Warning: This article contains discussion of cancer which some readers may find distressing.
A mother of three has shared the chilling moment she was initially told by a doctor that she was ‘too young’ to have colon cancer, years before actually being diagnosed with the disease.
Kelly, who has chosen not to disclose her last name, had noticed blood in her stool years before her eventual diagnosis. At that time, she went to her local doctor, but the issue was wrongly attributed to hemorrhoids, as Kelly recounted to The Patient Story.
“I had some blood in my stool years prior, and I had went to my doctor, and my doctor had told me, ‘You’re too young for colon cancer’,” she shared.
“And at that time, I was in my early 40s, and he said, ‘Oh, you’re too young for colon cancer, so it’s just a hemorrhoid or something’.
“And so, you know, I blew that off. I wish that I would have pushed and said, ‘No, let’s look into this more, let’s do a colonoscopy’.”
Kelly continued with her day-to-day life, but later on, she began to suffer from constipation, which progressively worsened until about six to eight weeks before her diagnosis. She described experiencing ‘very severe abdominal cramping’. After the pain subsided, she carried on with her life and relocated to Texas alone.
Eventually, the pain became unbearable, prompting Kelly to admit herself to the emergency room.
While seeking medical attention, she initially thought she was only dealing with severe constipation and dismissed the possibility of cancer because of the previous misdiagnosis.
Kelly described how she began vomiting, and during the examination, the doctor decided to perform a CT scan, noting that it wasn’t standard practice but necessary because her stomach was ‘pretty distended’.
Recalling the moment she was informed of her cancer diagnosis, she said: “[The doctor] said, ‘You have colon cancer’, and I just remember the room just completely going like a funnel. The nurse was next to him, and it was just like darkness in the whole room.
“I don’t remember saying very much, I just remember asking them if they could give me a moment by myself, and when they left the room I completely broke down.
“Balling tears because here I am in a state, all by myself – I know no one, I had just moved cross country, so I was completely alone.”
The cancer eventually spread to her liver, resulting in a stage 4 diagnosis. However, Kelly was able to undergo surgery to remove the liver tumors, and she now ’embraces life with renewed passion’.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the American Cancer Society on 1-800-227-2345 or via their live chat feature, available 24/7 every day of the year.