I was forced to have 12-hour pig skin surgery and my bum sewn up after doctors ignored my symptoms for years
A MUM was forced to undergo 12-hour surgery to reconstruct her bowels and vagina using pig skin after doctors dismissed her cancer symptoms for years.
Claire Boulton underwent the surgery last week (January 16) following a shock bowel cancer diagnosis on her wedding day in April 2019.
After the huge operation to completely remove the her bowel, scaffold her vagina, re-site her stoma and give her a tummy tuck, Claire hopes her “great sex life” with husband Matthew Boulton, 54, will be protected.
The 47-year-old had her vagina attached to her spine with pig skin to prevent a prolapse after the gruelling bowel surgery.
After recently losing eight stone, the former carer suffers “excruciating” daily pain due to her “saggy skin” dragging her stoma bag down and hopes the tummy tuck will aid her mobility.
While the operation carried risks, Claire remains “really positive” and believes the surgery will give her a “better life” going forwards.
Claire, who lives in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, said: “I don’t think there’s many other people in the world that have actually had this full operation.
“I’m having the rest of the bowel removed and my bottom sewn up. If my vagina prolapsed they wouldn’t be able to do anything about it, I’d just have to lose it.
“Because of my age, I’ve got a great sex life with my husband and I’m not ready to lose it. They’ve agreed that they’re going to do a scaffolding of my vagina and attach my vagina to my spine with pig skin to prevent a prolapse.
“Normally you’d wait until you get a prolapse but because I’m not really able to have more surgeries after this, they’re doing everything in one.
“Even now after I’ve had this operation I will have a zero risk of bowel cancer because there will be no bowel or rectum in my body.
“I will have a zero risk of ovarian or womb cancer, I will have a small chance of stomach cancer.”
Claire’s health battles over the years
Claire was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2009, which is a chronic condition spreading pain all over her body, and it caused mobility issues and rapid weight gain.
However, after successfully losing eight stone between 2019 and 2024 she has been left with “saggy skin” that causes her “excruciating” pain.
Claire said: “Currently because of the saggy skin that’s there, it means it drags the weight of the [stoma] bag down which may or may not have added to me getting the hernia.
“With the hernia it just means that every step I take it’s like the wobble of the belly and the movement of everything is just excruciating.
“Anything I’m doing, even lying in bed at night, if I lie on my side, the weight of my skin pulls the bag and the hernia and then it will add to leakage and things.
“By having the tummy tuck it’s going to take away all that excess skin that’s possibly causing some problems now but will also help to prevent those problems going forward once we have the new stoma without the hernia.
I’m just wanting to have a bit of a better life. Anything has got to be better than the way it’s been
Claire Boulton
“I am hoping it means I can start being more physical again. I’m hoping it means I can walk further distances. Maybe start to get a little bit of me back.”
Claire continued: “I just want to not be in pain all the time. For the last year and a half I’ve been in pain every evening and have to take serious pain killers just to be able to get any sleep at night due to the pain.
“I’m just wanting to have a bit of a better life. Anything has got to be better than the way it’s been. I just want to be able to enjoy my children. I feel like I’ve missed out on a lot.”
The mum-of-two revealed the surgery carried a 2 per cent risk of morbidity and has already been postponed twice, but is safer than having multiple different surgeries.
Claire and Matthew, who met in a nightclub on Claire’s 22nd birthday, have grown “stronger” through the ordeal and are still able to enjoy married life.
What are the red flag warning signs of bowel cancer?
IT'S the fourth most common cancer in the UK, the second deadliest - yet bowel cancer can be cured, if you catch it early enough.
While screening is one way of ensuring early diagnosis, there are things everyone can do to reduce their risk of the deadly disease.
Being aware of the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer, spotting any changes and checking with your GP can prove a life-saver.
If you notice any of the signs, don’t be embarrassed and don’t ignore them. Doctors are used to seeing lots of patients with bowel problems.
The five red-flag symptoms of bowel cancer include:
- Bleeding from the back passage, or blood in your poo
- A change in your normal toilet habits – going more frequently for example
- Pain or a lump in your tummy
- Extreme tiredness
- Losing weight
Tumours in the bowel typically bleed, which can cause a shortage of red blood cells, known as anaemia. It can cause tiredness and sometimes breathlessness.
In some cases bowel cancer can block the bowel, this is known as a bowel obstruction.
Other signs include:
- Gripping pains in the abdomen
- Feeling bloated
- Constipation and being unable to pass wind
- Being sick
- Feeling like you need to strain – like doing a number two – but after you’ve been to the loo
While these are all signs to watch out for, experts warn the most serious is noticing blood in your stools.
But, they warn it can prove tricky for doctors to diagnose the disease, because in most cases these symptoms will be a sign of a less serious disease.
Claire said: “Everything in our life has been a challenge. And you grow stronger, and then this happened and it was like ‘when am I going to get a break’.
“My husband has just been amazing. He is my rock. Nothing phases him. He’s woken up covered in s**t and been like, ‘never mind’. I don’t know how many people could do that. It’s all the little things.
“The day he married me; I was at the heaviest weight I’ve ever been in my whole life. He married me at the worst point in my life.
“I’d just found out I had cancer, I was the fattest I’d ever been and he chose after all those years of being with me, to marry me. I can’t even put that into words how that felt that day.”
NHS rolls out life-saving home testing for bowel cancer to over 50s
As of today (January 14) the NHS has expanded its bowel cancer screening programme to those aged 50 in England.
People aged 50 and 52 will now automatically receive a home test kit every two years by post when they become eligible, as part of plans to offer everyone 50-74 the screening test.
The test, called a faecal immunochemical test (FIT), looks for blood in a sample of your poo – a symptom of bowel cancer.
You collect the sample at home and send it by post to be tested.
Dame Deborah James, known as Bowelbabe was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in 2016 when she was 35 years old.
Before she lost her battle to cancer in 2022, she campaigned for greater awareness of the disease and encouraged people to check for signs and symptoms.
She also campaigned for the age threshold for the NHS bowel cancer screening programme to be lowered from the age of 60 to 50 years.
You’ll usually get the results of your bowel cancer screening home test (FIT kit) within 2 weeks after sending your poo sample in a letter sent to your home address.
Source: NHS