Just over a decade ago, Lynn Faulds Wood seemed to have the perfect life.
 A household name thanks to her award-winning work on Watchdog, her marriage to co-presenter John Stapleton was one of the strongest in showbiz and they had a three-year-old son. Then, aged 41, Lynn was diagnosed with bowel cancer, the second biggest killer in the UK. Since then, she has dedicated herself to raising awareness of the disease and its symptoms. Now, after a five-year absence from the small screen, she's returning to TV with a special consumer slot on GMTV from today, called Lynn'll Fix It. In her "early 50s" - she refuses to give away her exact age - her commitment to righting consumer wrongs still shines through when she talks about her fight to educate people about their "guts". "I could easily have lost my life," she says. "It just makes me want to try harder for other people. "But when I was diagnosed the symptoms advice was pretty hopeless, it was so generalised, that I didn't blame anyone for not recognising I had it. "I've really helped to improve the symptoms advice and I've really helped to improve the way people get diagnosed because of my own experiences." Backed in her fight by major medical bodies, and the founder of the charity Lynn's Bowel Cancer Campaign, the presenter, who was recently appointed the chair of a new European Cancer Patients' Coalition, has since been given the complete all-clear. "I'm cured," she says. "After about seven years you're taken to be cured with bowel cancer - it's the only good thing about this horrible, dismal disease, that it doesn't hang over your life forever, it can be cured. "In fact one of the things I'm involved in now is check-ups. We don't know how to follow up people with bowel cancer, whether to do nothing and let people come back if they think they've got a problem, or whether to do intensive follow-up. "In my case I probably had follow-up I didn't need. Now every 10 years I'll just go and be looked at. But it's not one of the things that frightens me any more because I know what to do about it. "I've produced this leaflet, telling people what all the symptoms might be and how to test them themselves before they ever go to their GP." Also a patron of the National Osteoporosis Society, Lynn seems to have had more than her fair share of health worries - as well as the bowel cancer, she had skin cancer, was misdiagnosed with osteo-arthritis and told she would get osteoporosis. "Later on I found out that was a bit exaggerated. Yes, I'm going to get osteoporosis in the future if I don't do anything about it but I can catch it in time," she says. Her son Nicholas is now 15 and she's determined to educate him about staying healthy. "I don't dwell on things, because that's the way to be counter-productive. "John is a naturally healthy person. He smoked and he'll tell you he drank too much, probably still does," she adds laughing, "and he was the red meat eater of the family and yet he's never had anything." Bowel cancer - the facts It is the second biggest cancer killer in the UK after lung cancer. Of 35,600 people diagnosed each year, 16,000 will die from it. It kills 60pc of sufferers but - if caught early - it is one of the most curable cancers. It begins as a wart-like growth on the inside wall of the bowel and may grow there for a relatively long time before spreading to other parts of the body. The most common symptoms include bleeding from the back passage, cramping pains, diarrhoea or severe constipation. These symptoms will be persistent over at least six weeks. But bear in mind that certain foods - uch as beetroot, baked beans, tomatoes and red peppers - can make your stools look as if they are covered in blood. Other symptoms include needing the loo more often, or feeling as if you do but being unable to go. Unexplained tiredness or weight loss may also be a symptom. But don't panic. At any time, one in five of us has a tummy upset or a bit of bleeding from the bottom, yet this doesn't mean we have cancer. Also, symptoms of bowel cancer are often similar to those of other problems, such as piles, fissures, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease or colitis. If your symptoms persist you should make an appointment to see your GP, who may refer you to your local hospital where you will undergo tests. These may include an examination with a short, thin telescope which is inserted into the anus. This takes a few minutes. Other tests may involve inserting a tube into the whole colon. Patients are usually sedated for this and should have someone pick them up from the hospital afterwards. * For a free factsheet from Macmillan Cancer call freephone (0808) 808-2020. For more information on bowel cancer and bowel diseases, ring the Lynn's Bowel Campaign 24-hour phone line on (0870) 242-4870 or send a 34p SAE to 5, St George's Road, Twickenham, TW1 1QS for the charity's booklet, Look Behind Your Symptoms. | 
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