Fox on the Run

I am lucky that I see foxes fairly frequently in the area where I live. We are in the town but there are allotments and parks close by and there have been foxes around here for as long as I can remember. I had never seen a fox near my work place until yesterday. It was daylight but as I pulled out of the car park and drove towards the road a young fox crossed in front of me. It had come from the the Starbucks drive-throu (without observing the one way signs) and when it had crossed in front of me it cut through some undergrowth. It then skirted behind a couple of my colleagues who were chatting near their cars without them even noticing it! I lost sight of it after that but it really cheered me up to see it. I know that they kill indiscriminately if they get into a hen house or the like, but I can't help thinking that they add something to our lives too.

The Bottom Line 28.01.08

BE LOUD!

Today it is my turn for a 'did you know' and hopefully this one is a little more relevant than some of Robbie's random comments. Did you know that this is BE LOUD week? Perhaps not, but it is really important so I have decided to write about it. BE LOUD is an awareness and fundraising campaign by Beating Bowel Cancer. By BEING LOUD about bowel cancer and its symptoms, dispelling the embarrassment so often associated with the disease, we can help to save lives from the second most deadly cancer in the UK.

So, why is this so important to me? It is important because bowel cancer caught early is very treatable, it doesn't have to be a killer and it doesn't have to devastate lives. My husband Eric woke one night with an acute pain in his side, at first he was told that he had a pulled muscle, then they thought it was hepatitis, but the dreadful truth was that he had bowel cancer and it had already spread to his liver. He was a fighter and if willpower and determination could have saved him he would be here now, but it couldn't and he isn't here now. It took just three months from the first sign of illness for the cancer to devastate his body and leave him unrecognisable. His final act of willpower was to survive for one more day so that he didn't die on my birthday. He was 38. We now know that his bowel cancer probably has a genetic link and our children will need to be monitored from their mid twenties onwards.

The symptoms of bowel cancer can be very slight, almost unnoticeable and they can easily be ignored because they could easily have very minor causes. The message is BE LOUD, befriend your bowel, be brave, it is good to talk about bottoms - it could save a life!