Michelle’s story Early-Onset All Decembeard Dry July Early-Onset Early-Onset Loved One Late-Onset The last few months I’ve had this sudden thought that I need my bowel checked, but I had no symptoms or reason to. I found it so hard to find information on how to do a test because I was under 40 and had no symptoms. Fast forward to mid-October 2024 I finished a normal day of work, got in my car and suddenly started to get painful cramps. I saw a doctor and had a blood test which showed infection markers were high and over the course of four weeks I’d been put on four rounds of antibiotics, but my infection markers kept rising. After two weeks I had a different pain, it was sharp and never went away. During those 4 weeks I had a CT scan which showed wall thickening of my bowel. My doctor, thinking it was inflammatory bowel disease, kept me on my antibiotics. My doctor then sent me to hospital after four weeks, as I was not getting better. I was drinking my PicoPrep for a colonoscopy the next day but kept vomiting up the last sachet. Cut to the next day, it was revealed that my bowel was blocked by a tumour and I had emergency surgery that night. I had a laparotomy, I had my appendix removed to empty out my large bowel that was full of PicoPrep and poop. I am currently living with a temporary colostomy, which I’ll keep till after Chemo which I will start in the new year of 2025. In my CT that I had at hospital it was seen that my cancer had spread to my liver. I have 10 small tumours on my liver, the biggest at 3cm. I’m having a port placed in my chest next week. It shocks me that I’ve probably had this cancer going undetected for a long time. I had no blood or any change in my bowel habits. My one piece of advice: Write down all questions even if you think they are silly, because news of having cancer can make your head spin and you seriously can’t think straight. I’ve found it helpful to write things down and ask them at my next appointments. I have a young son who is eight and having to try explain to him what’s happening was hard, but just make sure you explain as simply as possible and try to remain as open to their questions you can. Published: January 9, 2025