A woman who was diagnosed with cancer before her 29th birthday has spoken out about the early warning signs she missed.
Jody Horne, from Melbourne, was happy, healthy and fit, so she missed her early symptoms and put her unexplained tiredness down to being busy, rather than anything more serious.
Yet she was delivered a devastating blow when she was diagnosed with stage 2 rectal cancer.
Speaking to 7Life, Jody explained: "I was young and enjoying life and then the carpet pulled out from underneath me. I felt shocked and numb. It was an incredibly upsetting experience..."
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Jody had ignored some of her symptoms, which can be similar to those of bowel cancer, including tiredness, discomfort and anal bleeding.
It wasn't until a sigmoidoscopy that can screen for rectal cancers discovered a polyp, which was then later investigated with a colonoscopy, when Jody was found to have a cancerous tumour.
After a biopsy confirmed the tumour was cancerous, Jody was diagnosed with stage two rectal cancer just two weeks before she turned 29.
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In shock after being told the news, Jody called her father and found herself delivering the devastating news over the phone.
She described it as 'the most awful thing' to have to tell her parents, family and friends of her cancer diagnosis.
Now, she's urging others to speak up when they notice the early warning signs and not to avoid going to see a doctor.
Whilst she's now cancer free, Jody has been clear to stress the importance of not ignoring signs and symptoms.
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Early stages can include common signs such as blood in stool, abdominal pain or bloating, constipation, diarrhoea, unexplained weight loss, tiredness, weakness or breathlessness.
Jody urged: "These are the symptoms that you should look out for, and importantly, talk about and share with your loved ones.
"There’s no taboo about poo, it’s just an aspect of our health; we need to talk more about it and we need to break down the stigma."
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According to Cancer Research UK, almost 43,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year in the UK, and around 268,000 people living in the UK today have been diagnosed with bowel cancer.
Bowel cancer is treatable and curable especially if diagnosed early, meaning seeking medical advice after early symptoms is essential.
Cancer Research UK explains: "Nearly everyone survives bowel cancer if diagnosed at the earliest stage. However this drops significantly as the disease develops."
Topics: Australia, Cancer, Health, Real Life, Bowel cancer
Niamh Spence