Cancer diagnosis trigger for action

Two brave young Bunbury women are using their personal battles with bowel cancer to encourage others to get checked during Rotary Bowelscan Month.

At just 28, mother-of-two Aliesha Lewis was diagnosed in May last year with the second biggest cancer killer in Australia.

Her friend's diagnosis prompted Emma Melville, 27, to get checked and about three-months later she too received the heartbreaking news she had the disease.

Both women have finished chemotherapy and are now in remission, but they both know their stories could have been a lot different if they had not got checked.

"If Aliesha hadn't got diagnosed, I wouldn't have got checked," Ms Melville said.

Ms Lewis has a family history of the disease, but she too says it was not something she had thought too much about.

"I never really thought I would get it and if I did, I would have thought it wouldn't have been until later in life," Ms Lewis said.

It was not until her partner encouraged her to see a doctor after six weeks of having an irregular stitch near her stomach that she found out.

With her second son just six months old, Ms Lewis' life changed dramatically when the doctor told her she had bowel cancer.

Both women say they are on the cusp of surviving the disease, which affects 1115 Australians under the age of 50 every year, but will need to continue check-ups.

In the meantime, Ms Lewis and Ms Melville encourage people to take advantage of an inexpensive and convenient bowel scan kit.

"If you have a family history, no matter how old you are, get checked," Ms Lewis said.

Rotary's bowel cancer screening program runs throughout May, providing kits for just $15.

The 2016 kit is easy to use in the privacy of people's homes, according to Rotary WA Bowelscan coordinator Jeff Cairns.

"We now have a test kit where you don't have to do any special preparation, you don't have to get too close to anything nasty and you don't have to take it back to the pharmacy," Mr Cairns said.

The kits are available at participating pharmacies.

Editorial, page 10