Mum with cancer living life with 'rebellious hope'

Jenny Duncan, who has incurable stage four bowel cancer, is looking to complete a charity fundraiser this month

A mum-of-three says her bowel cancer diagnosis will not hold her back from attempting a charity fundraiser this month.

Jenny Duncan, 50, from Hull, was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer in 2019 after noticing blood in her poo and increased bowel habits.

Ms Duncan's cancer has now progressed to an incurable stage four but she said she continued to live life with "rebellious hope" despite the pain from treatments.

She is aiming to cover 44 miles this month on foot or by wheelchair in an attempt to raise awareness about the symptoms and to break the stigma and embarrassment people have about checking their poo.

She said: "I didn't really know anything about bowel cancer. I thought it was something that older people got, particularly men.

"The first thought was definitely not cancer. I just thought, 'oh, that's strange. I'm going to ignore that'.

"I started to take photographs, because the blood became unavoidable. My husband just happened to see me looking at one of the photos and he was absolutely horrified and said: 'We've got to get you sorted out, what are you doing?'

"And it was only when I realised that I'd been a bit negligent that I had to go and get looked at."

People with these six symptoms are urged to seek medical advice from their GPs

She put her reluctance to go to the doctors in part to a stigma around speaking about the topic.

"It's a bit embarrassing when it's bottoms and I was worried about getting examined. I wanted it to go away. I wanted to believe it was piles," she said.

"Why is it embarrassing? It shouldn't be, should it? Going for a poo is normal. We all do it whether we want to talk about it or not.

"I wouldn't even have thought about tracking my poo, but I wish I'd done now. I'm much more vigilant and I imagine my children are, too. I'm asking over the dinner table, 'are you looking at your poo?'."

Ms Duncan, who is the assistant head teacher at St Mary Queen of Martyrs in Hull, is using social media to chart her journey and said she had been inspired to talk about it following the death of Dame Deborah James - a bowel cancer advocate who hoped to break the "poo taboo".

Ms Duncan, who started her latest round of chemotherapy at Castle Hill Hospital yesterday, has raised more than £4,000 for Bowelbabe Fund, which was set up by Dame Deborah and raises money for Cancer Research UK.

She will be supported by her colleagues, while pupils at her former school, St Richard's VC Academy in Hull, will join in by doing laps around their school field.

Head teacher Emma Cook said: "Jenny was, and still is, an exceptional and inspirational teacher and much-loved colleague.

"She has a special gift of bringing people from all walks of life together and we are right behind you now."

• Bowel cancer: How to check your poo

Jenny says she is "overwhelmed" by the amount of people willing to support her and the Bowelbabe Fund during her charity walks

Thinking about the future, Ms Duncan said: "I don't expect to be here in five to 10 years. To be honest, I sometimes feel melancholy.

"I think about, will I see my children marry? Will I have grandchildren?

"Cancer can be so awful, but I always say we have rebellious hope.

"You never know, we might find that amazing cure and I'll be an elderly person in an old people's home, calling the bingo."

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