A 50 year old man came to Newtown Medical Centre because of his blood pressure. Not because of bleeding, not because of pain, and not because he felt unwell. His wife had checked his pressure at home, found it high for the first time, and told him to get it looked at.
That single decision, made at a kitchen table, is very likely the reason he is alive and cancer free today.
What actually happened
When he arrived in September 2024, our doctors did what should happen at every consultation: rather than treating the blood pressure reading in isolation, they worked through a full review of his body systems. That review turned up something he had not thought worth mentioning. He had been passing blood from the back passage.
Doctors call this haematochezia. Most people who notice it assume it is piles, or something they ate, and wait for it to pass. Sometimes that is exactly what it is. But bleeding is also the single most common early sign of a growth in the large bowel, and there is no way to tell the difference by looking. The only way to know is to look inside.
The colonoscopy
He had a diagnostic colonoscopy at Newtown. This is a test where a thin flexible camera is passed through the large bowel while you are sedated, so the doctor can see the lining directly. It is far more comfortable than most people fear, and it is the only test that both finds and removes early growths in one sitting.
The colonoscopy found multiple polyps. Polyps are small fleshy growths on the bowel lining. Most are harmless, but some slowly turn into cancer over years, which is exactly why we take them out when we find them. One of his polyps, in the sigmoid colon at the lower end of the large bowel, looked suspicious. A piece of it was taken and sent to the laboratory.
The result confirmed adenocarcinoma, the most common form of bowel cancer.
Staging: finding out how far it had gone
A cancer diagnosis is only half the picture. The next question is whether it has spread, because that decides the whole treatment plan. He had a staging CT scan of the chest, abdomen and pelvis at Newtown.
The scan brought the news everybody hopes for. The cancer was entirely contained within the bowel wall and had not spread to the liver, the lungs or anywhere else. In medical shorthand the stage was T2 N1b M0: grown into the muscle layer, involving a small number of nearby lymph nodes, and with no distant spread.
The surgery
On day twelve after he first walked through our doors, he had a left hemicolectomy: the affected section of the left side of the large bowel was removed along with the nearby lymph nodes, and the healthy ends were rejoined. He has since gone on to the appropriate oncology treatment for his stage.
Twelve days from a blood pressure check to definitive cancer surgery. That timeline matters enormously. Bowel cancer that is caught while it is still confined to the bowel is very often curable. The same cancer found a year or two later, after it has reached the liver or lungs, is a completely different conversation.
Why this case is worth telling
Three things stand out, and none of them are about luck.
He had no bowel complaint when he arrived. He came about blood pressure. The bleeding only surfaced because somebody asked the right questions. This is the difference between treating a number and examining a patient.
He was 50. Bowel cancer is still widely thought of as an old person's disease. It is not. Screening is generally recommended from age 45 to 50 for people at average risk, and earlier if bowel cancer runs in your family. Many people in Trinidad and Tobago reach their sixties without ever having been offered a colonoscopy.
Everything happened in one building. The consultation, the colonoscopy, the laboratory work, the CT staging scan and the operating theatre are all at Newtown. He was not sent across town for a scan, then placed on a separate waiting list for theatre. That is how twelve days is possible.
What a colonoscopy is actually like
The part people dread is the preparation, not the procedure. The day before, you take a prescribed preparation that empties the bowel, and you stay on clear fluids. On the day itself you are sedated, so most people remember nothing of it. The examination usually takes about twenty to forty minutes, and if polyps are found they are removed there and then, before they ever get the chance to become something worse.
You go home the same day, and you need someone to drive you because of the sedation.
Newtown Medical Centre: treating patients better, making patients better
We have shared this case, with identifying details removed, because the lesson in it belongs to everybody. A man felt fine. His wife checked his blood pressure. A doctor asked one more question. Twelve days later a cancer was out of his body while it was still curable.
If you have noticed bleeding, or a change in your bowels, or you have simply reached the age where you should be screened, please do not sit on it.
Bleeding, a change in your bowels, or due for screening?
Consultation, colonoscopy, laboratory testing, CT scanning and our operating theatre are all under one roof at 55 Woodford Street, Port of Spain. That is how a diagnosis and definitive surgery can happen in days rather than months. Book a consultation to discuss your symptoms or arrange screening. Our Accident and Emergency department is open 24 hours.
This article is for general education only and is not a substitute for personal medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider about your own health. If you believe you have a medical emergency, call or visit our 24-hour Accident and Emergency department immediately.