A mother-of-two who was diagnosed with bowel cancer at 38 has shared the single warning sign she regrets ignoring. Laura received her diagnosis in June last year and has since undergone four rounds of chemotherapy.
She has amassed 18,000 followers on TikTok, where she has chronicled her treatment and recovery journey, and in a recent video explained one symptom she had experienced which she believed was “normal” – but turned out to be an indicator of cancer. The video carried the caption “I would have done things A LOT differently”. Speaking in the clip she said: “I was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer at the age of 38, and this is my biggest regret: not listening to your body.
“I was so tired all the time and I just thought ‘this is normal’. I think a lot of us, especially working parents with young children in particular, you think ‘oh this is normal to feel tired’.
“I’ve got really young children, I’m working, I don’t stop for a single second – I’m going to be tired. But actually what my body was trying to tell me is ‘hey, something’s wrong’.
“And I ignored it and I really, really wish I had gone to the GP sooner. They might have been able to catch it at an earlier stage and avoid chemo, for example.
“In fact, that was the only symptom that my body gave me that I had cancer, and I think a lot of us feel tired a lot of the time.
“But if you’re feeling really knackered, thinking ‘gosh, this is really affecting my day-to-day life’, you’re getting a full night’s sleep and you’re not feeling refreshed, please take this as a sign to go and get your bloods checked. Have a conversation with your GP and try and get to the bottom of why you’re so tired.”
Concluding, she said: “And for goodness sake, if they tell you you’re anaemic, please have a FIT Test.” A FIT Test, or a Faecal Immunochemical Test, looks for blood in samples of your poo, a key symptom of bowel cancer.
- Changes in your toilet habits, such as having softer poo, diarrhoea, or constipation
- Needing to go to the toilet more or less often than usual
- Blood in your poo, which may look red or black
- Bleeding from your bottom
- Feeling like you need to poo, even if you’ve just been to the toilet
- Stomach pain
- A lump in your stomach
- Bloating
- Unexplained weight loss
Feeling very tired or short of breath can also be a sign of anaemia, which can be caused by bowel cancer. Some of these symptoms can be caused by other conditions, and do not necessarily mean you have cancer.
The NHS says if you’ve experienced any of these symptoms for three weeks or more, you should contact your GP. If your poo is black or dark red, or you are experiencing bloody diarrhoea, you should ask for an urgent appointment. Call 999 if you are experiencing non-stop bleeding from your bottom, or if there’s a lot of blood.
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
