THE NHS in Scotland has been busy promoting an important message – get checked early.

As part of the Detect Cancer Early campaign – which was formally launched by the cabinet secretary in 2012 – health services have been urging people to get checked, highlighting that the earlier cancer is caught, the easier it is to treat.

The programme aims to improve survival rates and three key areas of focus have been bowel, lung and breast cancer, with the second phase of the bowel cancer campaign launched by the Scottish Government in October of this year.

NHS Forth Valley is echoing the call for more people to take advantage of the screening kit that arrives in the post every two years for those aged 50-74.

Linnet McGeever, lead colorectal clinical nurse specialist at Forth Valley Royal Hospital, said: “I would encourage everyone in Forth Valley who receives a bowel cancer test kit to take the test and return it as soon as possible. Even if you haven’t any symptoms it’s important to get checked as the test can detect the early signs of cancer and if the disease is identified at an earlier stage it is far easier to treat.” Stage two in the campaign aims to encourage more Scots to take part in this life saving, national screening programme.

It has been accompanied by a television advert which explains that, when caught early enough, nine out of ten people beat bowel cancer and ‘The Poo Song’ has also been circulated, a film suggesting people tell their relatives to take the test.

For more information on the campaign visit the website www.getcheckedearly.org CASE STUDY: n MARGARET Smith credits the bowel cancer screening kit with saving her life.

When it dropped through the letterbox of her Clackmannan home five years ago, she really didn’t think there was any need to complete it.

She said: “I was sent one of the bowel cancer testing kits and I thought, ‘Oh, horrible, horrible, I’m not doing this. This is rubbish and there’s nothing wrong anyway, so I’m not going to do it’. But I plucked up the courage and I decided come on, yes, it’s for a reason.

“So I sent it away and within a couple of days I got a letter back saying that they’d found blood in my samples and I had to go for a colonoscopy and I thought, ‘This is not real’.” Margaret soon became glad she had sent the test away as it led to a diagnosis of bowel cancer.

Having had no health problems indicating anything untoward, the news came as a shock.

She explained: “There was no sign of anything wrong, I didn’t feel anything wrong and I just was stunned to be honest with you. Apart from being told you’ve got cancer, which is a stunner, I hit a brick wall.

“I think I was flying for a while because nobody knows what it’s like to be told you’ve got cancer, unless they’ve been told themselves.” She was booked into Stirling Royal Infirmary for surgery, underwent six months of chemotherapy, had a six monthly appointment with the surgeon and the oncology department and was under observation for five years.

Now, she is sharing her story in the hope that it will encourage others to take the test.

The 70-year-old said: “If I hadn’t gone through all that, I wouldn’t be here, and that’s a fact.

“I would say to people, look, forget your inhibitions, do it. Do it for peace of mind, that when you get the letter back that says you’re clear, you can breath a big sigh of relief, and you’re not putting your life in danger.

“Go for it, please go for it. As I say, if I hadn’t done it I wouldn’t be here.” Margaret – who had a great support network in her late husband Peter, daughter and son-in-law, Gill and Chris Nelson, and received over 120 ‘get well’ cards – has now been discharged.

Reaching the five year mark was a relief and she wants others to put their health first.

She said: “Don’t be silly, don’t listen to your inhibitions. Go for it, do it, save your life. I saved mine and that’s a certainty.” Margaret is happy to be a non-professional, friendly ear to anyone who is going through something similar, or is wary of doing the bowel cancer screening test. Contact the Advertiser to get in touch.