Being 36 with three children and a busy lifestyle I just put my tiredness down to all of this.

In Dec 2021 I presented to hospital three times with severe abdominal pain and after an ultrasound was told nothing was wrong and to follow up with my GP. My amazing GP sent me to a specialist who performed an endoscopy before Christmas. I was then sent for an iron infusion in January and my GP, still wanting answers, sent me to a second specialist in February.

This specialist was convinced it was my gall bladder playing up and planned a removal in July but sent me for a colonoscopy to make sure she wasn't missing anything. I was in the fit, healthy and under 40 category so nothing was suspected in the bowel.

Luckily this surgery in April found the cause of the pain and in early May I had further surgery to remove my tumor. The early diagnosis meant no spread and now I can move on with life as it was before.

My one piece of advice for others reading this would be to slow down and listen to your body. You can’t help others if you are not helping yourself. If I was doing this, I would have realized something wasn't right a while before my diagnosis.