John Arnold: Day I got my stool sample and Winning Streak ticket mixed up
In actual fact, it was Dr Darragh that founded the Cancer Society in the year 1963.
A visionary and a man who saw the way cancer cases were increasing, Dr Darragh realised that, as well as medical care, cancer sufferers and their families would need ongoing support.
Canada, in 1957, is credited with having the first Daffodil Day as a fundraiser.
So, tomorrow will mark 37 years since the first Irish Daffodil Day, and right across the country a myriad of fundraising events, sales, raffles, draws, coffee mornings, and many other eye-catching activities will swing into action.
The Irish Cancer Society spends close on €30 million annually and gets approximately €6 million from the Government. The balance is raised by voluntary efforts and volunteers in every county.
Whilst fundraising goes on all year round, Daffodil Day is the ‘main event’ and has proved a wonderful success over the decades.
The daffodil has become singularly associated with the efforts of the Irish Cancer Society - no signs are needed, no, the flower speaks for itself. I suppose the beautiful golden yellow flower is the one that brings colour to the countryside after a dark winter and is a sign of hope for the future and for better days to come.
Truly, the English poet William Wordsworth summed it up so well;
Be generous tomorrow as always, because around 50,000 people each year are diagnosed with cancer in this country. It’s a very high figure, but then again early detection is much better now than in years gone by. Every euro collected on Daffodil Day will help the Society with research and assistance for cancer patients. On the positive side, there are hundreds of thousands of cancer survivors in Ireland.
The ethos of the Irish Cancer Society is to offer help, information, and comfort to those who need it. No doubt about it, but cancer seems to be getting more prevalent especially in our western society. Diet, lifestyle and longevity are all possible, indeed probable factors, so more and more research is so, so vital.
Research - especially clinical research - is painstaking and expensive so every daffodil sold will benefit someone.
A few years back, the National Bowel Screening Programme was introduced, in response to the rapidly increasing number of cases of bowel cancer being reported - especially in men.
Sometimes, this form of cancer can have few outward symptoms, meaning that often it is at a very advanced stage when detected.
All males over 60 years of age were offered a free ‘home’ bowel screening test. All the necessary little bits and pieces were posted to men over that age. Instructions on how to complete the test were included as well as a special pre-paid envelope to be sent to the HQ of the Bowel Screening Programme in Dublin.
This test has proved to be very accurate in detecting even the very early latent stages of bowel cancer.
The efficiency of the programme was brought home to me in a very positive manner. About five days after my 60th birthday, the little parcel arrived by post one morning. I thought at first it was another birthday card or present - in reality, it was a kind of present!
We were after the breakfast that particular February morning when I opened up the envelope and soon realised what the contents were all about.
“Strike while the iron is hot,” says I - thinking there’s no time like the present time.
I won’t outline the complete procedure - suffice it to say what I had to do was go up to the toilet and, with a tiny little brush, take a sample of my ‘number two’. I completed the operation no bother.
It was then put into a little plastic vial with a tight, sealed lid - no problem at all. Later that day, I was going to town so I posted off the pre-paid envelope - job done in jig time.
According to the letter that came with the parcel, if anything untoward or problematic was detected, I would be informed within a week.
My mind was at ease until about three days later I made a horrific discovery. On the cistern at the back of the toilet, behind the spare toilet paper, what did I discover? You guessed it - my little ‘sample’ vial with its vital contents!
O Lord, then it twigged with me – the morning I was doing the job in the toilet a neighbour called. I must have left the sample on the cistern meaning to bring it down later.
Well, on that same morning the bowel testing package arrived, I’d been ‘scratching’ away without much success. Eventually, didn’t I get the ‘Three Stars’ which might get me onto the TV show.
I had an envelope to post the Three Stars in to RTÉ and I must have got my envelopes mixed up. Instead of sending my ‘sample’ into the Bowel Screening HQ, I had sent them the Three Stars!
When I realised what I had done, I was in a fair pickle to tell ye the truth! The only thing I thought was, ’twould have been far worse if I’d sent the sample into RTÉ!
I didn’t know what to do. But three days later I got a letter from the Bowel Screening Programme – their name on the outside of the envelope! I was slow opening it - but got a pleasant surprise! The letter read: “Dear Mr Arnold, the sample you sent was insufficient, enclosed is another test kit for your use, with kind regards...”
Well, I can tell ye, I never went up that stairs faster than that morning and got the job done again. I never left it out of my sight until it went into the post box!
About two weeks later, I got back my ‘results’ from my second sample and all was well.
Just this week, I got the envelope again - apparently, it is advisable to repeat the test every few years.
No, I never did get back my Three Stars, but to be honest, a good result from the test was better by far than Spinning The Wheel!
Good luck to all helping with Daffodil Day tomorrow - great people helping a great cause.
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