Every year, 16,000 people across the UK die from bowel cancer. SARAH COLE talked to one survivor whose battle has inspired her to help others...

WHEN Marie-Claire Godbert started feeling increasingly tired, she put it down to getting older. She was a happy, healthy 50-year-old mum - and bowel cancer was the last thing she expected to be suffering from.

There were no classic warning signs.

Today, Marie-Claire says she owes her life to her GP, who nagged her to have further tests to find out what was making her feel exhausted.

The mum of two said: "When you are 50 and feeling well, it knocks the stuffing out of you, to say the least, to be told you have bowel cancer. It was a huge shock.

"At the time, my daughter was only 13 and I was devastated at the thought I might not be there for her.

"I didn't have any of the classic symptoms. My cancer was just at the start of the large bowel. The rest of the large bowel continued working as normal, so there was no warning bell.

"It was around June 2000 when I noticed I was starting to feel more and more tired while I was cleaning the house. I put it down to getting older.

"I also had terrible stomach cramps before going to the loo but didn't know that was a sign of anything ominous. I was still feeling well and it was easy for me to think nothing was wrong.

"By the October, I started to feel sick all the time.

"I went to my GP. I had a very, very good GP who listened to me saying how my mother had died from lymphoma and my father had had bowel cancer when he was 76.

"She said 'I think we owe it to you to find out what is wrong'. She insisted on me going for tests, and I was diagnosed in January 2001.

"Now I thank God she was so insistent. She just kept on at me. Afterwards, she told me she just had a gut feeling that something had not been right."

Marie-Claire underwent surgery to remove her tumour in February 2001.

Although she did not know exactly what doctors were going to find, she knew by then things were serious.

Thankfully, the operation to remove half of Marie-Claire's bowel was a success and she was given the all-clear.

Check-ups, initially every three months and more recently every six months, have confirmed no recurrence of the disease.

Just over three years after surgery, Marie-Claire, now 53, lives life to the full with her family in Wickham, grateful for every day she has with them.

Doctors believe her positive attitude - she was riding her horses just eight weeks after surgery - has helped speed the recovery process.

Her husband, Alan Jordan, 54, son Peter, 21, who is at university, and daughter Claire, 16, also played a crucial role.

Marie-Claire said: "I don't know what I would have done without my husband and kids.

"We have always been very close and have always shared everything. They went on the cancer journey with me, and still are.

"When you have been through a life-changing experience like that, every day is precious. Every day should be valued. You start to realise it is not the material things which are important; it is all about relationships and the value of life."

Although full of praise for her GP and health staff that carried out the privately-funded operation, Marie-Claire was far from impressed with the after-support provided.

"The emotional support for people with cancer is very patchy," she said.

"I was discharged with no way of dealing with my feelings about what had happened. I had my GP but knew she was very busy and didn't want to listen to me howling my eyes out."

Eventually Marie-Claire sought support from the then Cancer Care Society in Romsey, along with Colon Cancer Concern.

Her battle has now inspired her to do something to help others.

Earlier this year, her dog, Amber, was approved as a Pets as Therapy (PAT) dog - one of 12,000 across the country taken into hospitals, hospices and care homes to cheer up patients.

The adorable Hungarian vizsla has proved a huge hit at The Rowans Hospice in Purbrook, near Waterlooville, where she visits every Wednesday.

"The people love to see the dog," said Marie-Claire. "It makes me feel I am helping in some way. It is my way of saying thank you."

Marie-Claire has been told she has a one in ten chance of her cancer returning.

"I feel incredibly lucky. The story could easily have been so very different," she said.

BOWEL CANCER: THE FACTS

Every year more than 35,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with this killer disease - the equivalent of one person every 15 minutes.

Nearly 16,000 people die from bowel cancer every year - an average of 45 every day.

If caught in the earlier stages bowel cancer is one of the more treatable cancers.

Between five and ten per cent of all colorectal cancers in the UK are hereditary.

Although 90 per cent of all people diagnosed are over 55 (the average age is 70), a significant minority are younger.

Colon Cancer Concern is the UK's leading national charity dedicated to reducing deaths from bowel cancer and improving the quality of life of those affected by the disease through information, awareness, education and campaigning.

For more information, contact Colon Cancer Concern on 08708 506050 or visit: www.coloncancer.org.uk