A mum has shared how she was repeatedly misdiagnosed before discovering she actually had stage four cancer.
Shockingly, Andrea Morton went to see her GP multiple times and visited A&E twice before she was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer.
The mum-of-one, who had been suffering from severe abdominal pain, was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and a urinary tract infection (UTI) before medics realised the truth.
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She had also experienced significant weight loss, shedding six stone in just three months.
Andrea, 35, went to A&E with severe abdominal pain and vomiting in May 2021, when a CT scan revealed a small obstruction in her bowel, and she had to undergo emergency surgery to have it taken out.
“Within an hour of having the scan, the surgical team were telling me they had to take me for emergency surgery to remove part of my bowel and appendix,” Andrea, from Harpurhey in north Manchester, told Need To Know.
“That afternoon, I went to the theatre not knowing if I would wake up with a stoma bag or not.”
Devastatingly, a biopsy following the surgery revealed that Andrea had stage four bowel cancer, aged just 31.
Andrea added: “I had an appointment with the surgical team at the hospital for what I thought was a routine follow-up.
“I walked into the room to see my whole surgical team sat there and one lady I had never seen before.
“They proceeded to tell me that the results had come back from the biopsy and that it was cancer.
“It had also spread to the lymph nodes but they had removed them during surgery.
“A week later, I met with my consultant for the first time to discuss next steps.
“It was discussed that I would have mop-up chemotherapy.”
She received chemotherapy, turning down fertility preservation so she could start treatment more quickly.
This was a heartbreaking decision for Andrea to have to make, but she decided it was necessary to give her the best chance of survival.
She added: “We talked about me wanting more children and wanting to freeze some eggs.
“However, at this point it wasn’t advised.
“We needed to start treatment ASAP as a lot of time had already passed and I’d have a better chance if I chose to start treatment.
“It would have taken weeks to have the eggs taken and frozen.
“And since I already had an amazing young daughter, I decided to go ahead and start treatment three weeks later.”
Andrea’s chemotherapy lasted three months and she experienced a range of side-effects including diarrhoea, vomiting and tingling hands and feet.
Thankfully she then got the all-clear from cancer in December 2021.
She added: “I have a lot of issues going to the toilet all the time since having the operation.
“Other than that and possibly not being able to have any more children, I don’t have any lasting issues.”
Her cancer was recently downgraded to stage three.
Now Andrea is working with Bowel Cancer UK to raise awareness of the condition and share her experience of being diagnosed at just 31.
The mum will aid the charity’s fight to end the late diagnosis of bowel cancer in A&E departments.
Genevieve Edwards, chief executive of Bowel Cancer UK, said: “Andrea’s experience shows how symptoms of bowel cancer can be missed until an emergency brings them into sharp focus.
“A diagnosis of bowel cancer is life-changing under any circumstances.
“A&E is not the place to be told you have bowel cancer. Diagnosis at this stage has a huge physical and emotional toll on patients and families.
“With 609,000 new bowel cancer cases projected for England by 2040, this issue must be a government priority if we want to reduce cancer deaths.
“Every 30 minutes, someone in the UK dies from bowel cancer, but it doesn’t have to be this way, especially if it is diagnosed early.
“That’s why we’re bringing together patients, healthcare professionals, policymakers and the public through our Ending Emergency Diagnosis campaign, to save people from finding out they have bowel cancer the hard way – in an emergency.
“Together, we can ensure a future where bowel cancer is found early, not in A&E.”
