Sabrina Parris, East Sussex
I was diagnosed with bowel cancer in January 2026 at just 40 years old.
I'm a married mum of two girls aged six and 11. My family is so important to me and I love doing things with my girls. I work part time and love exercising and keeping myself healthy and happy.
My diagnosis
For a lot of 2025 I had some bleeding. Every month or so, I would look in the toilet and see some bright red blood. I assumed it was haemorrhoids and was slightly concerned, but not overly concerned.
A few more months down the line, it begun happening more often and I decided to make a doctor’s appointment. I was adamant it was bowel disease or something similar as I’d always had IBS symptoms. I wrote all these symptoms down and went to the doctor. I told him about the bleeding and the symptoms I’d always had. He agreed with me that it could be bowel disease. He didn’t seem overly concerned about my bleeding, stating that I was too young for something as serious as cancer, so we wouldn’t be going down that route. He said he would send a referral for a colonoscopy and that it might take a few months.
Five months down the line, the bleeding was happening most days. By then I’d chased my colonoscopy up asking how long it would be, but there was never a real answer. Around Christmas that year, I got called and offered an appointment around the New Year. I accepted and went through with the colonoscopy.
My husband was in the room after the procedure, and I was told they had found a large tumour and that I had cancer. I was so shocked that I could barely make any words out. It wasn’t what either of us was expecting – I had only just turned 40 and had two young children to live for.
Facing surgery
After finding out I had bowel cancer, I didn’t know how to feel. Some days I thought about how I was going to leave my young family behind and what they would do without their mum. Other days I felt stronger and thought ‘I’m going to beat this’!
I had an appointment with the surgeon a couple of weeks later. He told me the cancer hadn’t yet spread, but it was big and blocking my bowel. I’d need to have a major operation. They set me a date, and over the next few weeks I started to feel worse. As the tumour was blocking my bowel, it was making me feel sick and not able to go to the toilet properly, so my surgery was brought forward. I was so happy I was in floods of tears.
My surgery was painful, and I was in hospital for four days. It was so hard seeing my husband and children in floods of tears every time they came to see me. My daughter found it extremely hard to leave me after visiting.
After getting through surgery, I spent my recovery at home trying to be more myself every day. My husband was truly amazing. He came to every appointment and became my carer, looking after me and the children. It was extremely hard, but he did it without any hesitation at all. I'll never forget the kindness of my parents and friends that were there for me: their visits, beautiful flowers, messages and words of encouragement.
More bad news
After six weeks I managed to go back to work. However, another visit with the surgeon told me I had stage 3 bowel cancer. It had spread into my bowel walls and was in two of the 18 lymph nodes that he took out. I would need adjuvant chemotherapy: three rounds of CAPOX over four months. I was so upset. I wasn’t expecting to need to have chemotherapy and I was looking forward to getting on with my life after the surgery and everything I’d been through.
I started chemo the week after that and it was so much harder that I thought it would be. I tried to be strong, but with every drip infusion it got worse, and the peripheral neuropathy was so painful. I would struggle to walk or do anything for myself or my children. I couldn’t even brush my daughter’s hair. I realised the pain was even worse than surgery – it was drawn out and hard. I couldn’t work, and most days I couldn’t get out of bed. But when I looked at my husband and my children, I knew I was doing it for them, and that got me through it.
Where I’m at now
I'm now in remission and it’s been six months since I found out I had cancer. I’m looking to go back to work and taking life more seriously as it’s so precious. I feel like I've been given another chance in life, and I'll never take it for granted. I've had two scans which have been clear, and I’ll have a five-year plan where they will give me scans, blood tests, and another colonoscopy. Every scan will give me terrible anxiety, but I know I'm strong and can bear it.
I hope telling my story raises awareness. I’d heard about bowel cancer now and again before my diagnosis but assumed it was an older person’s disease. Please don’t ignore any symptoms or bleeding. Make sure your voice is heard!
