A DORCHESTER-based charity is encouraging people to think “something’s not right here” when it comes to bodily changes.

Mission Remission is working with the NHS throughout Dorset in an effort to increase early diagnosis of cancer.

Laura Fulcher, founder of the community-led charity, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2014 but first started experiencing symptoms two years earlier when she was 29.

By the summer of 2013 her pain was so severe that Laura had to leave her job as a secondary school English teacher and that 18 month wait for diagnosis is something she said wasn’t particularly uncommon.

Laura said: “If I’m honest, the doctor wasn’t even remotely worried at the start even though I was absolutely desperate and in so much pain and, actually, I was made to feel a little bit like a nuisance. I didn’t have the information about how to navigate the system and what the right things were to say and that’s something that stops so many people from getting the help they probably need.”

In 2016 Laura decided to take matters into her own hands and established Mission Remission - an online hub of tools and support those going through cancer treatment and thereafter. The charity now has over 15,000 community members and one of their flagship proposals is keeping a symptom diary.

Laura said: “When you’re going back to GPs again and again it can oftentimes feel like you’re starting from scratch again and that’s where symptom diaries are so helpful. It gives you concrete information that you can share with your GP and make informed decisions over which pathways to go down.

“Even if it’s not cancer, and most of the time it won’t be, it’s so important that we trust our instincts when we feel something isn’t quite right and that we do go and get that checked out.”

The charity are set to meet Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care later today to discuss their hopes for a more intuitive, supportive “journey of care” for cancer patients.

Laura said: “Our Campaign for Change looks at all the stages from early diagnosis right the way through to what happens after treatment and, look, most of it comes down to communication, supportive relationships and being aware of how to navigate the system.”

To find out more visit: www.mission-remission.com/dorset-something-not-right