A mother of six has shared the four symptoms she noticed leading up to her cancer diagnosis.
Elaine Griffin, from New Jersey, was 44 when she was diagnosed with Stage 2b colon cancer last spring. She now aims to increase awareness about this life-threatening illness.
Let’s delve into the symptoms Griffin observed, and fortunately, she was declared cancer-free by September.
Her journey began in the fall of 2023 when she started experiencing what she thought were food intolerances. She recounted to the New York Post how she attributed intense bowel movements to a gluten allergy, even starting a journal to monitor her food intake and its effects.
“It was one of those things where I knew something was going on, but I didn’t see it was anything more than, ‘OK, maybe I’m just getting older’,” Griffin told the Post.
However, after several breakfasts where she felt as though ‘glass was going through my intestines,’ she decided to drastically change her diet by eliminating dairy, bread, grains, and pasta.
Griffin mentioned: “I experienced intense and sudden abdominal pain pretty frequently. My abdomen was bloated.”
“It was very hard to sit, stand and use the bathroom. I started noticing blood with each bowel movement.”
She also noted that her stool was narrow and did not provide much relief after using the toilet.
“I was not exercising or consciously trying to lose weight,” she explained to the New York-based publication, but she still lost an alarming 20 pounds in January 2024.
“I did begin to associate food with pain,” she added.
Over the subsequent months, her symptoms worsened, prompting a visit to RWJBarnabas Health, a comprehensive health care facility in New Jersey.
Griffin described herself as very active—caring for six children can do that to a person.
But she observed significant changes in her physical condition.
“I started to feel more exhausted doing very normal things — climbing a flight of stairs, walking down a hallway, things that would never, ever cause any kind of stress,” she described of her symptoms.
She underwent a colonoscopy to determine the cause of her symptoms, which confirmed her worst fears.
Doctors were unable to complete the procedure due to a large tumor blocking her colon.
In April 2024, she was diagnosed with colon cancer based on the findings. Fortunately, after undergoing treatment, she has now been declared cancer-free.