IMAGINE if there was a simple test that could save your life.

There is, and soon everyone over the age of 50 will be given the chance to take it.

I’m writing this from my hospital bed, after yet another op to treat my bowel cancer.

This time there’s a tumour wrapped around an artery, making it tricky to get to.

So, my doctors have placed gold bullets, yes real 24ct gold, inside my tumour so they can use cyber knife radiotherapy treatment to blast it.

This is now just a part of my life, living with stage 4 bowel cancer.

It’s a dark shadow that hangs over me, making me wish I could run away and hide.

I get moments when I can forget, for a little bit.

But with the end of a holiday, or weekend away and the start of yet another barrage of treatment, reality dawns…I can’t run away, I can’t escape this.

And that’s why I bang on about learning the signs and symptoms of this disease.

I shout about everyone checking their poo!

I do it, in the hope that I might be able to stop you going through this nightmare.

Catch bowel cancer early enough and it can be cured - you have a 97 per cent chance of living five years or more.

Catch it at stage 4 like me, and your chances of surviving for five years or longer is just seven per cent.

That’s why The Sun launched the No Time 2 Lose campaign, joining forces with campaigner Lauren Backler who lost her mum to bowel cancer at 55, and Bowel Cancer UK.

We called for the Government to lower the bowel screening age from 60 to 50 - and they actually listened.

We actually made a change, and it means that from the age of 50 you will all be invited to take a poo test, once every two years.

So now it’s really time for you to do your bit.

When you get that letter in the post inviting you to take part in the screening programme, don’t just ignore it.

Get the test sent out to you, and grit your teeth and get on with it.

It might be a bit grim, but it will take a couple of minutes and it might just save your life.

Don’t die because you are shy, and too embarrassed to do a simple poo test.

Nag your mums, dads, friends, colleagues and relatives to do the test when they reach the right age and get that call.

I have already started, with my mum.

I nagged her, and yes she did a poo in an ice cream tub to catch it.

In England, 59 per cent of people are already taking part in the current screening programme.

My wish is for the remaining 41 per cent to follow their lead.

Not only is the bowel cancer screening age changing, but the test used to screen for hidden signs in your poo is also changing.

And it’s good news.

Rather than having to do three poo samples, the new FIT test only needs one sample.

Pilot studies have shown more people do the new test, with uptake up by about ten per cent.

That’s because it’s easier and quicker to complete.

The FIT test is also more accurate, and has the potential to detect twice as many cancers and four times as many advanced tumours as the current test.

Thanks to lots of campaigning by Bowel Cancer UK, the new FIT test will be available in England this autumn, and in Wales next year.

Northern Ireland still need to get their backsides in gear and commit to the new test. And people living in Scotland already have access to the FIT screening test from the age of 50.

But whatever the test you get invited to take, and whenever that letter arrives through your door, it’s VITAL you do what it says.

Do the test, get screened and take an important step to enjoying a long and happy life.

My cancer is now inoperable and incurable.

Any treatment I have is merely buying me a bit of extra time with my babies.

But it doesn’t have to be like this for you lot.

Scraping a bit of poo on a card, or nagging your parents to do it, is a MUCH better option than dealing with bowel cancer - trust me, I know.

This simple test could save your life, and after all the handwork by so many people to make screening better and more widely available, there really is no excuse.

If my mum can do it, so can you…there really is No Time 2 Lose.