Case study shows impact of delayed diagnosis
Lauren Fresa, 35, primary school teacher from Flint, North Wales, UK, was diagnosed with bowel cancer during her second pregnancy.
Lauren is mother to six-year-old Liam and conceived again in October 2020. However, rather than just noticing the changes that come with pregnancy, she found that something was wrong with her bowel movements.
'I knew something was wrong'
"I knew something was wrong, and I spent six months going back and forth to my GP, only to be sent home with laxatives and enema kits and told it was just constipation,” she shared.
"Laxatives are supposed to take effect within two weeks - to be on them for six months is ridiculous - it's a hell of a long time," she added.
According to Cancer Research UK, changes in your normal bowel habits - whether loose motions, needing to go to the loo more often, or constipation - can ring alarm bells.
Emergency surgery and losing the baby
Lauren was rushed to a hospital in February 2021 while she was 18 weeks pregnant.
Doctors discovered a blockage in her bowel and they had to perform an emergency surgery to fit a colostomy bag to collect stool. A day after undergoing this life-saving operation, Lauren was told the tragic news that she had lost her baby.
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Bowel cancer diagnosed
Lauren was also diagnosed with bowel cancer and scans revealed the cancer had spread to her liver. She described this time as “sad” and “awful”. Amid the lockdown restrictions, her husband couldn’t be there with her when she received the bad news.
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Treatment
Lauren underwent surgery to remove the cancerous tumor, two rounds of chemotherapy at two different hospitals, and a hysterectomy to remove her womb. However, just before last Christmas, she was told that the cancer had returned in her liver.
Dealing with cancer again
"It's taken me a bit longer this time to get my head around the news that the cancer is back. I think it's a case of once bitten, twice shy. It takes its toll - even though you know it's a possibility that it will return, you still hope it will all be OK. I'm just trying to stay as positive as I can,” she shared.
"I'm going straight back onto the same chemotherapy I had the second time round, and I seemed to respond quite well to that, so I'm hoping it will work again," she added.
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