"Not a day goes by that I can't believe this happened to my family"
Friday 8 April 2022
Laura's sister Rebecca was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer on 20 April 2020 aged just 20. Here Laura shares her sister's story as it was always so important for Rebecca to raise awareness of bowel cancer in younger people.
In the autumn of 2019 Rebecca began saying that her jeans were uncomfortable on her stomach and often had to undo the button on her jeans to ease the discomfort. In February 2020 she believed she had caught a sickness bug. However, this bug continued for several weeks and escalated so that she couldn't keep fluids or plain foods down without being violently ill. The GP diagnosed her with gastroenteritis.
Rebecca was rapidly losing weight, exhausted and unable to go to the toilet. Multiple weeks turned into months with numerous GP appointments and trips to the out of hours minor injury unit for anti-sickness injections and for fluids. Becoming desperate, my parents took her to A&E due to the severe cramping and vomiting; the hospital did an ultrasound and said that it was a severe case of gastroenteritis. On the second visit to A&E they gave her a bag of fluids and IV pain relief and discharged her.
On 19 April 2020 she went to A&E for the third time, again she was given IV fluids and pain relief. However, they also decided to do a CT of her abdomen and pelvis the following day as a precaution due to her symptoms not improving.
On the morning of 20 April, Rebecca went for the CT. Soon after, the doctor called and said they had found a blockage and they would need to operate to remove it that same day as an emergency. Also, they expected that she would need a stoma after the operation.
The surgeon called at 8pm and said a biopsy would be needed to confirm, however, she was almost certain it was a tumour. However, the operation went successfully and Rebecca was in recovery and would be told the findings in the morning.
It was 9am the following day and, due to the pandemic, no visitors were allowed. We were on loud speaker with Rebecca and the doctor as they explained their findings. Rebecca told me she was so relieved that an answer had been found as she had been in such extreme pain and sickness for so long she hadn't been able to have any quality of life.
Rebecca was discharged on 29 April and came home. It was the first time since Christmas time she was comfortable and pain free.
In June 2020, Rebecca underwent fertility treatment to freeze her eggs so in the future she had the chance of having children of her own. At 20 years old it wasn't on her mind and hadn't really considered having a family in the future.
In August 2020, we had the results of the genetic testing. They said it was a less than 1% chance of it being linked to genes and it was likely just 'bad luck'. It was a bittersweet moment – we were relieved it wasn't hereditary, but we wanted something to blame or have a cause. Rebecca was very much a glass half full and always looked for positivity during her treatment despite blow after blow.
She had eight rounds of chemotherapy. On Monday 1 February 2021 she was given the all clear. By Friday 5 February she went into A&E with what we thought was a blocked stoma caused by a reaction to her chemo. They did a scan and found a suspicious area in her ovary. They did an MRI of her pelvis and confirmed cancer in her ovaries.
The doctors and us as a family explored various options of treatment; however, the cancer was aggressive and rapidly spread causing complex issues. On 20 April, she was transferred to a hospice for end-of-life care. The multi-disciplinary team were so kind to us and despite the pandemic and allowed my parents and me to stay every night with her.
Rebecca peacefully passed away on 1 May 2021 holding my parents and my hands.
It was always so important for Rebecca to raise awareness of bowel cancer in young people and it does not discriminate by age which is why I have shared her story. We are trying to get her case into a research project exploring bowel cancer in young adults with no genetic links.
There is not a day that goes by that I just can't believe this happened to my family and that Bec is no longer here. There will always be a Rebecca shaped hole in our lives; but we will continue to raise awareness and fundraise for cancer.
