When Kelly looks back, the sciatic nerve pain she couldn’t fix, bloating even after a small meal, and the occasional odd bowel movement, seemed quite normal.
But it turned out to be stage four metastatic bowel cancer.
And despite getting this diagnosis earlier this year, she still can’t believe it.
“I didn’t think I heard the doctor right,” Kelly said.
“I was 43 when I was told, I just remember thinking I was too young for this. I’m at my fittest, I look after myself, but it can happen to anyone. Cancer does not discriminate.
In 2024, there were approximately 35 diagnoses of early onset colorectal cancer in people aged 20-49 years in Loddon Mallee region.
Casting her mind back to when the symptoms started Kellie reflected: “I was so bloated that it was painful all day, then I started to vomit, and had diarrhoea for a few days. I knew I needed to speak to someone, so I called my GP.
“I was sent for a CT scan and that’s when they found the tumour in my bowel and lesions on my liver. Within a week I was booked in for a colonoscopy which confirmed my worst fears, that it was most certainly cancerous.”
According to Bowel Cancer Australia it is a common misconception that bowel cancer is ‘an old person’s disease’, but the reality is early-onset bowel cancer is on the rise and you should never be told that “you’re too young to have bowel cancer”.
Although the majority of newly diagnosed bowel cancer cases occur in people aged 50 years and over, 1 in 9 (11%) Australians diagnosed with bowel cancer are under the age of 50.
Despite Kelly being promptly scheduled for bowel surgery the lesions on her liver worsened which meant surgery was cancelled in favour of chemotherapy.
“They wheeled me down to the Bendigo Cancer Centre where I met the most amazing, caring nurses who talked me through everything that I was to expect,” Kelly said.
“It’s one step at a time. You have to be patient and let your body do what it needs to do. I always keep a smile on my face, but if I have a day where I’m sad, I let the tears flow.”
Kelly said the most important lesson was to speak up if something feels off.
“No matter how small the change is, go and get checked,” she said.
“You know your body the best and early detection can make all the difference.”
June is National Bowel Cancer Awareness month. Learn more about bowel cancer screening or where to get support https://www.bowelcanceraustralia.org/