“Let’s Beat Bowel Cancer”
Simon was diagnosed with aggressive metastatic bowel cancer in March this year at the age of 42.
Looking back, he had vague symptoms in the six months prior to his diagnosis, but it was constant lower abdominal pain which took him to the GP in January this year and further led to his diagnosis.
We were told his cancer was probably incurable and he liked to focus on the ‘probably’, rather than the definite, however finding out he had a gene mutation BRAF v600e meant that diagnosis became a terminal one.
He had a colostomy formed to bypass the blockage and avoid a bowel obstruction (which our three year old fondly named ‘Daddy’s second bum’).
In July, a repeat PET scan showed positive results with >80% reduction in cancer & we celebrated this win. However when he developed a blood clot in the main vein draining blood away from his gut in mid-September, things took a turn for the worst. This meant chemo delays and the cancer was able to take hold. He died on October 12th, just eight months after his diagnosis.
Simon was involved in research about bowel cancer through Cabrini and his surgeon Prof. Paul McMurrick and we would like to continue this involvement by making the Simon Poynton Memorial Shield cricket match a fundraiser for “Let’s Beat Bowel Cancer”, Cabrini’s research department looking for the cure for bowel cancer and raising awareness around early diagnosis.
