Woman diagnosed with stage three cancer says doctors 'brushed off' early signs
After experiencing worrying symptoms during a pregnancy, Kelly Spill decided to take a visit to the doctors to see what was wrong.
Despite experiencing new symptoms such as constipation and blood in her stool, doctors assured her it was all because of her pregnancy.
Speaking to Today, Spill, 31, said: "She pretty much said, ‘You’re having a baby in about a month, and things are moving around. Things are a little different in your body because you’re about to give birth.' That made sense to me."
However, after Spill gave birth, her symptoms continued - in fact, they got worse - leading to another trip to the doctors.
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The doctors kept reassuring her that her symptoms were as a result of bowel habits that changed because she recently gave birth.
"I felt very exhausted, and it made me second-guess what I was actually feeling because I was being brushed off," she said.
"When you don’t have someone listening to you, it’s really, really hard to continue to keep going."
The worries worsened after doctors told Spill her symptoms were due to pregnancy, but she obviously wasn't pregnant anymore.
"I still was majorly constipated. I still had blood in my stool, and it was a dark, sticky type of blood, not bright red," she said.
"I always feel weird saying this, but I know it’s important to say that it had a weird smell to it."
When her son was five-months-old, Spill told Today that she started experiencing new symptoms.
She lost seven pounds, struggling to work at times, as she was fatigued and just didn't feel well.
But there was one particular turning point, as Spill explained: "There was a pool of blood in the toilet. That’s when I was like, ‘Something’s not right.’”
After visiting the emergency room, medical professionals once again suspected that Spill's symptoms were due to haemorrhoids.
But Spill continued to search for answers, and visited another primary care doctor who was suggested by a friend's mum.
After showing photos of what the toilet looked like to the doctor, she agreed that Spill needed a colonoscopy.
Spill said: "I found out that I had a tumour. It was a very weird feeling because I knew at that point something wasn’t right. I knew it wasn’t going to be good. But I didn’t get upset until I left that room."
At the age of 28, Spill discovered she had stage 3 colorectal cancer. Doctors gave her time to preserve her eggs so Spill and her partner could potentially have more children in the future.
Rather than going through the traditional route of chemotherapy, Spill decided to take part in a clinical trial.
Thankfully, the treatment worked a treat - to the point where the tumour had completely disappeared after the ninth round.
Spill was even been able to welcome daughter, Maya Grace into the world on July 14.
Remember, if you're ever in doubt, it's always worth getting a second opinion.
Callum Jones