Gabriella R’s story

I was in the third trimester of pregnancy with my second baby when I developed symptoms that were ‘likely related’ to my pregnancy. I had a routine colonoscopy two months after my son was born. The specialist removed a large polyp that he was glad to have found, everything looked normal. The histology on the polyp came back a week later, the doctor called me back – the polyp had cancer in it. I was 31, breastfeeding an eight week old baby, a caesarean birth two months earlier, Mum to a two year old as well, and I had bowel cancer.

Next steps were quick and my little family left our regional town to the city for surgery – I had a PET scan, colonoscopy and right hemicolectomy in the same week. The surgery went well, the wait for histology on the resected bowel felt long. We stayed close to hospital, away from home for my recovery. My kids out of routine, and our future so unknown. But we did it. The pathology came back, my cancer was Stage 1 so the hemicolectomy was the end of my treatment.

I spent a lot of time on the Bowel Cancer Australia website, Facebook, Instagram. I read other’s stories, it helped me and my family to understand, to hear about others in my situation, to relate. I read information about my cancer, staging, my surgery. I found it to be an incredibly helpful resource in an incredibly difficult time. Who knew so many people live/ have lived with bowel cancer, and so many young like me.

My one piece of advice:

I’ve been reminded in this experience that it is a privilege to age, life can be incredibly fragile. Do the health checks, even when you’re young and busy. Doctors advocated for me to do tests, we found it early and I am one of the lucky ones.