Woman diagnosed with stage four cancer shares hidden symptoms that were dismissed by doctors

A woman diagnosed with stage four cancer has shared the hidden symptoms that were initially dismissed by doctors.

Unfortunately, it feels all too common that we hear about someone’s health being overlooked or ignored and for Zoe Gardner-Lawson, it meant being told she had a urine infection while she actually had bowel cancer.

The 36-year-old was prescribed with five days’ worth of antibiotics by the GP over the phone after suddenly feeling a constant dull pain in her lower back in August 2024.

Zoe Gardner-Lawson was sadly diagnosed with bowel cancer (SWNS)

Before this started, the mum-of-three felt ‘fit and healthy’ but the pain wasn’t budging and she was prescribed two further doses across one month.

"There was just no change - and by my third dose, I’d really deteriorated," Zoe said. "I was basically bedridden - I felt so unwell, and the back pain had spread to my abdomen, too."

Still with this pain and no answers, the Berkshire woman was back at the GP in September when they advised her to go straight to A&E.

Doctors there checked her symptoms and after a physical examination, concluded it may be kidney stones. But a CT scan confirmed this wasn’t the case and she was referred for blood tests.

Checked for creatine reactive protein, Zoe explained: "They were rising, until they reached 364n/mol - a normal range for women is 52.9n/mol and 91.9n/mol. A general surgeon came to see me, and he said it looked like I had fluid build-up on my abdomen."

The mum-of-three's symptoms were initially dismissed (SWNS)

Zoe 'threw her toys out the pram' at this point and demanded a full-body CT.

Following two months of this pain symptom coming on suddenly, it was eventually found she had a lime-sized tumour on her bowel causing a perforation, and had spread to her liver, peritoneum and stomach lymph nodes.

A consultant told her she could’ve been living with the tumour for up to four years before it was removed in an emergency surgery in early October.

A biopsy revealed it was a cancerous blastoma - one of the most aggressive forms of cancer - and Zoe was told she’d need to triple her chemo dosage per round.

She’s now on her fifth round of chemotherapy with it being pretty ‘hardcore’ and says her prognosis isn’t certain just yet.

"The plan is, once I’ve had my sixth round of chemo, they’re hoping I’ll have responded well," she added. "All being well, I’ll need to be booked in for a second surgery - to remove remaining stomach lymph nodes and two tumours on my liver."

Zoe had a lime-sized tumour on her bowel causing a perforation, and had spread to her liver, peritoneum and stomach lymph nodes (SWNS)

With her pain symptoms initially dismissed, Zoe wants the minimum age for bowel cancer screenings to drop to 'at least' 30.

"If my disease was caught earlier, it would’ve been easier to treat… I think the minimum age for testing needs to reduce," she said.

Zoe has a GoFundMe to fund her alternative treatment and alleviate financial worries.

The NHS lists the main symptoms of bowel cancer as: changes in your poo, such as having softer poo, diarrhoea or constipation that is not usual for you; needing to poo more or less often than usual for you; blood in your poo, which may look red or black; bleeding from your bottom; often feeling like you need to poo, even if you've just been to the toilet; tummy pain; a lump in your tummy; bloating; losing weight without trying; feeling very tired for no reason.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.