BOWEL cancer patient Hillary Ives (pictured right) underwent keyhole surgery just 10 days after her shocking diagnosis.

She allowed The Herald to watch the groundbreaking 'single-port' procedure to raise awareness of the disease.

Hillary, aged 58, of Saltash, said she also wants to raise the profile of pioneering surgeons in Plymouth.

The mother-of-four urged others to be aware of the symptoms and see a GP at the earliest signs.

Speaking before yesterday's operation, she said: "You need to take your life in your hands and be aware of your body.

"And if there's something wrong, follow it up straight away. If you don't, you've only got yourself to blame."

Symptoms can include bleeding from the bottom or a persistent change in bowel habit, especially going to the toilet more often or experiencing looser stools for several weeks. Other signs are abdominal pain, weight loss and tiredness.

Hillary's said her first obvious symptoms were around three months ago when she had a persistent rumbling stomach. In June she started getting a severe cramp in her right side, and vomiting.

She visited her GP, underwent tests and was referred to a gastroenterologist. She said she underwent a CT scan a month ago but did not receive the results for three weeks.

When she visited her GP on August 23 after noticing blood in her faeces, he gave her the news.

"For a few days afterwards, I couldn't say the word - the 'big C'," said Hillary. "It was a shock. I'm still in a whirl. I had told my daughter on Tuesday, that's when it really came home to me.

"But to my mind, you might as well stay positive. If your number's up, there's not a thing you can do about it no matter how much you want to change it.

"It's all happened so quickly. I was told on the Monday, saw consultant Mr Coleman on Wednesday and am in surgery a week later.

"He's done 10 of these procedures before and had a 100 per cent success rate so I figure I got the best in the end."

If successful, the operation should leave her with no lasting effects to her health. She said will get the test results from the operation after about 10 days.