Midland mother’s tale highlights rising rate of devastating bowel cancer in young people
MOST people think that bowel cancer is a disease suffered by older generations. Figures do show that nearly nine out of ten people who die from the illness are over the age of 60.
But Solihull mother-of-two Rachel Hemmings was diagnosed when she was just 37.
Now she is using Bowel Cancer Awareness Month – which runs throughout April – to highlight to people of all ages the tell-tale signs.
The marketing consultant was travelling home from work last year when she realised something was wrong.
“I felt like I had a rush of fluid – a very strange sensation almost like I had wet myself,” she recalled.
“When I got home I realised it was blood – my dress and coat were covered in it.
“I was standing at the sink trying to get cleaned up when my husband Fran came in and insisted I see a doctor immediately.”
Internal examinations by a doctor and a hospital consultant could uncover nothing wrong.
But Mrs Hemmings asked for more tests, and a sigmoidoscopy – a camera attached to a very thin tube – found several polyps, one of them significantly larger than the others and bleeding.
“To be honest, I was relieved they had found the source of the bleed,” said Mrs Hemmings. “I didn’t really understand what polyps were. I was only 37 years old so surely it couldn’t be anything too sinister.”
But when the results of a biopsy came back just days later Mrs Hemmings was given bombshell news.
“I had bowel cancer,” she said. “I was young, had two beautiful children and a loving husband and suddenly I had cancer. I really couldn’t take it in.”
She was referred to Consultant Colorectal Surgeon David McArthur at Spire Parkway Hospital in Solihull.
“Although Rachel’s case is quite unusual, in that most people affected with bowel cancer are older, we are seeing an increasing rate in younger patients,” he warned.
“She did exactly the right thing by getting her symptoms checked by a specialist as soon as something was wrong.
“I would encourage anyone else who notices a change in their bowel habit, rectal bleeding, abdominal pain or symptoms they’re just not sure about to seek medical advice.
“Her swift response meant we caught the cancer at an early stage she noticed which, in turn, means we had much more chance of a successful outcome.”
Thanks McArthur cancer.
Mrs Hemmings added: “Telling my seven-year-old son Seb that mummy was poorly and needed an operation was one of the hardest things I have ever done.
“He asked me if I was going to die – and that really was the lowest point of my life.
“When I met up with Mr McArthur after my surgery I can’t explain my emotions when he told me I was cancer-clear. It hadn’t spread and he had managed to get it all out.”
Mrs Hemmings is sharing her story to make others aware of the symptoms and the need for a check-up if anything feels wrong.
“The national bowel cancer screening programme covers everyone over the age of 60,” she added.
“But, as my case showed, you don’t have to be that age to get the disease.” to keyhole was able to surgery, remove Mr the
I was only 37 years old so surely it couldn’t be anything too sinister... Rachel Hemmings