How I beat my cancer ordeal
A MUM diagnosed with bowel cancer before she was 40 has spoken out about her ordeal.
Miranda Clayton, a 41-year-old mother-of-two, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2018. Two operations have now left her cancer-free.
Miranda never thought it would happen to her. But three years ago, she listened in utter disbelief as she was told a tumour in her colon had been discovered, and could be cancerous.
Miranda, of Nottingham, said: “I think I actually said ‘this is ridiculous, I can’t have cancer, I just ran a half marathon.’ It hadn’t even occurred to me that it was a possibility for me.”
Then 38, Miranda, a Nottingham City Council enforcement officer, ate healthily, exercised frequently, and regularly ran marathons.
She said: “Bowel cancer was something that I, unfairly, exclusively associated with being an unhealthy person’s or older person’s disease.
“Now I know more about the condition, following my diagnosis, I know it can affect a range of people, including people similar to me who eat and exercise well and yet they’ve had bowel cancer.”
Before her diagnosis, she suffered symptoms including chest infections, stomach bugs, weight loss and exhaustion.
Miranda turned to her GP, who ran tests before referring her to Ayan Banerjea, NUH Colorectal Consultant and surgeon. After her colonoscopy, MRI and CT scans followed.
The next month, Miranda was diagnosed with a stage two transverse colon cancer, a cancer of the large intestine, with no evidence of spread to lymph nodes or other organs.
Miranda had surgery at the Queen’s Medical Centre, where the cancerous part of her bowel was removed. Post-op tests did not show any cancer cells, so she did not need chemotherapy.
But she still needed follow-up colonoscopies, CT scans and blood tests over the next five years.
Miranda said: “It was at that point that me and my family felt like we could breathe a little bit again.”
But four months later, a polyp, identified on Miranda’s initial colonoscopy, turned cancerous.
Miranda, who has two children – Harry, six, and Penelope, four – with husband Scott, 44, then had serious discussions with Mr Banerjea and his team, including colorectal nurse specialist Charlotte Ryton.
Charlotte said: “The fear is, if you have developed two cancers at a young age there could be a genetic disposition and, if we do not remove most of the colon, there is a risk of a third cancer developing.”
Miranda said: “I spoke to and still speak to Charlotte quite often. Whenever I need anything, she always has time to talk and she explains everything to me.”
She also found support from cancer charity Maggie’s, who have a centre at City Hospital.
Miranda added: “Maggie’s were massively supportive, just amazing. Nothing like my cancer diagnosis had ever really happened to our family before, and I needed someone to talk to.
“I did some counselling with Maggie’s, took a well-being course on mindfulness, and just dropped in to see the staff there for a chat and a cup of tea.
“Earlier this year, as a thank you for everything they did for me, I ran 50 miles to fundraise for Maggie’s.”
Miranda decided to undergo surgery that would remove most of her large bowel.
In November 2018, Miranda had the operation, a keyhole subtotal colectomy, again at the QMC, which left her cancer-free.
Miranda continues to have regular blood tests and every six months a flexible sigmoidoscopy, an investigation of the lower part of the bowel using a thin flexible camera. Miranda, who continues to stay active, ran 1,748 miles to fundraise for Bowel Cancer UK last year.
She said: “Last year, I set myself a goal to run 874 miles, the distance from Land’s End to John O’groats, between January and December. I ended up running double the number of miles I originally intended.
“Being able to keep running and stay active, it’s my way of giving the finger to bowel cancer and saying ‘I’m still here, I can do this.’
“My advice to anyone who is diagnosed with bowel cancer is to stay positive, take the advice from the doctors and nurses and make the most of the support that’s available.
“I think it’s so important to talk to people and discuss how you feel. You can acknowledge that being diagnosed with cancer is rubbish and you don’t have to put a smile on your face the whole time.”
■ For more information, visit Maggie’s at www.maggies.org and Bowel Cancer UK at www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk.