A young woman who was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer after mistaking her symptoms for a urinary tract infection (UTI) has issued an urgent warning about the symptoms everyone should be aware of.
Ellie Wilcock was just 25 when she was diagnosed with the illness. She had initially attributed her sharp abdominal pains and bouts of fatigue to a UTI. Despite the pain being localised to one side of her abdomen, doctors suspected issues with her reproductive system or an ovarian cyst. However, the diagnosis was far more serious – Ellie had the most severe grade of cancer, which had spread throughout her body.
Content manager Ellie has taken to TikTok to share her experience and raise awareness of the early warning signs she experienced prior to her diagnosis.
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“It [the pain] was in my left hand side. It was because the tumour was obstructing my large bowel. I thought it was more like urinary pain… doctors thought it was a UTI,” she explained in a video that has been viewed over 400,000 times.
In another clip, Ellie revealed that some doctors believed she had an ovarian cyst, but she had symptoms more commonly associated with bowel cancer. She noticed changes in her bowel habits, including both diarrhoea and constipation, reports SurreyLive.
Ellie recounted her experience, saying: “For me, it was a constant change between the two but it just wasn’t normal for me, and fatigue. I would come home from work and just want to lie down and go to bed. I was really tired, I was really fatigued. Even sat at my desk, I was falling asleep I was so tired.”
She also noticed a key warning sign when she saw blood in her stool, adding: “At the time I didn’t think I had this but on reflection I did and just didn’t notice it. This could be a range of colours, it could be bright red or a dark red.
“But anything that isn’t normal for you and you’ve noticed consistent blood in your poo then get it checked out. It is nothing to be embarrassed about. The sooner you look at it, the sooner you get it out the way.”
The NHS advises that anyone with symptoms persisting for more than three weeks should consult their GP. While many symptoms may be due to conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, it’s crucial to seek medical advice.
Ellie first visited her doctor in April 2022, where initial tests ruled out a UTI but indicated inflammation. An ultrasound was scheduled under the suspicion of an ovarian cyst. However, as her pain worsened, Ellie went to A&E, where she received the devastating diagnosis.
After finding that her cancer had reached her liver, ovaries, and the peritoneum, Ellie underwent several operations before being told in August there was no more evidence of the disease.
Commenting on her latest TikTok video, Ellie stated: “I always say cancer can happen to anyone, it doesn’t discriminate. It is just a bulldozer that moves into people’s lives and it fills waiting rooms with people, all with their own stories, their own families fighting this horrible disease,” and she highlighted the importance of prompt medical checks if symptoms are present.
With bowel cancer rates increasing in under-50s to the bewilderment of medics, the NHS website lists persistent symptoms such as fatigue, breathlessness, headaches, which could indicate anaemia caused by the condition.
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