What a difference a year makes!

Any family weekend is an awesome weekend in my book, but I had a particularly good one recently. Here’s a pic of me, Gemma, co-founder and practice manager of Winchester GP enjoying lunch with my mum, Susan, at the V&A museum, and just about to go in to see their awesome Gabrielle Chanel exhibition.

This time last year mum was just post mastectomy and starting her first round of chemo. And if she hadn’t gone to the doctor straight away back in November 2022 having felt a strange pulling sensation when reaching up to a cupboard, this picture would be looking very different (possibly not taken at all)

Because the cancer was caught in time, treatment has, as far as we know, been curative :-)

Ironically, my mum first found out about her cancer as I was writing a blog post about my own personal experience of having the Trucheck Intelli cancer screen. It will come as no surprise therefore that I am a big advocate for all of us getting getting stuck in with some broad cancer screening. Sure, it's another annual job to schedule, and not exactly the endorphin rush you get with other significant purchases, like a holiday, say, or a gorgeous new dress...

BUT - that purchase might just be the reason that you get to go on those holidays and wear that gorgeous dress (multiple times!), and share those memories with your loved ones.

This, as they say, is priceless.

Statistically speaking, our chances of developing cancer at some point in our lives is broadly 50% - a coin toss! WIth those odds, it makes total sense to me to be vigilant. Because when it comes to cancer, ignorance is anything but blissful. The sooner you find out, the better the chances of survival- simple as that.

If you’d like to take a more proactive approach to cancer screening, the Trucheck Intelli cancer screen can check for 70 different solid organ tumours from a single blood draw. You can read more about it on our website here, and also download a free explainer document.

The test itself takes minutes to conduct, and then you can get back to planning all those fabulous weekends with loved ones :-)

Wishing you well,

Gemma & Susan!

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