising creative director so easily may not have been here to enjoy it.

When Mr Cronin turned 50, like thousands of eligible Australians he was gifted a bowel cancer screening kit as part of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program.

He did the test and got a negative result. Job done.

Advertising director Laurie Cronin is the new face of a campaign by Cancer Council Victoria with the Victorian Health Department. Picture: Supplied

Two years later when he received another kit, a standard follo- up for the program, it sat in the bathroom “for weeks”.

“I had the bin open ready to toss it out,” Mr Cronin said. “I thought the last one was OK, so I probably didn’t need to do it again.”

He said in a “sliding door moment” his wife Christine, a nurse, was walking by and stopped him: a simple action that saved his life.

Mr Cronin did the test, but this time the results identified an abnormality and he booked in for a colonoscopy.

Two small polyps were discovered, but were too close to an artery to be safely remove so they were biopsied first.

Mr Cronin got the results two weeks later, but all he really remembers was the doctor saying: “you have bowel cancer”.

He was triaged by a specialist colorectal surgeon and three days later had surgery that successfully removed all the cancer.

“That’s the things about bowel cancer, 90 per cent can be treated if you get it early,” Mr Cronin said.

Laurie with wife Christine, daughter Izzy and dog Ted. Picture: Supplied

What came as a shock was to be told that as the cancer was so close to the artery it could have got into his blood stream.

“The surgeon said if I had left it another few months, he wouldn’t have been able to save me,” Mr Cronin said.

Now cancer free, Mr Cronin is the face of a new awareness campaign launched today by Cancer Council Victoria in partnership with the Victorian Health Department.

It will encourage all Victorians aged 50-74 to do their bowel screening test when they receive it.

The campaign is in response to concerning statistics that show many eligible Victorians are not doing the test, a trend replicated nationally.

Cancer Council Victoria recently found those aged 50 to 69 years thought as they didn’t have symptoms they would not get bowel cancer so they were not in a rush to do the simple test.

Face of the bowel cancer screening campaign Laurie Cronin with wife Christine (standing) and daughter Izzy and dog Ted. Picture: Supplied

Chief executive Todd Harper said while 70 per cent knew it was a common cancer and that bowel cancer could be successfully treated if found early, many eligible Victorians thought it wouldn’t happen to them.

Mr Harper said there was also a misconception that if people had a negative result on a previous test, there was no need to do follow-up tests every two years.

From today Cancer Council Victoria has a mobile van going to the five local government areas where there are low screening rates to provide information. These are Melbourne, Port Phillip, Greater Dandenong, Stonnington and Casey.

“Bowel cancer is more common as we get older and can affect anyone,” Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas said. “I hope Victorians who see this campaign and hear Laurie’s story, will be inspired to do their bowel screening test and not to risk their health.”

For Mr Cronin, he says he now looks back on everything he has been able to do because he did the test. “It saved my life.”

To learn more about bowel screening or to reorder a replacement test kit, head to cancervic.org.au/bowel