Eliza’s story

In 2023 I started noticing a change in bowel habits & frequent blood passing when I would go. At the time I was working as a Registered Nurse in Emergency. I knew it wasn’t normal but passed it off as ‘probably’ just being haemorrhoids and a result of stress from shift work. After all, I was only 24 year olds at the time, lived a very healthy lifestyle and there was no history of bowel cancer in my family so I wasn’t overly stressed.

When the symptoms kept on persisting I knew it was then time to make an appointment with my GP. My GP was certain it was internal haemorrhoids but didn’t want to assume so I was booked in for a colonoscopy.

Three months went by and I scored myself a new job in the Endoscopy unit in the hospital as well as my appointment for my colonoscopy (what a coincidence/ terrible timing). You can only imagine how bad I wanted to cancel the appointment knowing all my work colleagues were going to be there.

Fast forward to post procedure… I was told I had X 4 sessile serrated lesions throughout my bowel & would require colonoscopy’s every three years for the rest of my life for close monitoring. It was my lesson learned to truly listen to your gut. Prevention is key, don’t ignore symptoms – no matter matter how healthy you think you may be.

My advice for others:

If you listen to your body when it whispers, you won’t have to listen when it screams. Trust your gut, your body will always let you know when something isn’t quite right.