Liz, 72, from Norfolk, has been a lifelong advocate for healthy living – and for health checks. She explains: “I’ve always been very aware of my health. I’ve exercised all my life, run marathons, eaten healthily and generally looked after myself. For me, getting health checks is just part of the same thing. It’s an investment in myself.”
It’s an investment that first paid off for Liz a few years ago, when one of her tests threw up a red flag – a risk indicator that something might not be quite right.
“My local test site is just a ten minute drive away,” says Liz. “It’s all very well set up with very knowledgeable staff, and the whole thing only takes 15-20 minutes. Your report is then emailed or posted out to you. This time when I got mine it had a red flag. It had picked up blood in my stool sample, and the recommendation was I needed to go and see my GP.
“I was very surprised as I hadn’t noticed anything myself, but off I want to the GP. They found the report very helpful, and after looking at the results they immediately referred me to the hospital for a colonoscopy. It showed I had ulcerative colitis – swellings in the colon that bleed, and can lead to cancer of the colon without treatment. I’m now on medication and monitoring for the rest of my life to keep it under control.”
Needless to say, Liz has continued to go for her Bluecrest Wellness health assessment every year. More recently another issue was highlighted.
She continues: “A few years later, I got another red flag, this time for abnormal liver enzymes. Back I went to the GP, and eventually back to the hospital, where I had a liver biopsy which confirmed a diagnosis of autoimmune hepatitis. Combined with the ulcerative colitis it meant I was at high risk for cirrhosis and liver cancer. Now I’m on steroids and autoimmune suppressants - again to keep the condition from worsening.
“I had never had any bowel issues, or any liver issues before, or even been a big drinker. I had absolutely no reason to think anything was wrong anywhere. But by the time I started to notice symptoms it might well have been too late to do anything about them.
“The problem with the NHS is that you just can’t get this sort of check done. They can really only look after you when something’s gone wrong. I don’t want to wait for something to go wrong – I don’t think anyone does. I want to be ahead of the game and I want to have my quality of life.
“I’m a wife, a mum, a grandmother, a volunteer in my community, a power-walker and generally enjoy having an active lifestyle. Life would be pretty meaningless for me if I couldn’t do the things I enjoy any more. I don’t want to put any of that at risk when it’s in my power to do something about it.
“The fact is, we have to start looking after ourselves. It’s scary to think of your health as something you don’t have any control over – but you do. And if you break it down, a Bluecrest Wellness health check is tremendous value for money. For the cost of a couple of nice meals out in a year, or a few take-aways - or a glossy magazine every month - you can find out what’s going on inside your body BEFORE it even starts making you ill.
“It might give you peace of mind, or it might just give you years you wouldn’t have had otherwise. I think that’s well worth it.
“Personally, I feel incredibly lucky, and incredibly thankful. And I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Bluecrest Wellness health tests to anyone.”
