She visited doctors weekly for two months, but they initially dismissed it as a simple stomach bug.
A nursery worker initially thought she had picked up a common sickness bug from the children at work, only to later find out she was just 12 hours from death.
Chloe Wakelin, 26, had been visiting her GP weekly for two months, suffering from persistent stomach pain, fatigue, and a loss of appetite.
Doctors tested her for Crohn’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but when the results came back negative, she was told it was likely “just a viral stomach bug.”
Despite her complaints of bloating, she was repeatedly asked to take pregnancy tests. Eventually, her condition worsened, and she began vomiting a substance that looked like tar.
“I worked in a nursery and was constantly around children, so I just assumed it was a stomach bug I’d caught from them,” she said. “I also have a little girl, so I thought maybe she had brought it home from school.”
But as time passed, she realized “it wasn’t going away” and “had to be something else,” though she even started to question if it was all in her head.
In January 2024, Wakelin rushed to A&E after noticing her skin was turning yellow.
Scans revealed a large mass in her colon, requiring immediate surgery. Doctors told her she was just 12 hours from death as her liver and kidneys were failing, and she had also developed sepsis.
When she woke from a seven-and-a-half-hour surgery, she felt like “everything had crumbled” around her. She discovered a stoma bag on her stomach and was given the devastating news, she had stage three colon cancer.
“It’s surreal because when people say your life can completely turn upside down in a matter of hours, you never think it’ll happen to you,” Wakelin said.
“I was so confused. I was in tears, calling my mum and auntie, trying to understand how this was dismissed as a simple stomach bug for so long. Just a week earlier, I was told I needed a scan, but they were too busy to schedule it.”
The surgery successfully removed the tumor, along with 25cm of her large intestine and several lymph nodes. Wakelin then underwent four rounds of chemotherapy to ensure the cancer was fully eliminated.
In July, she received the news that she was in remission. However, she admitted feeling “frustrated” and “let down” that doctors had overlooked her condition for so long.
“I was so relieved the cancer was gone, but at the same time, there was always a ‘what if?’ lingering in the back of my mind,” she said.
Now, Wakelin is urging anyone experiencing unusual symptoms to visit their GP, no matter their age.
“You always think you’re too young at 25 because bowel cancer is typically associated with older people,” she explained. “I didn’t have the ‘typical’ symptoms of bowel cancer.
“I just want to remind everyone, don’t be ashamed to see your GP about any symptoms, no matter how old you are. Cancer can affect anyone.”
According to the NHS, common symptoms of bowel cancer include persistent blood in stools, ongoing changes in bowel habits, persistent lower abdominal pain, bloating, or discomfort.
