By JESSE GRAHAM
IT’S A little discomfort for potentially life-saving information.
The Rotary Club of Lilydale is urging Mount Evelyn residents to go to their local pharmacy and check their health, by using specially organised Bowelscan kits.
For the month of May, residents can go to their pharmacy and buy the $10 kit – after following the instructions on the kit and returning it completed with faecal samples, the kits are sent away and results are sent through.
Pathologists test the samples for signs of bowel problems, including bowel cancer, which is hard to detect without specific tests or scans.
Rotarian Peter Loosley told the Mail that many people find the idea of collecting samples confronting, but said it was a little discomfort to receive potentially life-saving information.
“It’s an indicator, just to find out whether there’s a potential problem,” he said.
“Otherwise, you’re going along blind.”
Australia has a high incidence of bowel cancer, with about 80 people dying each week from the disease.
The cancer itself, however, is highly treatable as long as it is found early, through scans and tests such as the Bowelscan, which is being organised by local Rotary clubs, such as the Rotary Club of Lilydale and their Healesville counterparts.
Mr Loosley said the Bowelscan test was much less invasive than other means of testing for bowel problems, such as colonoscopies.
“You can do it in your home, then you wait a few days until you get the results back,” he said.
As for discretion, Mr Loosely said that the samples are sealed in a package with return information, and then sealed in another without identifying information on it, so only pathologists are aware of whom the samples belong to.
The Bowelscan take-home tests are available at pharmacies in Mount Evelyn, as well as others in the Yarra Valley, including in Healesville, Seville, Wandin, Woori Yallock, Warburton and Yarra Junction.
Samples must be returned to Mount Evelyn pharmacies by 11 June in order to be passed on and tested.
