Chloe Wakelin initially thought her vomiting symptoms were due to a tummy bug she caught from kids, but it turned out she had bowel cancer. She had been visiting her GP weekly for two months to complain of persistent tummy aches, tiredness, and low appetite. Despite negative tests for Crohn’s disease and Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), the 26-year-old was told it was likely just a viral stomach bug.
She assumed she had picked up the illness while caring for children at work or looking after her daughter. However, in January 2024, she rushed to A&E because her skin was turning yellow, and scans revealed a large mass in her colon that required immediate surgery. Doctors informed her that she was just 12 hours away from death as her liver and kidneys were failing.
After waking from a seven-and-a-half-hour surgery, she had a stoma bag and was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer. Following four rounds of gruelling chemotherapy, she is now thankfully in remission. Chloe feels let down by the doctors who dismissed her concerns for months and wants to raise awareness of symptoms to look out for.
She expressed her frustration at being repeatedly told it was just a stomach bug and how she never considered cancer as a possibility. Chloe recalls feeling overwhelmed when she received the diagnosis and how her life changed so suddenly. Despite being in remission now, she still feels a sense of mistrust towards the healthcare system for missing the cancer for so long.
Ich fühlte mich sehr enttäuscht von ihnen alle. Die Mama eines Kindes drängt jetzt jeden, der Symptome hat, ihren Hausarzt aufzusuchen – unabhängig von ihrem Alter. Die NHS sagt, dass die Hauptsymptome von Darmkrebs anhaltendes Blut im Stuhl, anhaltende Veränderungen der Darmgewohnheiten, anhaltende Schmerzen im unteren Bauchbereich, Blähungen oder Unwohlsein umfassen. Chloe sagte: „Man denkt immer, man sei mit 25 zu jung, weil es typischerweise eine Krebserkrankung ist, die ältere Menschen betrifft. Ich hatte nicht die ‚typischen‘ Symptome für Darmkrebs. Ich möchte alle daran erinnern, sich nicht zu schämen, wegen irgendwelcher Symptome zum Arzt zu gehen, egal in welchem Alter. Es kann jeden treffen.“ Steve Taylor, Geschäftsführer des Royal Oldham Hospital, sagte: „Wir können aufgrund der Patientenvertraulichkeit keine Stellung zu individuellen Fällen nehmen. Wir ermutigen immer alle, die Fragen oder Bedenken zu ihrer Betreuung oder Behandlung bei uns haben, sich an unseren Patientenberatungs- und Liaisonsservice (PALS) zu wenden, damit etwaige Probleme untersucht werden können.“ Die Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership wurde um eine Stellungnahme gebeten.