Liann Winn, Isle of Wight

I was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer in May 2025. 

I have two sons, 13 and 16, a lovely supportive partner, and a fox red labrador called Ruby! I work in the safeguarding team of our hospital on the island, which I’m looking forward to returning to after treatment.  

I’ve always been busy juggling work, taking care of our house, taking my boys to football and general life, which is why I put my initial tiredness down to being busy and just getting older. I was very out of breath walking up stairs and had weak legs. I put this down to getting older, putting on a bit of weight and the menopause. I didn’t think anything of it until a colleague at work said I really didn’t look right after I’d climbed the stairs and should get a blood test. That hadn’t even crossed my mind until this point. The test showed that I had severe, symptomatic anaemia for which I had to go to A&E immediately for an emergency blood transfusion and iron transfusion. 

My GP looked into why I had such severe anaemia. They suggested I took a FIT test to rule out cancer, despite my having no symptoms at all for bowel cancer. I was surprised this came back positive and was put on a two-week cancer pathway. I then had a colonoscopy in April which led to the tumour being found on my colon. At this point, they told me at this point they were pretty sure I had cancer and a consultant confirmed it on 2 May. It was a big shock as I had no symptoms at all apart from being out of breath, which I had not heard of being a symptom of bowel cancer, and something that I don’t feel is well known as a symptom now. 

After diagnosis, I faced a whirlwind of tests, scans and hospital appointments. I had more iron infusions and then surgery in June to remove part of my colon. The lymph nodes, veins and blood vessels were infected, so six months of chemotherapy was advised straightaway. 

Chemotherapy has been hard as I reacted to it quickly, being sick on my first round and feeling very ill after. During my second round, I had a severe reaction which resulted in difficulty breathing and being unable to walk for a number of hours. I then had a PICC line put in which was easier, but my white blood cells reduced so two sessions had to be cancelled. I’m still having treatment now. 

This has been very difficult physically and mentally. I’m trying hard to be positive, especially for my children, but some days can be a struggle. I try not to think too much about the future. I just try and keep things chilled at home and hopefully will get through this, so I can watch my children continue to grow up. I try to be as positive as I can and think it could have been worse when they found the tumour. I don’t let my head get carried away with the possibility of the worst-case scenario.

I’ve had brilliant support right from the very start. I feel the hospital, GP and cancer team have been on the ball. I’ve not had to chase anyone or been made to wait. Any time I needed support or had questions, I had easy access to my cancer nurse and feel well supported. My family have been great, especially my partner who has been there for me throughout and fabulous friends who regularly check in on me. Work have been amazingly supportive too and I’ve never been made to feel guilty for not being able to work.   

We were given information booklets from Bowel Cancer UK at the start which I’ve often referred to. I’ve also found the online group informative, useful and a great support. 

The message I’d like to share is to listen to your body. Don’t put your symptoms, no matter how mild they are, down to getting older, or crucially down to the menopause. So many women my age put lots of issues down to this. I think it’s important to target this group of women to advise there may be other reasons as to why they are so tired or out of breath. Anaemia, being out of breath and feeling weak could all be added to the list of bowel cancer symptoms.