A bowel cancer survivor has explained the early warning signs she picked up on before she was diagnosed with the disease. It’s the third most common cancer in the world and typically impacts people over 50, however, there has been a sharp rise in the amount of young people getting it too.
In Courtney Nash’s case, she was just 35 when she received the alarming news that she had an aggressive form of colorectal cancer known as adenocarcinoma of the cecum.
According to the American Cancer Society, this is a ‘a type of cancer that starts in the gland cells that make mucus to lubricate and protect the inside of the colon and rectum’.
Unlike a lot of people who receive this news, Courtney said she was ‘somewhat relieved’ when she received her diagnosis in September 2012.
The mum said that although she was also ‘shocked and scared’, she was slightly grateful, as it at least explained why she was experiencing various symptoms.
In an article for the MD Anderson Cancer Center shared in 2020, Courtney revealed that she had been dealing with ulcerative colitis since she was young, which is a long-term condition where the colon and rectum become inflamed.
As a result of this, she experienced ‘chronic diarrhoea, frequent stomachaches and other digestive issues for more than 20 years’.
Courtney Nash initially attributed some of her cancer symptoms to ulcerative colitis
These are also signs of bowel cancer that you should be wary of – but as she was used to this sort of thing, she initially brushed off her concerns.
Courtney only started to suspect something more sinister might be going on when her symptoms ‘increased dramatically’.
After giving birth to her second child in May 2011, she lost a significant amount of weight, experienced hair loss and ‘occasionally’ passed blood when going to the toilet.
The sugar cane farmer, from Harlingen, Texas, explained she was then informed she had colorectal cancer.
She sought out treatment from MD Anderson and doctors told her she needed three surgeries to get rid of the disease – the first of which involved ‘the complete removal of her large intestine’.
“The second stage would involve pulling my small intestine down and creating a J-shaped pouch at its end to act as a new large intestine,” Courtney said.
“The third stage would involve connecting the J-pouch to my remaining rectum and closing up the stoma.”
The mum, from Texas, beat bowel cancer after undergoing treatment (Getty Stock Image)
The mum, from Texas, beat bowel cancer after undergoing treatment (Getty Stock Image)
The mum underwent her first operation in December 2012 and medics managed to complete the first two stages during it, but before her final procedure went ahead in March 2013, she received some bad news.
“The pathology report came back,” Courtney recalled. “It showed a tumour had been hiding in the inner lining of my colon, and it had spread to my lymph nodes.
“Because of the lymph node involvement, I was officially diagnosed at stage 3, and I would require six months of chemotherapy before I could have the final surgery.”
Thankfully, after beginning a six-month course chemotherapy infusions in January 2013, Courtney’s surgery went ahead in August that year – and ever since, she’s been cancer-free.
Reflecting on how her life has changed, she added: “You might think that having your large intestine removed would make life more difficult. And it’s true that I’ve had a few bumps in the road.
“I must be more careful with my diet and have found that certain foods must be eliminated for optimal health.
“I struggle with inflammation of the J-pouch, but for the most part, my side effects have been minimal. I am lucky that my side effects don’t hinder my day-to-day life at all.
“In fact, my quality of life is so much better today than it was when I actually had a colon. You can’t ask for a better result than that.”
