My journey started on the 14th February 2000 with a routine visit to my GP for a regular blood pressure check when I took the opportunity to mention that I was passing frequent motions. He checked my abdomen and carried out a finger examination of my back passage. He said he would not make a diagnosis there and then and arranged for me to have a sigmoidoscopy at his endoscopy clinic. At the time I had no idea what this meant.

On the 22nd February 2000 my GP carried out a sigmoidoscopy examination of my lower bowel which I was able to watch on a colour display screen. He took a number of biopsies during the course of the examination and I could see an area of the bowel wall that was bleeding. When the examination was completed I returned to the ward and my wife for a cup of tea and a biscuit. My GP and a nurse came in to see us and he asked if I had noticed anything during the examination and I said yes an area of bleeding. He said this was a tumour and confirmed it as cancer. We were obviously shocked by the news and he went on to say he had not given me a death sentence; I said it felt like it. He queried whether I had considered my condition being cancer and I replied yes but it was at the bottom of my list of possibilities. He said things would happen fast over the next few weeks and asked if I had a preference for surgeons; he suggested Mr R Kennedy at Yeovil District Hospital and I agreed. This turned out to be a very wise decision.

On the 2nd March 2000 my wife and I met Mr Kennedy at his clinic and he confirmed the biopsies showed cancer that was low down in the rectum. He proposed surgery and explained the procedure in detail. I would have either a temporary or permanent colostomy depending whether or not he could reconnect the bowel. He referred to aggressive treatment with the aim of a cure rather than palliative treatment.