AS a medical professional, Bill Collins is the last person you would expect to be embarrassed about going to the doctor.
But for the 58-year-old retired dentist, his decision to ignore the warning signs could have cost him his life.
For three years, Mr Collins ignored the bleeding he would often see after visiting the toilet. He did not even tell his wife as his fea
rs grew that it was something serious.
When he finally went to the GP he was told putting it off had turned a straightforward operation into a complex life-saving one, as well as six months of chemotherapy.
The delay also meant he needed an ileostomy operation to remove part of his bowel, and a stoma bag attached to his body to collect waste for a year.
Because he waited, even with the operation, doctors only gave him a two-thirds chance of surviving.
Now as NHS Lothian prepares to send out bowel cancer testing kits to men and women aged 50 to 74, he has urged others to confront their symptoms.
Mr Collins, 58, from Marjoribanks Street, Bathgate, said: "I had rectal bleeding for years, literally. I just assumed it was piles or something like that.
"It was only really when it got so bad that even I could not ignore it that I went to see the GP.
"That seems incredible now, especially as I was a dentist so I know you should not ignore symptoms.
"(The bleeding) was fairly frequent – virtually all the time. I was not in pain and maybe, if I had been, I would have gone and seen my GP.
"I never discussed it with my wife – she found out by accident – that didn't get me too many brownie points either."
Mr Collins, who has three children and six grandchildren, finally underwent surgery in May last year.
Although doctors were successful in removing the malignant lump, his hesitation in having the bleeding checked out three years earlier came back to haunt him.
He said: "The biggest blow was after surgery. I hoped I would not need a stoma, but they had taken away so much of the bowel that I had to have one.
"I also hoped the cancer would have stayed within the rectum and colon. Unfortunately, it had spread and I had to have chemotherapy – that was another blow."
He went through eight three-week courses of chemotherapy, which left him feeling terrible for six months, although he has now had the all clear.
The testing kit scheme is being rolled out nationwide by the Scottish Government, although pilots in Tayside and Grampian saw just 50 per cent of people return them for analysis. Lothian health chiefs will be hoping for a higher uptake when they start sending out kits in May.
Dr Dermot Gorman, who is leading the programme, said: "Treating bowel cancer early makes it much simpler. It reduces the number of people who have to have chemotherapy and reduces the complications.
"People will not be off work for as long and it improves survival rates – this is a serious condition."
BOWEL-TESTING KITS TO SAVE 150 LIVES EVERY YEARNEW bowel-testing kits sent to the homes of people aged 50 to 74 are expected to save 150 lives a year in Scotland, including 15 in the Lothians.
It will lead to bowel cancer being identified at the earliest possible opportunity and treated before it has the chance to grow and spread.
A total of 150,000 tests will be sent out in a phased process, with 8000 going out every month for the next two years.
In two years' time NHS Lothian will return to the start of the list and patients will receive their secondary test.
Nurses will ask patients to attend hospitals if their tests show any signs they may have cancer.
When bowel cancer is identified early it is far easier to treat.
Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in Scotland.
Every year 3500 people are diagnosed with the disease and 1600 people die from it, with men being at a higher risk than women.
