Mother with bowel cancer thought symptoms were indigestion

A mother with incurable bowel cancer has described how she originally believed her symptoms were due to indigestion or fatigue.

Stephanie Spearman, of Chelmsford in Essex, said she wanted to raise awareness of the condition so people could quickly push for the right treatment.

The 35-year-old, an admin manager for the Civil Service, started feeling tired with abdominal pains during a family camping holiday in Devon.

Ms Spearman, who has no family history of cancer, said: “I started with really bad stomach pains, cramping and a feeling like I had trapped wind all the time.

“I didn’t think much of it and I went to a pharmacy to get some indigestion tablets in the hope it would just go away.”

Her symptoms became more severe and frequent so she visited her GP and local accident and emergency department.

“By now I knew there was something seriously wrong with me,” she said.

“I know my body, but I was constantly being told I probably had irritable bowel syndrome. I was even offered peppermint tea at one point and told to go home and relax."

Ms Spearman, who has a six-year-old son called Jacob, said it was “like having constant labour pains and I could also feel a heavy lump on my right-hand side”.

“It got so bad I went back to A&E but this time I really pushed for some answers,” she said.

After an X-ray showed a shadow in her lower abdomen, a CT scan discovered a tumour mass in her bowel which required immediate surgery, and biopsies were taken.

She was told two weeks later that she had incurable bowel cancer.

“I was told ‘You have cancer’ – three words that nobody ever wants to hear,” said Ms Spearman, who lives with her partner Luke Archer, 35.

“I can’t describe how I felt, it was just awful. I was just thinking about my six-year-old son Jacob.

“That day changed both our lives forever but I am determined to do whatever it takes to make sure I’m here for him and my family.”

Ms Spearman requires further surgery after the cancer spread to her ovaries and stomach lining.

“It was just another devastating blow because I always thought I would have more children, but that is no longer an option for me,” she said.

“I will never be fully clear of cancer and for the rest of my life I will need chemotherapy and constant scans to check it has not spread.”

But she said she remains positive thanks to research and is taking each day as it comes.

“Some people have been diagnosed with this type of cancer and are still living healthy, fulfilling lives five or 10 years later,” she said.

“You just don’t know what the future holds and you have to be positive, if not, it can just consume you.

“I’m fighting to live for my son and see him grow up, so I have no choice but to deal with this.”

Her sisters Lauren and Emma, 47, are taking part in the Chelmsford Pretty Muddy 5k on Sunday to help raise awareness and funds for Cancer Research UK.

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