Katie L’s story

I woke up from my colonoscopy with my gastroenterologist holding my hand telling me ‘things don’t look good at all, unfortunately it looks like you have bowel cancer.’

Words that will never, ever leave me. You never think it will be you. The stories you read. The posts you flick through. Then one day you are one of the statistics.

I was dismissed with symptoms that I had for months by a GP, being told it was just ‘Haemorrhoids’.

Since being diagnosed, I have had major surgery which resulted in infections, long hospital stays, followed by chemotherapy all of which have had a huge impact on not only my physical, but mental health.

My one piece of advice:

I can’t stress enough to always get checked if you have any symptoms or are feeling unsure about anything. You know your body more than anyone, and if I didn’t advocate for myself and take myself to hospital that day to get checked, words from my oncologist ‘You would be in a much worse place’.

You are never too young.