A woman who survived stage three bowel cancer has issued a health warning to others after she fell foul of the "really sneaky part" of the disease. Laura, who thankfully survived the ordeal, took to TikTok to stress that symptoms can vary from sufferer to sufferer.
Indeed, blood in the stool is arguably perceived as the most common symptom - yet it was something she didn't experience whatsoever, making the cancer harder to detect. "So I had no blood and I had stage 3 bowel cancer," Laura began in a video. "This is the really sneaky thing about bowel cancer - you can have none of the symptoms, you can have all of them, or just a few subtle signs."
Laura admitted she'd been fortunate in that the only reason her cancer was "picked up" was the fact she went to give blood, only to be told she had low iron.
"So you have to really be mindful of symptoms," she continued. "For example, you don't have to see blood for it to be bowel cancer. But alternatively, you could see blood - but it not be bowel cancer."
Laura said there are few things to "take away" that everyone should be aware of, meanwhile. "You can never be too young - I was only 38," she explained. "Always, always get checked out by the doctor - you can never assume the blood is nothing if you see blood."
Laura closed by emphasising: "It could be nothing, but you can't make that choice or that decision. So go to your GP and get checked out. Always."
Writing in response, a fellow survivor shared their story: "I had sudden onset symptoms of appendicitis, went to A&E, doctor said he thought it was and sent me for a scan and was prepped for an appendectomy, scan came back and showed a tumour in my colon that was squashing my appendix causing the symptoms. Had op to remove it... five years clear so far... don’t ignore any abdominal pain."
A second person added: "Yep, same as my hubby. No symptoms until near total bowel blockage swelled his tummy. Happened in no time. Scary stuff."
Whilst a third TikTok user wrote: "Same. I only had a bloated tummy for five years I was told am constipated and had stage 3 I collapsed with pain that how mine got picked up now I have half a bowel and had 12 weeks of chemo, you are absolutely correct."
According to the NHS, symptoms of bowel cancer may include:
And the NHS stresses: "See a GP if you have any symptoms of bowel cancer for 3 weeks or more. Try not to be embarrassed. The doctor or nurse will be used to talking about these symptoms. Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if your poo is black or dark red and/or you have bloody diarrhoea.
"Go to A&E or call 999 if you're bleeding non-stop from your bottom and/or there's a lot of blood, for example, the toilet water turns red or you see large blood clots."
