Natalie M’s story

Being 36 with three children and a busy lifestyle I just put my tiredness down to all of this. In Dec 2021 I presented to hospital 3 times with severe abdominal pain and after an ultra sound was told nothing was wrong and to follow up with my GP. My amazing GP sent me to a specialist who performed an endoscopy before Christmas. I was then sent for an iron infusion in January and my GP still wanting answers sent me to a second specialist in Feb. This specialist was convinced it was my gall bladder playing up and planned a removal in July but sent me for a colonoscopy to make sure she wasn’t missing anything. I was in the fit, healthy and under 40 category so nothing was suspected in the bowel. Luckily this surgery in April found the cause of the pain and in early May I had further surgery to remove my tumor. The early diagnosis meant no spread and no I can move on with life as it was before.

One piece of advice for others:

Slow down and listen to your body. You cant help others if you are not helping yourself. If i was doing this i would have realized something wasn’t right a while before my diagnosis.