BLOOD IN THE TOILET BOWL: DON’T EVEN THINK YOU CAN IGNORE IT
Blood in the toilet water can make any man nervous. Some men are so shocked the first time they see it that they block it out and tell no-one. They pretend it was never there, and the next time they use their bowels, they try not to look.
This is the worst thing to do. If their private catastrophic imaginings are accurate and they do have bowel cancer, delaying treatment is a bad move. If their imaginings are inaccurate and they have something relatively trivial, such as a bleeding haemorrhoid or a small tear, prompt diagnosis can prevent much unnecessary anxiety. Living with a secret fear of cancer saps emotional energy. It can leave a man feeling drained.
There are three positive things that men who are bleeding rectally should know. The first is that rectal bleeding arises far more frequently from benign lesions than from cancer. Instead of this being a good reason to ignore the blood, it should spur them to see a doctor, because if they do have a malignancy, bleeding is a symptom of early rather than late bowel cancer.
Early detection may catch this cancer while it is still in the bowel wall, before it has had time to spread.
The second thing men should know is that their chance of surviving bowel cancer today is much greater than it was 20 years ago. With better treatment, survival rates have gone up by more than 30 per cent.
Third, they should know that these days bowel-saving techniques have improved so much that they are far less likely to end up wearing a colostomy bag.
Australia has one of the highest incidences of bowel cancer in the world, and it is generally true that the older men get, the more susceptible they become. Conventional medical advice is that any man over 40 who develops rectal bleeding as a new symptom should see a doctor. Even if there is only a small amount of fresh, bright blood, indicating that it may not be serious, medical attention should be sought.
When T.R. noticed rectal bleeding at the age of 56, he thought it was his haemorrhoids and decided he would cope with the problem alone.
‘As an ex-navy man I felt that anything to do with the backside-was taboo. I didn’t want to see a doctor because I didn’t want him poking around in my backside. It would have been an affront to my masculinity.
‘The bleeding didn’t affect my life much. When I used to clean up after my morning George, I would see enough to be aware there was fresh blood, but 1 didn’t give it much thought until the next morning. Although, I must say, I did have an indefinable feeling that all was not well.’
After a year of self-management, his uncomfortable problem became painful enough for him to seek medical help. It quickly became apparent that he had a rectal tumour, and within 4 days he was on the operating table having his rectum removed.
That was 20 years ago, and today, at the age of 76, T.R. is in excellent health and wants other men to know they shouldn’t waste time.
‘If you have an indication that things are not as they should be, get it attended to quick smart.’
Bowel cancer includes cancer of the colon, rectum and anus. It is also known as colorectal cancer. Unlike many other’private’ cancers, it is still a taboo subject. While breast, cervical and prostate cancer are frankly discussed, there is a reluctance to talk about bowel cancer. But it is the third-biggest cause of cancer death in Australian men, and its incidence is increasing.
On average, men are more likely than women to get bowel cancer. In a lifetime of 75 years, one in 18 men will develop this cancer. For women, the incidence is one in 28.
The good news is that there has been a move away from the traditional Australian diet heavy in meat and fat towards a diet including more fibre and cereals, and an improvement in survival rates for people with bowel cancer.
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