Source : Perth Now news
The low hum of a stomach churning and gurgling is usually a sign to pop off to the toilet.
But for many Australians, it’s a time to run and hide.
Anxiety and embarrassment are feelings commonly associated with going to the toilet, and it affects millions every day.
New Kleenex and Bowel Cancer Australia data reveals 29 per cent of Australians are uncomfortable talking about going to the bathroom with others, and more than half (57 per cent) are too embarrassed to use the toilet at someone else’s house.
In fact, 42 per cent of Australians don’t feel comfortable “dropping their kids off at the pool” in a bathroom outside their home, and 20 per cent say they would prefer a world that didn’t even know they used the toilet at all.
Despite literally everyone doing it, talking about going to the toilet remains a sensitive topic.
But 81 per cent of Australians believe that toilet talk shouldn’t be taboo at all.
And while most don’t enjoy bringing the topic up, it’s a particularly important one.
Especially as the rate of bowel cancer diagnoses continues to skyrocket among Australians aged between 25 and 54.
“Nearly 15,000 Australians are diagnosed every day,” Bowel Cancer Australia spokeswoman Penelope De Lacavalerie told NewsWire.
She said that while men are more often diagnosed with the bowel cancer than women, it “does not discriminate by gender”.
“No one should assume they are at low risk simply because they are female,” she said.
Bowel cancer doesn’t care how old you are, either.
“Nobody should ever be told they are too young to develop bowel cancer,” she said.
“One of the biggest misconceptions is that bowel cancer only affects older people or that you need to have symptoms before taking it seriously.
“Unfortunately, we are seeing increasing numbers of younger Australians diagnosed with bowel cancer, and many people with early disease feel completely well,” Dr De Lacavalerie said.
Penrith mum Rebecca Noonan was one of those people.
At the age of 33, she first discovered blood in her poo.
She wasn’t in pain, but it was enough to raise the alarm for the mother of two.
Ms Noonan visited her doctor and was given the all clear after a few blood tests and a CT scan, with doctors telling her they “weren’t concerned” it was anything serious.
“They told me I was too young, too fit, too healthy for anything (like) bowel cancer,” she said.
Doctors said the symptoms would likely subside. But they didn’t.
While she never saw blood in her stool again, it didn’t stop semi-frequent gastro-like “episodes” every few weeks.
But because of Ms Noonan’s poo-shyness, there was an overwhelming sense of embarrassment when she experienced an episode.
“When the episodes would happen, I’d be running to the bathroom urgently and then trying to act like everything was fine afterwards,” she said.
She said the symptoms would start to worsen, making her feel too uncomfortable to go to dinner with friends and family.
“There was always that anxiety about whether I’d need to suddenly leave or whether I would have to run to the bathroom in public, so over time I just started opting out to avoid potential embarrassment,” she said.
Other than the change in her toilet habits, Ms Noonan kept chugging along like normal.
“I never took time off work, I didn’t stop exercising,” she said.
“It didn’t interrupt my day, other than I’d eat something and be like, ‘Oh no, I need to run to the bathroom’.”
It was another two years before Ms Noonan was able to get a proper diagnosis.
Because her symptoms would worsen during her period, doctors said she may have endometriosis.
After more rounds of tests, doctors confirmed she had endometriosis and scheduled her to go under the knife, tacking a colonoscopy onto the schedule to “rule out” any risk of cancer.
The day of her endometriosis surgery changed her world forever.
Ms Noonan was scheduled to go under the knife for a four-hour surgery, but she woke up again after only 45 minutes to surgeons standing at the end of her bed.
“They said they can’t do my surgery because they found bowel cancer,” she said.
Doctors managed to find the tumour early – she was diagnosed with stage 2a early-onset colorectal cancer, which could be treated with emergency surgery to remove 40cm of her bowel and appendix.
Six months later, Ms Noonan is thankfully on the mend, but she’s now advocating for others to speak up if things feel out of the ordinary – even if the conversation makes them uncomfortable.
“I didn’t talk about it so no one except for my family and good friends, (who) would know,” the Bowel Cancer Australia advocate said.
“Now I’m like … ‘Why didn’t I talk about it?’ It’s just a toilet, everyone does it.”
According to the study, 61 per cent of Australians know what a “normal” poo looks like.
However, 16 per cent believe it’s “unnecessary” to look at their droppings before they flush.
But Dr De Lacavalerie said attitude that needed to change.
“Your bowel habits and stool appearance provide important clues about your health,” she said.
“Checking your poo only takes a few seconds, but it can help you recognise changes such as blood, mucus, narrower stools or persistent changes in bowel habit.”
There are five signs of bowel cancer that everyone should know, including blood in their stools, persistent changes in bowel movements, unexplained pain or bloating in the stomach, losing weight out of nowhere and feeling unusually tired or short of breath.
“Not every change means cancer, but persistent changes should never be ignored,” she said.
“I tell my patients that their body often whispers before it screams.
“If something has changed and remains different for several weeks, it deserves investigation rather than reassurance alone.”
Ms Noonan said it was also important to speak up for yourself if you think something is out of the ordinary.
“If you see blood – for any reason – don’t dismiss it,” Ms Noonan told NewsWire.
“You need to get a colonoscopy and advocate for yourself.”
