Claire R’s story

Shortly after my 30th birthday and after 8 months of symptoms (with my fourth child only 8 months) I finally had my endoscopy and colonoscopy and was woken up in the surgical hallway to be told ‘we found a cancerous tumour’, it was too big for the cameras to fit through.

I had major surgery and was informed I had stage 3b Bowel cancer. Six months of ‘mop up’ chemotherapy followed. I was fortunate to surprise my medical team with a miracle pregnancy.

When my baby was 8 months old I got the devastating news my cancer was back and had spread to three places now and that I am stage 4 and ‘incurable (at age 32)’.

I am currently back on a stronger chemotherapy and praying we can find the right combination of chemo to help me make memories with my 5 young babies!

There is no bowel cancer in my family history and when my symptoms started I was told I likely had Chrones disease as I was at the right age for the onset of that.

I hope my story helps others to make the choice to see their GP if they have symptoms instead of putting it off. I also hope the negative stigmas of colonoscopies become a thing of a past because if I/my medical team hadn’t pushed for mine I probably wouldn’t still be here.

Colonoscopies can save lives and should not be a taboo subject. Bowel cancer can be curable if caught early, which is something I have learnt and try to spread the knowledge of.

I hope something can be done for the horrendous colonoscopy wait time in the public system or for there to be a better rebate for private ones!