A WORCESTER bowel cancer survivor has spoken out to urge anyone concerned with having the disease to “just go and get themselves checked”.

Barbara Moss, who was diagnosed in 2006, was given just three months to live, said: “I really thought that was it .

“I wrote letters to my children to say goodbye.

“I was resigned to my fate but I was lucky the treatment worked to shrink my tumour.

“I have a scar from 50 staples across my stomach - my battle scar.”

Helen Mee, spokeswoman for the charity Bowel Cancer UK, which is running a month-long campaign to raise awareness of the disease, said: “The main symptoms of the disease include blood in your stool, a change in bowel habits lasting over two weeks, unexplained tiredness and weight loss.

“Catching it early, means it’s curable but ignoring symptoms means it’s harder to treat.

“People need to not be embarrassed about talking to their doctor about their bowels - we don’t want people to die from embarrassment.”

Barbara, aged 63, took early retirement on medical grounds from her teaching post in Worcester and now she supports the charity as a patient advocate.

She has tirelessly been involved in presenting to UK and European Parliament on treatment reform for patients.

Barbara has now celebrated being in remission from bowel cancer for ten years and she is looking forward to continuing her work helping others.

Barbara said:”It’s important the patient works with their doctor.

“The doctor is the expert on the disease, but the patient is the expert on how their body feels.”

People in the UK who are aged between 60 and 74 are invited for screening at their local surgery.

In the UK, 42,000 people are diagnosed with the condition.

It is the second biggest cancer killer, with more than 16,000 people dying from the disease each year, but with improved medical techniques and increased awareness, the number has been slowly declining since the 70s.