A mum-of-two has been diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer, months after her concerns about symptoms were repeatedly dismissed. Amanda Crossley, 32, from Queensland, has a strong family history of the disease. Her mother got it in her 40s, her aunt was diagnosed at 35 – and her grandmother had it too. But when she went to the doctor complaining of “book” disease symptoms and a brief description of her family history, she was sent home. Speaking to FEMAIL, Amanda said her doctor told her the pain she was feeling above her belly button was likely her ‘abs separating’ as she was 20 weeks pregnant with her second baby. “I went home and tried to move on, but within a few weeks the pain was radiating down my right side,” she said. When she mentioned it to her doctor she was told not to worry. Once her daughter was born, Amanda expected the pain to go away – just as her doctor had suggested. Instead it got worse. “He then gave me some stool softeners and said I must be constipated,” Amanda said. But the emollients did not reduce the discomfort at all. She was told the pain was a pregnancy symptom – but it continued after the birth Doctors gave the 32-year-old laxatives and said she was probably constipated “I went back every two weeks, Googled my symptoms and even told her I was ticking every box for bowel cancer,” she said. Her doctor then had to take a week off – so Amanda was left to explain her problems to another doctor. The doctor also suggested laxatives and ran tests that revealed mom’s iron levels were low. “I wanted more answers, so I went back to my doctor a week later and asked for more tests,” she said. She said her doctor eventually sent her for a stool sample, CT scan and ultrasound. “I knew it was cancer for sure when the doctor called me the day after the CT scan and asked me to come right away,” she said. “Usually they were very hard to get into. I’ll never forget the look [the doctor’s] face, their eyes told me I was right.’ Since her diagnosis, Amanda’s world has been turned upside down. The 32-year-old underwent emergency surgery a few days later, where doctors removed a third of her intestine. Weeks later she asked for more tests and a CT scan confirmed her worst fears – she had bowel cancer, a disease her mum, aunt and grandmother had battled “It was keyhole surgery, but they had to cut another slit because the mass from the tumor was too big to fit through the first hole,” he said. Now Amanda is resting at home – trying to heal as quickly as possible so she can begin the next steps – which likely include chemotherapy. Mom is determined to beat cancer and refuses to call the disease terminal at stage four. “I have two little girls, I’m going to beat it because I have no choice but to beat it,” she said. The doctors made sure to explain things to Amanda one step at a time. The mother-of-two was taken to hospital where a third of her bowel was removed – including the main tumor which was larger than expected “They explained that it had spread to my liver and lymph nodes, but they didn’t say much more. I don’t think they wanted to overload me,” he said. The talented Googler has continued to search for more information about the disease since she was diagnosed. “Some people to survive – and they haven’t talked about the prognosis – but there’s that statistic there,” he said. Amanda told her sister to get properly checked after the disease was diagnosed, as cancer is so common in her family. She is now resting at home – but will return to hospital once she has regained her strength – to receive further treatment as the tumor had moved to her liver and lymph nodes

Colon cancer symptoms:

– Change in bowel habits with diarrhoea, constipation or a feeling of incomplete emptying – Thin or loose bowel movements – Blood or mucous in the stool – Anal or rectal pain Lump in the anus or rectum – Unexplained weight loss – Fatigue – Unexplained anemia – Abdominal pain, bloating and cramps Source: Cancer Council “It makes me fear that one or both of my girls will face the same problem one day,” she said. Amanda has met young people with cancer since she was diagnosed and wants doctors to stop thinking of it as an ‘old man’s disease’. “I really like my doctor overall and I think they do a good job. I just wish they had listened to me and I don’t want anyone else to go through this,” she said.
Amanda regrets not pushing harder or asking for more tests when she first realized something was wrong. He said he had suffered from digestive problems such as bloating and loose bowel movements “for years”. Blood tests also showed she had low iron, which went along with the fatigue and pain she was experiencing.