Cancer: You’re never too young
The internet sent Kathy Sullivan down the food intolerance road but a real doctor diagnosed that she was among the growing number of young people with bowel cancer.
The 40-year-old self-described former cancer patient from Upper Hutt is speaking out so other young Kiwis heed the warning signs in time. Because too many don’t.
Bowel Cancer New Zealand’s medical advisor, Frank Frizelle – a surgeon and bowel cancer expert – has published a research paper showing that, in a decade, rectal cancer in New Zealand males aged under 50 rose by 18 per cent while colon cancer rates rose by 14 per cent.
In females, rectal cancer was up 13 per cent and colon cancer was up 7 per cent. Both are types of bowel cancer.
According to Bowel Cancer New Zealand, the perception problem is not only with members of the public – GPs also fall for the ‘‘my patient is too young for bowel cancer’’ trap.
Bowel Cancer NZ general manager Rebekah Heal said that,
unfortunately, younger patients were often diagnosed too late for effective treatment.
‘‘This can be due to a lack of appreciation of the significance of bowel cancer symptoms, both by them and by their doctors,’’ she said. ‘‘The problem is they are often considered too young, too healthy, too fit, and many remain undiagnosed for months or years before presenting with advanced bowel cancer.’’
Bowel Cancer New Zealand says more than 300 people aged under 50 each year are diagnosed with bowel cancer.
Cancer Society medical director Chris Jackson, who is also an oncologist, said 10 per cent of all people diagnosed with bowel cancer were under 50. But because they often delayed diagnosis, they often had more advanced cancer.
He had seen a patient aged just 17, and others in their 20s or 30s, who thought their symptoms meant something else. If diagnosed early enough, bowel cancer was very treatable, he added. When GPs suspected bowel cancer, they needed adequate access to specialists and colonoscopies.
There was embarrassment in discussing bowel problems with doctors but it was an awkwardness people needn’t suffer, he said. ‘‘It is a doctor’s job to talk about your poo.’’
For Sullivan, speaking out amid Bowel Cancer New Zealand’s Never Too Young campaign for the disease’s awareness month, the symptoms were bloating and changes in bowel movements.
She consulted ‘‘Dr Google’’ and, for a year or two, believed it was simply food intolerance. She ended up cutting out dairy, wheat, sugar, carbohydrates and processed foods.
But when she spotted blood in her stool, she went to her GP, who diagnosed stage three cancer in time.