I was diagnosed with bowel cancer in August 2022, I was just 30 years old! Getting to the point of actual diagnosis was long-winded, with over two years of hospital visits and GP’s telling me the symptoms I was experiencing couldn’t be anything too serious as I was too young.  

Following a colonoscopy, I was eventually diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer. As my tumor was completely blocking my bowel, I was scheduled for surgery the next day. This was to be the beginning of a very long and stressful time for me. I awoke from surgery with a temporary ileostomy and only a few days later had an anastomotic leak and sepsis. I was so critically unwell, my husband had to agree to a second major emergency surgery late in the evening to create a permanent end colostomy. The result was 30 days in hospital.   

When I finally came out of hospital, I completed a round of IVF. Not yet having had my own children was another layer to the heartbreak of what was happening to me. I went onto six months of intense chemotherapy, possibly one of the hardest physically and mentally draining things I have endured. I still experience side effects from chemotherapy, such as neuropathy, today.   

I completed chemotherapy treatment in April 2023 and then joined the waitlist to have one of my stomas reversed. Having been born with congenital heart disease, I am no stranger to the hospital scene. I underwent my third open heart surgery just a few years prior to my cancer diagnosis to have a mechanical mitral valve and pacemaker placed. Unfortunately, my heart condition made surgeries extremely complicated and I was told the colostomy reversal was too high risk. I kept pushing until eventually I found a colorectal surgeon who agreed to try. 

I admit to really struggling to adapt to having both stomas after receiving them in such an emergency setting. Hence, it was really important to me to attempt a reversal, even with the major life-threatening risks.  I had a Hartman’s reversal at the end of July 2024, making it my third full open bowel surgery.  The surgery, much to everyone’s surprise, was a success thanks to some very careful planning from both my cardiologist and colorectal surgeon who I am extremely grateful for.   

In November 2024, I finally went in for my ileostomy reversal, my fourth and hopefully my final bowel surgery.   

I believe my treatment plan would have been far less invasive, had my diagnosis happened a lot sooner. However, these struggles have made me a passionate advocate for early bowel cancer detection and for advocating for your own health.  

 I am pleased to share that I am currently in remission and recovering well.