Over the past 6 months, Nick Lee, CEO and Founder of The Jodi Lee Bowel Cancer Foundation, has been travelling far and wide across Australia to deliver our Workplace Prevention Program. Nick has presented to thousands of employees, at organisations including Southern Colour, Maxima, SA Power Networks, City of Marion and Sunraysia Medical Imaging over the recent months; raising awareness about bowel cancer prevention and the steps staff can take to lead a healthy and active life.

And for the first time, Nick took the Workplace Prevention Program to our neighbours in New Zealand where he presented to staff at American Express and Electrolux.

Locally, a fantastic early detection story was shared. A RedArc Electronics employee attended a session with Nick and took one of the screening tests that was offered to staff at the end of the presentation. With a brother-in-law currently battling stage IV bowel cancer, the employee decided to do the test…

This particular employee wrote to The Jodi Lee Bowel Cancer Foundation to share his experience… “After a couple of weeks I did the test and after a few more, received back a positive result. Naturally my heart sank but I was reassured by everyone around me it was probably a false result. When I visited the GP after receiving the positive result, he was amused and confused why I’d even taken the test. Nonetheless, he referred me to the specialist who gave me much the same response. He said I needed to have a colonoscopy to rule anything out, but made it clear this was really more of a formality because of the results – he didn’t expect it to show anything.

Fast forward a couple of weeks… When I woke up from the colonoscopy the specialist requested me to see him straight away. I got wheeled around to him (still groggy from the anaesthetic) and found him in total shock / disbelief. He said that he’d found and removed 6 polyps! Last week I found out that 2 of the polyps had been the ‘nasty’ type and I’m extremely lucky that I took the test. I’ve just turned 30, never smoked and hardly ever been much of a drinker. I’m by no means an athlete, but I’m generally pretty healthy and had absolutely no signs or symptoms of an issue.”

The Jodi Lee Bowel Cancer Foundation’s Workplace Prevention Program integrates easily into any health and wellbeing program or runs as a stand-alone session for employers wanting to provide their staff with an educational, powerful and personal message about bowel cancer awareness.

If you would like to get your workplace involved in our Workplace Prevention Program, and help protect your employees against bowel cancer, please contact us at [email protected].