Bowel Screening

I think on the information leaflet they give you various ways that you might collect the sample.

Yes.

How did you, what did you find was the easiest?

Well, they talked about using a receptacle which you could throw away thereafter, or using a, a plastic glove and catching the sample, which I found almost amusing really, I just couldn't get to terms with that. So personally I found that just by putting the newspaper on the floor in the bathroom, putting strips of toilet paper on the floor, depositing the sample on the toilet paper, means that when I'd taken the sample and spread it onto the, onto the card, I could then pick up the toilet paper with the with the stools if you like, put in the toilet and flush it.

The only thing I would say, I mean this is, I don't know if this is worth mentioning, the actual things that you use to take the sample, which are like cardboard lollypop sticks is the best way to describe them, it would be nice if it was possible for those to be flushable. They do ask and you find that one, you've got to wipe the stick, so then you can fold them up, wrap them up, and put them in a bin etc etc. But it would be nice if it was possible at some stage to be able to put everything that you've used, everything, in the toilet and flush it away. That's my only comment.

(Note' The sticks used to be made of wood. They are now made of cardboard and can be flushed down the toilet)
 

It's very easy, but it is a little bit, I suppose you think, 'God this is unpleasant', because I mean, let's face it when you go to the toilet, it goes down the toilet and that's where you leave it.

And you don't deal with it at all do you? So I sort of read it and I thought, 'Oh flipping heck, I don't know whether I fancy doing, I don't think I fancy doing this.' So I went and got a piece of kitchen roll, so I thought, 'At least I can put it on there', you know, and I did it that way. And I thought, 'Oh, well it's not really very pleasant this'. Because its not, in a way.

So you found kitchen roll was easiest?

I found, yes because its, its bigger, and I thought, 'Well that can go there, and then you can place it on that, and then put it onto your'' because you needed to put it down somewhere, because, you know the weight of the faeces, if you just used toilet paper, it would've split, and gone on your floor, on your working surface or on, in the bathroom obviously. So I thought; I felt that the kitchen roll was the best.

Yes, they do suggest different ways don't they?

Mm.

And other people have used kitchen roll as well.

Mm. For me, I found that was the best. And when my husband was doing his, I said to him, 'Make sure you get the kitchen roll'.

I think on the information sheet they suggest different ways that you might manage to get a sample, either from the lavatory paper or from possibly a container inside the lavatory.

That's right yes.

Can you remember what you did?

Yes I did a container definitely yes, yes. I don't know whether I wore thin, thin gloves or not, possibly I did, but as long as one keeps the, the things and not touching other things that would mask any testing I think that's what I did.

Can you remember what sort of container you found useful?

Probably a small marg, well a margarine container possibly yes, a plastic container yes and then disposed of it afterwards, yes.

So the whole thing you found fairly straight forward?

Yes, yes.

So I was a little bit apprehensive about the whole thing, didn't quite like the idea of it, but then I thought about the friends that I'd had that had had bowel cancer and it hadn't been diagnosed till much too late and I thought, 'No, this is a good idea, I should do it.' So with much trepidation, I may add, I tried for the first test and must admit that the first day that I tried it was a complete disaster because I didn't know the amount of faeces that they wanted and being as it was just such a small amount on the test paper. But the second day I had another go and it was quite successful. I had the rubber gloves to hand and just thought, 'This is, this is a good cause, I should be doing this,' even though I was sort of a bit turning my nose up a little bit. But eventually I managed to get the three and sent them away and was absolutely delighted when I did get the results through the post.

When you set out to do the testing did you make a plan beforehand or did you just sort of go into it without thinking too much about it?

Well I made what I thought was a plan, although it misfired on the first day because I didn't have my little table at the side, well actually it was a stool, I didn't have that at the side of me, and I didn't have everything to hand. And as I turned round to take the stuff off the cistern it just fell back in the pan and I had to start from scratch again. But after that I had it well planned, thought about it before I did it.
 

Can you please tell me, given that you've got problems with rheumatoid arthritis, how this made it a little bit difficult for you, but you managed it?

The joints in my fingers and thumbs are very painful and to hold the spatula and to retrieve the sample and to use the toilet paper was painful but it can be done and I managed. The thumb and the finger to hold the spatula was the most painful I think, but I coped and you just, it's just momentarily, it goes off again, I have these pains any time, anywhere so' 

What did you have to do exactly with the spatula? Can you explain for people who are not sure what they have to do?

Well you have to retrieve a sample from the toilet paper that you have cleaned yourself with and put it into the, the sample pack that was sent. I did that three days in succession and in the morning, it can be done any time but I found it, that was when I moved my bowels and I did it then and while I thought about it.

So each day, each morning you took a sample, using the spatula, and put it in the test kit?

That's right.