It was the final year 75-year-old Nigel Wiggins would have received a test from the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program, but it was truly one of the most important tests of his life.
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"I had been taking the test for 20 years and I'd never had a positive result until my very last one, because the free tests stop coming at 74 [years of age]," he said.
In early December 2020, Mr Wiggins, of Bega on the NSW South Coast, received the "shocking" news that his test had come back positive. The same afternoon he received his result, he was on the phone to make an appointment with his doctor.
He said there were no prior symptoms that could have alerted him to the cancer, so the news, "really knocked my socks off," he said.
It was straight in for a colonoscopy with his "fantastic" surgeon from Merimbula on the NSW South Coast, Dr Michelle Tan, who said the cancer was in his lower rectum. He was sent to Canberra to receive chemo and radiation therapy as "there's none of that on the coast unfortunately".
For the following six weeks, Mr Wiggins travelled to the Icon Cancer Centre Canberra on Mondays and Fridays to receive his treatment.
"There's nothing you can't handle in life if you keep on top," he said.
The treatment helped downsize the cancer, however Mr Wiggins underwent a 10 hour surgery at South East Regional Hospital on the NSW Far South Coast to remove the remainder of the tumour, as well as lymph nodes.
Since the surgery, Mr Wiggins has had to adjust to living with a stoma - a surgically created opening in the abdomen that allows bowel movements to travel to a colostomy bag.
Although it might seem like a burden to some, Mr Wiggins has taken it into his stride and said "it's not a big ordeal".
"I thought, I can handle this, this is not going to beat me - no way.
"With this I can go down the street, do my shopping, my gardening, ride my bike, I get in the surf, I have a beer, a glass of red wine - I'm back to normal, I'm 100 per cent," he said.
Although the first few days were challenging to adjust, he said his community nurse was able to give him the confidence to handle the task at hand.
He said his life is pretty much back to normal now and his lifestyle and diet have remained as they were prior to his diagnosis.
"It doesn't change your lifestyle, it doesn't mean you've got to sit in the chair and wait to die - because I'm certainly not doing that," he said.
Mr Wiggins' message to fellow Australians over the age of 50 - "when the test arrives, do not put it in the drawer and just forget about it. Put it straight in the toilet and just do it!"
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He wanted to emphasise there was no embarrassment involved in taking the test - you simply place a flushable toilet liner, do your business, take a small sample and repeat. Afterwards, it's only a matter of filling out the form and sending the samples off in the post in a discreet reply paid envelope.
"It saved my life, it could maybe save someone else - that's what I'm trying to emphasise," he said.
Statistics show only 43.5 per cent of Australians have been taking the bowel cancer screening test as part of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program, and for men it was even lower at just 41.3 per cent.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Mark Butler wanted to encourage Australians aged 50 and over to make time to look after their health by doing their free bowel test when it arrived in the mail.
"If we can get 60 per cent of eligible Australians screening and keep it that way, we can save 84,000 lives by 2040," he said.