A “super healthy” young woman who was settling into her dream job was devastated when a sudden dash to the toilet led to a life-changing diagnosis.
Aisling Gallagher had recently moved to London for work when she spotted a change in her bowel habits, needing to rush to the loo with “urgency”.
The then-28-year-old put it down to her new lifestyle and a change in her surroundings – but it was actually an early warning sign of what was to come.
When she started passing blood with her stool and feeling bloated, she finally went to the doctor, but proper testing was delayed for months due to lockdown.
When she was finally able to have a colonoscopy, the news was far more sinister than she could ever have imagined: it was stage two rectal cancer.
“I couldn’t believe it – it was unimaginable to me and everyone around me,” Aisling, a retail manager and content creator from Belfast, told Need To Know.
“It was the most surreal, scary time of my life.”
Aisling, who was working her “dream job” as a personal shopper for Topshop at the time, ignored her initial symptoms of needing to urgently use the toilet more often.
She said: “I was always super healthy and had zero health conditions.
“I didn’t even register for a GP when I moved to London, as I never had to visit.”
It was only when she was visiting home in March 2020 that she decided to check in with her doctor.
While she had an initial examination and further tests were planned, lockdown was declared two days later, and it was put on hold.
From March to August, Aisling “quickly deteriorated”.
She had lost a stone in weight from a lack of appetite, and continued to pass blood with her stool.
Aisling said: “It was extremely scary – I knew deep down something was very wrong.”
Finally, she had blood tests done and was called in for an urgent colonoscopy – where a tumour was found in her rectum, and she was given the life-changing diagnosis.
Shortly afterwards, the company she worked for went into administration and she was forced to pack up her life in London and move back home.
She quickly started treatment in October 2020, having radiation treatment on her pelvis as well as oral chemotherapy to help shrink the tumour.
But it didn’t prove effective, and Aisling went on to have an anterior resection surgery, including having a temporary stoma placed, in February 2021.
She said: “It was extremely tough, but the cancer was successfully removed.
“However, by this point, it had spread into 11 of my lymph nodes, so I then needed more chemo to try and prevent it from returning.”
That April, she underwent six more months of chemo.
Aisling was warned she would become infertile as a result of the treatment, and is in the menopause.
“The infertility was the biggest shock and heartbreak to get over.
“I went to see a specialist at the time, but it wasn’t possible for me to freeze any eggs before the treatment started.
“I was devastated and honestly still am – it’s the hardest thing to navigate.
“Whether you want to have a child or not, having your choice taken away is cruel.”
Thankfully, the treatment was a success, and that November Aisling received the all-clear, having the stoma reversal surgery the following month.
She said: “It was an amazing feeling.
“You have such a structured timeline to follow throughout a cancer diagnosis so when everything finishes, it’s very surreal and a bit scary as you don’t have that comfort blanket as such.
“I returned to a new job, working in senior management at Primark, and thought life would go back to some sort of normal, and I could move on.”
But while the cancer remained at bay, a year later Aisling experienced a debilitating bowel obstruction.
She said: “It was the most horrific experience.
“I was buckled in two in pain, and suffered severe vomiting.”
At A&E, doctors found she had adhesions – scar tissue – across her small and large bowel.
Devastatingly, she was told she would need to live with it, as further surgery could cause more issues.
Aisling said: “The episodes are really scary – they come on quickly, and it could happen anywhere.
“It hasn’t stopped me trying to live my life as normally as I possibly can but I have had to miss work, trips and many things due to being ill.”
She has gone on to have four more episodes of bowel obstruction, the latest of which was this month (May 2026), and doctors decided surgery was the only option – a laparotomy [a major procedure which involves making a large incision in the abdominal wall] to remove adhesions in the bowel.
She added: “I am so gutted it has got to this stage, but I know deep down I had to give it a go to see if it could make a difference to my quality of life.”
Aisling is currently recovering from the surgery, and hopes it will have had a positive impact on her health.
She has documented her entire journey over the past six years – something she is passionate about, to help raise awareness for bowel cancer.
Aisling said: “I would never have thought it would be me to have that diagnosis and now I am living with life-changing consequences.
“The things that come alongside cancer treatment are things I never knew happened – like being infertile and going through the menopause following radiation.
“I also have to take HRT and use laxatives every day to keep my body at some sort of normal function.
“But I haven’t let any of this stop me from living my life and I take any opportunity that I can – if this has taught me anything, it’s that life is too short.
“Tomorrow is promised to nobody.
“As I approach my final few check-ups with my oncologist and hopefully celebrate five years in remission, the message is as prevalent as ever.
“If you know you don’t feel right – get it checked.
“Cancer does not discriminate and your health is your superpower.”
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