A BROMSGROVE woman who survived cancer after losing 15 members of her family to the disease has welcomed a new screening checker.
Jo Day is now being regularly monitored and is backing a new, simple to use, screening eligibility checker. It was developed for Stand Up To Cancer – a joint campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4.
The online checker features a host of famous faces. These include Meera Syal, Jessie J, Rosie Jones, Hugh Bonneville, Kelly Holmes, Davina McCall and Krishnan Guru-Murthy.
Statistics show around 9million are not up-to-date with their cancer screening. This new tool enables people to quickly check which NHS cancer screenings apply to them. It also helps them access helpful advice to decide if they want to take part. Celebrities’ input will help break down barriers and explain why screening is important to them.
Screening can detect cancer early, when treatment is more likely to be successful and – in some cases – prevent the disease from developing altogether.
Sharing her story
Jo, whose mum survived breast cancer thanks in part to screening, has shared her story to help raise awareness.
Jo said: “I’ll never forget my dad thanking me for reaching my 49th birthday because his sister died of cancer aged 48.
“Little did we know at the time of that conversation I actually had bowel cancer.
“It’s so sad but I was lucky because I had symptoms and it was caught early.
“But even knowing what I did about my family, I didn’t like the idea of bowel screening.
“Now I tell everyone not to ignore their screening invitation because it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Jo was diagnosed with early-stage bowel cancer after having surgery to remove a polyp in November 2024.
She noticed blood in her poo over a period of two months and assumed she had piles. She reported it to the doctor and was seen within seven days and given a colonoscopy.
Jo added: “They found a polyp but lots of people have those, so I still didn’t think it was anything serious – I thought I’d have it removed and that would be it.”
But tests results after the surgery in December revealed that Jo’s polyp was actually cancerous.
“It was such a shock, but I felt really lucky that they’d caught it before it had spread any further.
“We have a family history of relatives dying in December so breaking the news to my parents was one of the worst things I’ve ever had to do.”
Family history
Jo’s relatives have had cancers ranging from breast, prostate, blood, lung, bowel and ovarian. So the family are now trying to get permission to test her cousin’s archived tissue samples for Lynch syndrome. This is a genetic alteration that increases the risk of several cancers including bowel.
Despite their tragic family history, Jo’s parents are both cancer survivors. Her dad, Ron Larvin, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2016 after experiencing symptoms.
Six months later a routine mammogram revealed that her mum Mary had two completely different cancers in the same breast at the same time.
For Jo’s sake, Mary is now being tested to find out if she has the faulty BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene which carries a 70 per cent risk of developing breast cancer by aged 80.
Stories like Jo’s underline the urgent need to speed up life-saving progress in cancer research.
Stand Up To Cancer
The screening checker is just one part of this year’s Stand Up To Cancer campaign, which will culminate in an unmissable night of television tomorrow night (Friday, December 12) on Channel 4.
Fronted by Davina McCall and Adam Hills, alongside a host of celebrity guests, the live broadcast will feature special editions of much-loved shows like Celebrity Gogglebox and The Last Leg. It also features moving patient stories and fundraising moments.
Jo added: “I’m really excited to support this Stand Up To Cancer initiative, knowing it could help save lives as well as support fundraising for research into cancer.
“I have a friend with three young children who survived cervical cancer because it was found early through screening so I hope people will take a few minutes to look at the screening checker.”
Visit: standuptocancer.org.uk/screening-checker for more on screening, to sign up and spread the word.
