I was diagnosed with bowel cancer in April 2020 right in the thick of Covid-19 in Melbourne.

Diagnosed on a Friday, I found myself seeing a colorectal surgeon at 8.30am the following Monday morning! So I knew it was serious.

‘Sandra, you have Stage 3 bowel cancer.’

I had six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, surgery to remove the tumour and also to perform an ileostomy surgery to give me a stoma.

Sixteen more weeks of chemotherapy and if all went well another surgery to reverse the ileostomy... I am ecstatic to say I underwent my final surgery in February of 2021!

I had no history of bowel cancer in my family and my systems were misunderstood by my GP, so I went back and asked for a colonoscopy. My road has been hard some days, but I’d do it all again if it meant I could save someone else.

Please listen to your own body and remember your life is worth living ♥️