Rachel S’s story

After a recent hemithyroidectomy surgery to remove a benign nodule I had been monitoring for five years, I noticed a significant amount of increased bloating in my tummy.

Despite my extremely healthy diet, and lifestyle, I knew it wasn’t a ‘normal’ amount of bloating for me.

I proceeded to mention it to the GP every time I had an appointment for thyroid check-ups.

I’m not one to rush into panic mode but with persistent symptoms which eventually ramped up to a speck of faint blood here and there and pressure in my bum, I eventually got a colonoscopy referral from her (thankfully she did this, as I thought I was a bit young for it).

Turns out they found a cancerous tumour in my rectum, and I’ve had chemo, radiation, oral chemo, a bowel resection and temporary ileostomy followed by more chemo (last cycle today!) and hopefully reversal soon in conjunction with plenty of monitoring which I will seek great comfort in doing (along with nerves every time!)

My experience has been scary at times but mostly positive and I’m forever grateful I paid close attention to my body and spoke up when I knew something didn’t feel right.

My one piece of advice:

Don’t obsess over every little thing but do pay attention to any funny/weird/not quite right feelings in your body, and don’t be afraid to mention them to a GP. Mine did send me for other scans and tests before we got to colonoscopy, so they need to piece all the info together. But without it, they don’t know.

Don’t be afraid to ask for a referrals for peace of mind. Early intervention is key! And bowel cancer symptoms seem to only increase when it becomes more advanced. Also, always opt for top and tail scopes.