New mum’s cancer battle
A pregnant woman was diagnosed with bowel cancer after being refused a colonoscopy – twice.
Fiona Cullen, 39, started showing symptoms about 18 months ago, but by the time her cancer was detected she was 30 weeks pregnant with her first child.
‘‘It wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I was expecting them to say it was some kind of polyp and they’d take it out after Morgan was born,’’ she said.
Her son was delivered six weeks ago in Ashburton – almost eight weeks early – so that she could start treatment.
Cullen believes that if she had been given a colonoscopy earlier the cancer could have been treated earlier.
‘‘Everyone else gets angry for me, and I just stay positive and go through it,’’ she said.
‘‘I’m quite practical, and I can’t change it so I will just do what I can to fix it. Sometimes it overwhelms me and I just have to go off and have a cry, but I don’t want to be like that all the time, or angry all the time.’’
The Canterbury District Health Board has not told her why there was a delay in her diagnosis.
‘‘They didn’t say why in the letter, but I’ve had the feedback from a specialist since that it’s probably because I’m under 40,’’ she said.
Cullen was first referred for a colonoscopy after she started bleeding from her bowels but the referral was refused.
About three weeks later, she started bleeding from a breast and was referred for a mammogram. It revealed a growth in a duct, and had surgery to remove it.
She then fell pregnant, but the bleeding from her bowels got worse so her GP again referred her for a colonoscopy, which was refused.
Cullen said her doctor kept pushing, and eventually her referral was successful but by then it was too late.
‘‘And the minute I saw the surgeon he did an inspection and said ‘you’ve got a cancerous tumour’.’’
Christchurch bowel surgeon Frank Frizzelle said Cullen’s referral could have been rejected due to her age.
District health boards use national guidelines to determine which referrals are accepted and rejected.
Frizelle said people under the age of 50 were given less priority, as only about 10 per cent of all bowel cancer cases occur in the age group.
He did not know why Cullen’s referral was declined.
Frizelle said he had yet-to-bepublished research which showed the incidence of rectal cancer is increasing in that age group in New Zealand.
‘‘I think the criteria needs to be reconsidered given the evidence of increasing cases among the under 50s.’’
Of five classic signs of bowel cancer – bleeding, anaemia, weight loss, a change in bowel habits, and a lump in the stomach – Cullen had four.
She didn’t have a lump in her stomach, but that was because her tumour was down low.
‘‘All those other indicators should be more important than age,’’ she said.
On Thursday, Cullen started treatment and will commute to Christchurch from Ashburton for chemotherapy and radiation for about six weeks before she is reassessed.
A plan to operate and remove the tumour after the treatment is on hold due to the spots on her lungs.
A Givealittle page has already raised $12,500 for the young family.
Under the national bowel cancer screening programme announced by the government in the May budget, those aged 60 to 74 years old will be eligible for free screening.
This is a departure from the Waitemata DHB screening pilot the national programme is based on, which offered screening to the 50-74 year age group.
Bowel cancer survivor and Bowel Cancer New Zealand board member Sarah Derrett said international best practice is to screen those aged 50-74 years of age.
‘‘The national screening rollout will begin to turn this around – but it is disappointing to hear that the wait is five years away for a full implementation and that those aged 50-59 will miss out’’.