What could you choose to pause doing? — Tom McCallum

Yesterday I went for a four-hour bike ride complete with probably the best breakfast roll anywhere. From the picture, I hope you will agree! This was a bit of a “carpe diem” ride, as in a few days time I will be having major surgery, for colon cancer. Yikes!

To begin, I want to share how I feel. My overriding feeling is gratitude, as this came about from being invited to the NHS bowel cancer screening programme on my 56th birthday. The purpose of this is to catch things early, with the vast majority of people screened getting the all-clear. I was in the minority who did not get the all-clear, but I feel grateful to have been screened early and also feel in great hands with the NHS.

My prognosis is for a full recovery, so though surgery is major, it is routine, so I’ll be “off the grid” in terms of communications and meetings for a few weeks, but after about mid-April the best thing for me will be to get back talking to people, I do live for connections with people and ideas.

I share the specifics for one primary reason, to be an advocate for everybody 50+ to get themselves screened for this and, at other ages and stages of life, for anything that is appropriate and that gives a chance to catch anything that is developing within you prior to it becoming symptomatic.