September 2021 I was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer .
I had been having symptoms for around 5 months i put these off thinking it was normal and it would pass.
I was fatigued more then usual, irregular bowel movements and then I started seeing blood and mucus.
My amazing family doctor referred me to a specialist and told me to make an appointment asap. I went private as the public system was too long of a wait.
I was seen within 10 days and had a colonoscopy a week later .
I had to pay for my procedure and appointments, I was even going to put it off because I couldn’t justify that amount of money .
When I woke from my procedure I was told he had found a lesion and he wanted me to get a ct scan.
I was thinking okay a lesion mustn’t be to serious I mean the surgeon didn’t sound overly concerned.
He handed me a slip to get the scan which said 5cm lesion/tumour.
When I saw tumour I immediately started to panic but kept telling myself the surgeon would of said something if it was serious.
CT scan was a week later followed by MRI which confirmed I had 6.2cm tumour in my rectum.
3 weeks later I started radiation/chemo for 5 weeks then onto IV chemotherapy for four rounds .
This was so mentally challenging but I got through and have only just finished and I am now awaiting surgery.
I hope by sharing my story that it may help one person realise that maybe there symptoms aren’t normal and that cancer doesn’t discriminate. I completed all my chemo radiation I had my bowel resection and I have already had my reversal. Feeling so grateful that I am cancer free and I hope I can give at least some one hope and raise much needed awareness.
I am a mother to three young children who lived a healthy life frequently exercised and ate well mostly, I never thought I would hear the word cancer and be thrown into this unknown world but here I am.
