Mum says 'do the poo test' for bowel cancer

A mother of two is urging people to take part in bowel cancer screening after an at-home test led her to get treatment.

Doctors found a tumour in Laura Corby's bowel during treatment following a test result, which meant her cancer could be treated early.

The 54-year-old from Deal, Kent, developed cancer despite having "a very healthy, active lifestyle" as the disease "doesn't care who you are".

She said: "That's why I tell everyone to do the poo test when it comes through the post and am doing anything I can to raise awareness."

Corby first started experiencing stomach pain in 2024 but said initial tests only led to a gallstones diagnosis.

"I still had issues with pain, and I was seeing things in my bowel movements that I wasn't happy with," she said.

"Then a poo test came through the post for the bowel screening programme in early summer 2025."

The results from that test confirmed traces of blood.

The NHS offers bowel cancer screening to people aged 50 to 74 using a faecal immunochemical test to look for blood in a poo sample.

Samples are self-collected at home and sent by post to be tested.

The heath service sends people within the age range and registered with a GP a kit to compete the test every two years.

In Kent, just over a quarter of registered patients in 2024-25 aged 60 to 74 had not submitted a valid screening result in the previous 30 months.

After Corby's test, she had a procedure to remove small polyp growths and an operation was planned to remove a larger growth.

She agreed to participate in a training programme where her surgery would be streamed to surgeons around the world, but when doctors saw the growth they "all agreed" it looked like cancer and could not be removed that day.

Surgeons at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate removed the tumour and 12in (30cm) of Corby's bowel at a separate time in October.

"I felt so grateful because my cancer hadn't spread and was caught early, so I didn't need to have chemotherapy or any other treatment," she said.

Despite having her temporary stoma removed early after it caused "muscular spasm pain and vomiting, including vomiting up bowel products" after being rejected by her body, Corby said the "positive outcome kept me going".

She said: "All the way through the team have been fantastic: the surgeons, the stoma team, the nurses, and everyone else who has been supporting me."

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