Jess Rock, 26, is speaking out after doctors dismissed her colon cancer symptoms as IBS for more than a year.
The West London woman first sought medical help when her bowel habits changed dramatically. Her stools would shift in consistency and color “from one day to the next,” something she found “genuinely alarming” given how regular her movements had been previously. She also experienced abdominal pain that ranged from mild to “excruciating.”
At first, doctors told Rock she had a stomach bug. When her symptoms failed to subside, they suggested irritable bowel syndrome instead. She followed official advice for managing IBS, cutting out dairy, gluten, and spices. Nothing worked. “When none of it made a difference and the diarrhea, abdominal pain, and constipation kept going, I knew it had to be something more serious than IBS,” she said in her interview with UNILAD.
Rock kept pushing for answers, visiting A&E weekly at one point. “My GP was understanding at first, but as more tests came back clear, I started to feel like I was being treated as someone with health anxiety rather than someone with a real problem,” she said. “At one point I was in A&E weekly, just trying to get answers. Young people shouldn’t have to fight this hard to be taken seriously — there should be doctors advocating for them, not the other way round.”
She said her first doctor was “passive” about her concerns because of her age and was in “no rush to dig deeper.” A second doctor “actually listened” and referred her to a specialist. “Having developed a heightened anxiety around my health since the pandemic, I pushed hard and refused to accept no for an answer,” she recalled.
In October 2025, after a year and a half of seeking answers, Rock was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor of the colon. Surgeons were shocked, telling her she was “far too young” for this type of cancer, which typically develops in people between 50 and 65. The tumor was already grade 2 out of 3, requiring urgent surgery. The procedure lasted over three hours and involved removing part of her right colon. Doctors had warned she might need a permanent stoma bag, but the surgery went to plan and she avoided that outcome.
“The reality of going through something so invasive at this age is genuinely frightening,” Rock said. “You start questioning what your future looks like, whether you’ll get to the milestones everyone else takes for granted.”
Because of her cancer type, recurrence remains a risk even though her scans currently show no disease. “As it stands today, I am clear, and I’ll be monitored with scans every six months for the next five years,” she explained. “The fear of recurrence never really leaves you. While people my age are worrying about careers and travel, I’m carrying a much deeper, quieter fear about my health and what’s ahead.”
Rock believes the pandemic shifted healthcare priorities toward elderly patients, leaving younger people overlooked. “The process wears you down, physically and mentally, until you start to wonder whether you’ve imagined the whole thing yourself,” she said, “especially when even the people closest to you assume the doctors must be right.” Since her diagnosis, her doctor has admitted that nobody at the practice suspected such a rare disease purely because of her age.
“Now, when I raise a concern, I’m actually listened to,” Rock said. “Age isn’t a boundary for cancer — you can always be the exception to the rule.”
Rock’s story appears in UNILAD’s Gen C series, which features young adults with cancer sharing their experiences.