Bowel cancer: Ad campaign saves Kāpiti women's life

Jan Palmer and her sister Lynne Graham. Photo / Supplied

It was an advertising campaign that saved Jan Palmer's life - and potentially the lives of her 11 siblings. Rosalie Willis talks to Jan about her experience with bowel cancer and about her current fundraiser to help save others from the cancer which takes the life of around three Kiwis every day.

In 2019 Jan's sister, Lynne Graham, saw an advertisement on the back of a bus that said 'You're never too young to get bowel cancer'.

Pondering the campaign as she was stopped at the lights, Lynne didn't forget the ad which featured a number of young people diagnosed with New Zealand's second-highest cause of cancer death.

With it playing on her mind, Lynne decided to get a check and book a colonoscopy as there had been bowel cancer in the family.

"It played on her mind as she's in her early fifties and with our mum surviving bowel cancer, she thought perhaps she should get a colonoscopy," Jan said.

Lynne Graham wearing a snood, raising money for Bowel Cancer New Zealand. Photo / Supplied

"She had one, and they found nine polyps on the verge of cancer and cut them out.

"While she was fine, after this the surgeon said to her that she'd better make sure her family get checked too."

While Jan had no symptoms and a slight reluctance to spend the $2800 to get a colonoscopy, she decided to get checked too.

"So long story short I had a colonoscopy, it cost close to $3000, but afterwards the doctor said to me, 'there's no easy way to tell you this, but you've got bowel cancer'.

The cancer had spread to Jan's lymph nodes, and she also had spots on her liver and one on her breast.

"We had to wait in the waiting room for about an hour or after the colonoscopy, and this was because he was already booking me into surgery at Wellington Hospital.

"This was quite amazing as it was detected in late November 2019, and I was operated on a couple of weeks later on December 6."

Paying for it and having it done privately, Jan had a week of radiation before the operation and by December was free of any cancer.

"I had to have it done privately, if I had to go on some form of waiting list I probably wouldn't be here today."

The knitters: Raewyn Rowney, left, Di McEwen, Annie Law, Jan Palmer, Heather Tucker, Glenda Richardson, Judy Parker and Anne Lovell. Absent: Christine Meredith and Shelley Bryant. Photo / Supplied

With a colostomy bag for six months, Jan had surgery in June 2020 to reverse it, delayed slightly because of Covid-19, which now means she no longer requires a colostomy bag.

"There was a little delay because of Covid-19, but they reversed the surgery, took the bag away, got me all connected up again and away I went."

Now, she has blood tests every three months, sees the surgeon every six months, and has a colonoscopy each year to make sure nothing has come back.

"So far we're all clear and it's an absolute miracle that we found it because I had no symptoms at all.

"The surgeon said if I hadn't had the surgery when I had it, I wouldn't have made Christmas that year.

"The early detection saved my life."

This is now the message Jan is sharing.

"Everyone bags the health system, but my god did it step up when it needed to."

Jan is especially thankful to her doctor at Team Medical, Christine Coulter, who listened to her request to get a colonoscopy.

"She could have easily said to me, 'look you've got no symptoms, let's not waste $3000'.

"My husband too was also thinking about all the things we could spend $3000 on, but when I was diagnosed with bowel cancer and caught it in time, he said it was the best $3000 we've ever spent."

When the news that Jan had cancer reached the rest of her family, it shock them.

"I'm the oldest of 12 children and when it hit that I had bowel cancer, it shook the family to the core."

Unbeknownst to Jan, a number of them had been having colonoscopies and thought they were in the clear, but they hadn't been having the follow-ups.

"They thought 'oh I'm clear, I'm fine', but the minute they found out I had bowel cancer there was a rush to the doctors for all my family."

A few of them had polyps removed, but they were all clear. Jan was the only one who had cancerous ones.

Now they're raising money for Bowel Cancer New Zealand. Jan's husband is doing the Move Your Butt campaign in June, while Jan has gathered together a group of knitters to make snoods to raise money for the organisation.

Last winter Jan started knitting snoods – a type of woollen scarf - as a fundraiser. Now more friends and family are joining her.

"We also want to share the message, you're never too young to get bowel cancer, early detection saves lives.

"Thankfully with early detection and a great surgeon, Dr Alex Dalzell, I appear to be cancer-free and I am truly thankful to the medical profession for their skill and expertise."

Move Your Butt Campaign

June 2022 is bowel cancer awareness month, and Bowel Cancer NZ's annual Move Your Butt challenge. This fundraiser encourages all New Zealanders to get off their butts and move more in June, which helps fund vital research and support for bowel cancer patients.

The campaign runs from June 1-30, with Bowel Cancer NZ asking all New Zealanders – young or old, fit or unfit – to Move their Butts more during June to help prevent bowel cancer, while raising funds for the cause.

Bowel cancer is the second-highest cause of cancer death in New Zealand and every day one in six Kiwis are affected by this deadly disease, with 1200 dying of bowel cancer every year (as many as breast and prostate cancer combined).

To buy a snood or donate money on Bowel Cancer New Zealand, visit Snoods by Jan.