AN INSPIRING journalist from Acocks Green has been telling her story of her bowel cancer journey and brain tumour diagnosis to raise awareness.
Karen Bucknall shared her experiences on Cuppa Tea with University Hospitals Birmingham Charity from when she noticed symptoms.
In 2019, Karen was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer after having frequent blood in her stool.
Karen said: “What I would say now in hindsight, three years on since being diagnosed and nearly two years in remission from bowel cancer is you know your body you know what’s right for you.
“If you are having problems in the poo department or wee, or you’re bleeding from the back passage or vagina for no reason I would say listen to your body.
“That gut feeling that says something isn’t right. Visit your doctor. By being honest – it can save your life and be the difference between stage one, stage two and stage four.”
The now 51-year-old underwent six weeks of radiotherapy treatment to shrink the tumour at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital in June 2019.
She has since received treatment at Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull Hospitals.
During her treatment, Karen was completing a Sociology degree at Coventry University and was undergoing chemotherapy as she wrote her dissertation.
She is also an inspiring journalist and has won a national ‘Breaking into Journalism’ ITV and Media Trust award and gained a professional media qualification.
Karen rang the bell and was in remission in the summer of 2020 by November that year she was handed the devastating news that she had a brain tumour.
Now awaiting a clinical trial she recently discovered the she has cancer markings on her liver.
Karen said, “I will probably die of my brain tumour but I intend to have a good time and live each day and help and support people who are going through the same things.
“All the things I have wanted to do I have done.
“I don’t see it as a death sentence. I see it as a chance to make the most of every day.”
