Carley’s story

I was diagnosed with Stage 4 bowel cancer at the age of 27. I had a colonoscopy and my doctor had found a 48mm tumour which was nearing a full bowel obstruction. Further scans revealed it had spread to both lobes of my liver. Less than a month later I had 20cm of my colon and 26 lymph nodes removed. Five weeks after my first surgery I was on the operating table again to have 70% of my liver cut out and my gall bladder to go with it.

I started chemo six weeks later only to find it was in both of my lungs. My oncologist suggested stronger chemotherapy (FOLFOXIRI) so that’s what we did. After six rounds my PET scan showed no cancer. My condition is considered treatable but not curable as the nodules in my lungs could not be removed. I still receive treatment every two weeks and get scanned every three months for monitoring.

As much as the situation is unfortunate, I consider myself to be very lucky. Bowel cancer wasn’t on any of my doctors’ radars which I believe led to my late diagnosis. I feel strongly about sharing my story to raise awareness and help create a shift in the attitude of bowel cancer being an ‘old person’s’ disease.

My one piece of advice:

Advocate for yourself, you know your body better than any doctor. Push for further testing if you feel something isn’t right, you aren’t wasting anybody’s time.