just reading on bbc news that the lass of bb cancer has spread. Do people go for cancer checks, on a regular basis?? I’m younger than the lass but still makes you think.

I guess most people just check for lumps & bumps
if you have a problem with something that turns out to be cancer – a lot will depend on at what stage you visit a doc, some people put if off too long
It’ll also depend on how good your doc is

heads or tails?

oh i thought maybe people go for scans or something. i know people who work with particle board go twice a year.

Check your balls. Go to the doctor if you have swollen glands for an unusually long time. Look out for melanomas – especially if you got sunburnt a lot as a kid. Beyond (SFAIK) that there isn’t a lot you can check for.

Remember that cancer is primarily an illness that hits older people – so be aware but don’t worry too much. Jade Goody is very unlucky.

Edit: Doctors won’t send people for scans as a matter of routine unless there is a particular risk factor.

men over a certain age [50]get offered checks

I’m 50 this year 😯

That reminds me – I need to take some stool samples and send them away….

that sounds pretty sound advice andym

I had cancer and now have to go for 6 monthly checkups. They just feel under my arm pits, around my neck area, and in my groin for any lumps.

The things I do anyway as a matter of course now. You know your own body, if anything is untoward then get it checked out.

I get to have a female russian doctor put her fingers up my arse once a year and I’m only 38.

I get to have a female russian doctor put her fingers up my arse once a year and I’m only 38.

Is that a free service?

There’s a history of bowel cancer in my family so all the children are given colonoscopies every two years. Worst part is having to take the legendary Picoloax. And by god does it hurt, even under heavy sedation.

just as a tip for the over 50’s…. over 40’s even now.. prostate cancer test is only a blood test…. you’ll only feel a little prick. ( ok the first time )

serious tho… get screened. Prostate cancer = big time not fun.
(been there, did that, didn’t even get a Tshirt)

Some GPs won’t test for prostate until 50+ unless you’ve got family history, and it’s quite an unreliable test, and can give false positives, leading to less pleasant tests 😥
How old were you grynch when you got caught?

crewlie… I was about 48 when doc noticed high PSA, and then started monitoring on a yearly basis… 52 when I was diagnosed with Prostate cancer ( via biopsy )

and the less pleasant tests are …at first.. only a finger up the bum, and while no, not pleasant, it sure beats the alternative.. that being late diagnosed cancer.

my father died of cancer 2 years ago, started with prostrate which they told me and my brother was heireditary but not to worry until we hit 40.

i think there is a kind of ‘Bupa’ type program you can sign up for ‘at a cost’ where you can have regular MRI/CAT scans private.

I think you mean this:

http://wellness.bupa.co.uk/for-you/your-health-assessments

tails, hers started as cervical cancer and women are supposed to go every 3 years for a smear to check for cancerous cells, you get a reminder from the docs.

only a finger up the bum, and while no, not pleasant

oh I don’t know, suprising what you can get used too

i think there is a kind of ‘Bupa’ type program you can sign up for ‘at a cost’ where you can have regular MRI/CAT scans private.

I very much doubt you get any kind of scan for the money quoted (a mammography is extra). Sounds like a way of scamming money from the ‘worried well’ (and if that sounds complacent, it isn’t, I have lymphoma).

Nick – Member

only a finger up the bum, and while no, not pleasant

oh I don’t know, suprising what you can get used too

nick, I do have to say that while shopping for surgeons ( no NHS to deal with here ) “hello mr. grynch, drop your trousers and lean over that table” became an all too common greeting.

… and that was just down the pub. ( I had to say that before anyone else did. )

I think you just have to be vigilant and get any unusual lumps seen to by a doctor as soon as possible. Problems arise when people hang about to see if it gets any worse. In my case I became aware of a lymph node in my neck that had swollen to about the size of a small marble. I had no other symptoms at all. After scaring myself by reading about supraclavicular lymph nodes on the internet I went to see my GP. I got a referal and scan the same day and after a biopsy I had a diagnosis of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma for which I have now started chemotherapy. The prognosis is very good for me because the cancer has been caught at an early stage. Like I said, you don’t want to hang about with these things.

I’ve not read into the exact details but my understanding is in Jade’s case it was picked up in a routine smear test. I’ve always thought that cervical cancer was only a problem if you didn’t go for regular tests, otherwise it would always be caught early enough. Obviously not

My surgeon told me he considered it to be a privilege to be allowed to do the finger up the bum test. I’ve never been sure whether I was supposed to be flattered or frightened by that.
Mine was only picked up by a vigilant GP checking on some vague symptoms that I thought to be biking related. Even then it wasn’t caught early.
Always get unexplained pains/lumps checked.

crewlie, “wasn’t caught early”.. you ok now mate?

Surgery (not all got out), radiotherapy and casodex prob for good, but 2 and a half years down the line and PSA still 0. So other than all the “fun” side effects I’m pretty good, thanks.
Still a buggar to get caught with no family history at 49.
Next target is doing the Rough Ride in July in under 7 hours.
Hey, we have our own STW clique 😛

Best advice i got, is if youve got a regular partner, get them to check your testicles and pecs (breast cancer)every time you have sex, then theyll notice any differences, lumps ,hardness of testicle, etc, if they do straight down the gps, and yes its embarassing to lie on your side and have a chap , or lady, put a gloved finger up your bum, it may hurt it may not, depends on how relaxed you are, but they can tell if youve got an enlarged prostrate, a sign of prostrate cancer,and other problems, been there had it done , and all ok so far, back soon for more tests.

There are companies you can pay for scans eg, lifescan for full body scans for cancer and tumours, no idea how good they are though and they cost around £650 – i believe that some people have them routinely.
My sister had cancer, at the start she told me survival rates were 80%, after a 3 to four remmision and treatment cycles over 16 years it finally got her at 42 years old – just before she died told me that the statistics counted her as survivor as she survived more than 5 years after the first diagnosis.

I was 40 when I went home from work one day, had a seizure, and woke up 2 days later in hospital, 2 weeks later I had a crainiotomy to remove a brain tumour. That was nearly 2 years ago now and it happened without warning, I was very fit and healthy at the time!
After a long recovery, my regular scan showed up tumour again, another major brain op followed, back to square 1 with recovery.
Prognossis is not good, but I am probably the fittest I have ever been in my life, I am working on the theory that I may be able to just stay alive until a cure is found for brain tumours.
So to the question do people have regular check up for cancer, I didn’t and as you only get reffered for a scan by your Doctor if something serious enough happens that makes them think you may need a scan. My tumour I could have had since I was a child, or only a month, unfortunately they are a form of cancer that little is known about.
I belive though that prostrate cancer can be detected by a blood test? belive me its not worth taking any chances.
Jade has my sympathies and best wishes.