An Australian mum has revealed how what she thought was a "tummy bug" turned out to be cancer.
Sophie Edwards, 34, was given the shocking bowel cancer diagnosis after she ignored the warning signs for months.
Documenting her cancer journey on Instagram, the former Bachelor contestant said she was the fittest and healthiest she had been before her diagnosis.
In the three months leading up to her diagnosis, Edwards thought she was suffering from a tummy bug or food intolerance as she started experiencing bowel problems, including diarrhoea and weight loss.
She started to go to the bathroom more frequently and was having accidents around three times a day.
But what pushed her to seek help was when she started to feel extreme lower back and rectal pain which left her bedridden.
Her mum booked her an appointment with a different GP, because her usual doctor, who she claims dismissed her symptoms, was unavailable.
Edwards said her mum pushed for the GP to do a blood test and stool sample, which ultimately came back positive for cancer.
She was diagnosed with rectal adenocarcinoma, a form of bowel cancer, in June.
"When you hear the phrase, 'You've got cancer', you automatically think that you are going to die," Edwards told 7News.
"I had no idea what was going to happen. I just went completely numb and instantly thought about my son and my family."
She revealed to the news outlet the most heartbreaking moment was when her son Jaxon asked if she was going to die.
"Seeing my son sitting on my sister's lap while I was surrounded by doctors after a surgery, and asking his aunty, 'Is my mummy going to die?' Was the most heartbreaking moment of my entire life," Edwards said.
She dived straight into treatment and has since undergone multiple surgeries, CT scans, MRIs and blood tests.
Prior to treatment, she also saw a fertility specialist in mid-July so she could freeze her eggs.
Edwards has now completed 25 sessions of targeted radiotherapy, five weeks of tablet chemotherapy and is going through nine rounds of chemotherapy set to end in December.
She hopes to completely eliminate the cancer.
"I'm waiting to finish my treatment then will have a scope in the next two weeks to see if the tumour has disappeared. But it's all been going very well," she told the Daily Mail.
Edwards wants to encourage others to look out for the warning signs and seek help if any symptoms feel abnormal.
"I hope that I have encouraged at least one person to make that Dr's appointment they've been putting off, to book in for the dreaded pap smear, to go and get a prostate exam and to simply notice any changes in health - no matter how small or gross the changes may be."
Bowel cancer signs and symptoms
- Blood in the stools and/or bleeding from the rectum
- A change in bowel habits lasting longer than 6 weeks (e.g. loose stools, diarrhoea, or constipation)
- Stomach pain (often severe)
- Lumps or a mass in the abdomen
- Weight loss
- Weakness and tiredness (symptoms of iron deficiency anaemia).
