After almost two years of worsening stomach pain, Sam Launder was told he had irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Then aged 27, he thought it was something he simply had to learn to live with.
But a year later the doctors discovered he had a far more serious condition, which meant Sam needed his bowel, including his rectum, removed.
He says now, however, he’s ‘in the best place I’ve been for a long time’.
It all started with more frequent bowel movements, about four to five times a day, as Sam, now 33, recalls. ‘At first, this didn’t worry me – I was fit, active
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