Sarah M’s story

I was diagnosed with Stage 2 bowel cancer at age 40.

I booked in with the GP for a general checkup shortly after my 40th birthday.  A full blood count returned a low iron range but was otherwise ok. I hadn’t felt well for some time but accepted the ‘busy and tired menstruating mum’ explanation and started taking iron supplements. 

Fast forward 3 months and I passed a stool with a substantial amount of blood.  An emergency appointment with a GP followed two days later. The young GP explained that she had recently been to a seminar with GI surgeons and they advised that if a patient presented with symptoms of blood in their stool that a referral be made without delay, even if the patient was considered young.  

Two weeks later after a consult with the GI surgeon in Noosa I was booked in for a colonoscopy. It was a Saturday afternoon when I awoke to the life changing words ‘I’m sorry we’ve found a 6cm tumour in your bowel’.  Despite the large size of the tumour, my tumour markers were all within normal range and other than blood in my stool symptoms had been mild and did not trigger cause for alarm. 

I was fortunate that the surgery was as successful as it could be and that none of the 32 lymph nodes removed contained cancer. This meant I escaped the brutality of chemotherapy. The healing journey has taken some time, but I’ve just passed my annual scans with flying colours. 

The diagnosis was a life altering moment, especially as a parent of young children, and it is still incredibly difficult to talk about it.  However, awareness of early onset bowel cancer is vitally important as incidence of the disease skyrockets in Australia. 

I credit the excellent outcomes to the competence of the young Noosa GP for her immediate referral and the no nonsense approach and efficiency of my GI surgeon. From presentation at GP to surgery it was about 3 weeks. The tumour had nearly broken through the colon wall and had there been any further delay in diagnosis due to a lack of understanding about early onset bowel cancer the prognosis may have been bleak.  Nobody deserves to die because their GP wasn’t educated well enough about early onset bowel cancer. 

Through my own positive GP referral experience and efficiencies of all the healthcare providers I’ve reaped the benefits of capturing this disease relatively early. I strongly advocate for prompt referral and screening for anyone at a young age experiencing symptoms of bowel cancer.  The symptoms can be vague but trust your gut (excuse the pun!) if you aren’t feeling well and push for answers if you are dismissed.  Bowel cancer is no longer an old person’s disease.