The unit is in a lovely big car park at Tesco so there is never any problem finding a space, it just doesn’t get any easier than that.
Michaell Joslin received his NHS bowel screening kit in the post just as the world was going into lockdown in 2020.
“I thought it was a good idea to do the test but to be honest I didn’t really give it a great deal of thought after I had sent it off. I didn’t have any particular symptoms apart from a bit of discomfort sometimes due to long-standing problems with ulcerative colitis.
“I wasn’t at all worried. I certainly had no inkling that I might have cancer,” says Michael. “It was a shock when the results came back to say a bit of blood had been found in my stools. That was not what I was expecting at all.”
A colonoscopy revealed a mass in the right side of Michael’s bowel and when he had surgery later that summer it was discovered the cancer had gone through the bowel wall and into the lymph glands. After the operation at Colchester Hospital, Michael was told he had responded well and his bowel was clear, but unfortunately, he was left with secondary cancer which had metastasized to his lungs.
“I now go for chemotherapy at the Collingwood Centre at Colchester Hospital once a fortnight,” says Michael who lives around ten miles away on Mersea Island which is accessed over a causeway.
“But between appointments I can attend the mobile unit in Tiptree to have my bloods taken and my Picc line flushed.
“The centre of Colchester can get pretty busy at times, and it can sometimes take me up to an hour to get to the hospital.
“But when my appointment is on the bus [unit], my drive is very gentle through pretty little country lanes. It’s a very easy journey so I arrive feeling calm and relaxed.
“The unit is in a lovely big car park at Tesco so there is never any problem finding a space, it just doesn’t get any easier than that.
I can rock up right outside, it’s so convenient, and whatever sort of day I am having I am guaranteed a bit of a laugh there. I get seen straight away, the whole thing is just so smooth and stress-free, and I find the shorter travelling time a great help.
“It’s such a brilliant service, I can’t praise it enough. I certainly really appreciate it and in a rural area like Essex where people have to drive long distances, it’s fantastic. There’s no anxiety about traffic jams or parking.”
For Michael, as well as the convenience there is the added bonus of getting to know the staff on the mobile unit.
“We all chat away about what is going on in our lives, if anyone is getting married or having babies, we all like go through the journey together and keep up to date with our big family events. It’s a bit like an extended family.
“I see the same driver every time I attend the unit and we always have a bit of a chat.
“It’s nice to see the familiar faces and I always spot the new ones too and have a little chat with them too to try and put them at ease if I can.”
“I am one of the lucky ones. I am still here four years later to tell my tale. I am 76 but it’s heart-breaking to see young people in their 20s and 30s with families going through cancer. I think the small environment on the bus [unit] offers a lot of support and comfort in that respect.”
“The intimacy and the caring on the bus [unit] is second to none. They do everything so well. I don’t feel awkward in any way. I think it’s amazing,” says Michael who worked for many years in insurance but latterly as a Community Support Officer for Essex Police.
“A downside of my treatment is I have had to give up riding my motorbike so just stick to gardening now, but in the grand scheme of things that’s not really important,” he says.
“I feel blessed that I have come this far, and I feel incredibly lucky to be able to benefit from the resources of both the hospital and the mobile unit.
“I am the sort of person who tends to go with the flow with most things and in this instance, I would say the whole process from start to finish on the bus [unit] flows very, very well.”
The unit is in a lovely big car park at Tesco so there is never any problem finding a space, it just doesn’t get any easier than that.
Michaell Joslin received his NHS bowel screening kit in the post just as the world was going into lockdown in 2020.
“I thought it was a good idea to do the test but to be honest I didn’t really give it a great deal of thought after I had sent it off. I didn’t have any particular symptoms apart from a bit of discomfort sometimes due to long-standing problems with ulcerative colitis.
“I wasn’t at all worried. I certainly had no inkling that I might have cancer,” says Michael. “It was a shock when the results came back to say a bit of blood had been found in my stools. That was not what I was expecting at all.”
A colonoscopy revealed a mass in the right side of Michael’s bowel and when he had surgery later that summer it was discovered the cancer had gone through the bowel wall and into the lymph glands. After the operation at Colchester Hospital, Michael was told he had responded well and his bowel was clear, but unfortunately, he was left with secondary cancer which had metastasized to his lungs.
“I now go for chemotherapy at the Collingwood Centre at Colchester Hospital once a fortnight,” says Michael who lives around ten miles away on Mersea Island which is accessed over a causeway.
“But between appointments I can attend the mobile unit in Tiptree to have my bloods taken and my Picc line flushed.
“The centre of Colchester can get pretty busy at times, and it can sometimes take me up to an hour to get to the hospital.
“But when my appointment is on the bus [unit], my drive is very gentle through pretty little country lanes. It’s a very easy journey so I arrive feeling calm and relaxed.
“The unit is in a lovely big car park at Tesco so there is never any problem finding a space, it just doesn’t get any easier than that.
I can rock up right outside, it’s so convenient, and whatever sort of day I am having I am guaranteed a bit of a laugh there. I get seen straight away, the whole thing is just so smooth and stress-free, and I find the shorter travelling time a great help.
“It’s such a brilliant service, I can’t praise it enough. I certainly really appreciate it and in a rural area like Essex where people have to drive long distances, it’s fantastic. There’s no anxiety about traffic jams or parking.”
For Michael, as well as the convenience there is the added bonus of getting to know the staff on the mobile unit.
“We all chat away about what is going on in our lives, if anyone is getting married or having babies, we all like go through the journey together and keep up to date with our big family events. It’s a bit like an extended family.
“I see the same driver every time I attend the unit and we always have a bit of a chat.
“It’s nice to see the familiar faces and I always spot the new ones too and have a little chat with them too to try and put them at ease if I can.”
“I am one of the lucky ones. I am still here four years later to tell my tale. I am 76 but it’s heart-breaking to see young people in their 20s and 30s with families going through cancer. I think the small environment on the bus offers a lot of support and comfort in that respect.”
“The intimacy and the caring on the bus [unit] is second to none. They do everything so well. I don’t feel awkward in any way. I think it’s amazing,” says Michael who worked for many years in insurance but latterly as a Community Support Officer for Essex Police.
“A downside of my treatment is I have had to give up riding my motorbike so just stick to gardening now, but in the grand scheme of things that’s not really important,” he says.
“I feel blessed that I have come this far, and I feel incredibly lucky to be able to benefit from the resources of both the hospital and the mobile unit.
“I am the sort of person who tends to go with the flow with most things and in this instance, I would say the whole process from start to finish on the bus [unit] flows very, very well.”
