A mum-of-three who claimed her GP mistook symptoms of bowel cancer for a urinary infection three times has urged others to be aware of the tell-tale signs of the disease.
Zoe Gardner-Lawson, from Bracknell in Berkshire, initially contacted her family doctor in last August after suddenly feeling a constant dull pain in her lower back.
But the 36-year-old was repeatedly prescribed antibiotics over the course of a month, despite the pain worsening.
Then, in September, after complaining the pain had spread to her abdomen leaving her bedridden, she was urged by her GP to head straight to A&E.
Initial tests suggested she may be suffering kidney stones.
It was only after a full-body CT scan that doctors confirmed she had a 5cm tumour on her bowel and the HR manager was diagnosed with stage four cancer — the most serious kind that means it’s spread elsewhere in the body.
Now undertaking her fifth round of chemotherapy Ms Gardner-Lawson is calling for the bowel cancer screening minimum age to be dropped to ‘at least’ 30.
Recalling her terrifying ordeal, she said: ‘My professor Jamie Murphy, told me that I could’ve been living with this tumour for up to four years before my diagnosis — that’s terrifying.
Zoe Gardner-Lawson, from Bracknell in Berkshire, initially contacted her family doctor last August after suddenly feeling a constant dull pain in her lower back. Pictured, with son Odin
But the 36-year-old was repeatedly prescribed antibiotics over the course of a month, despite the pain worsening
‘If all goes well, I still have a chance at achieving a “no evidence of disease” status, but it all depends on these next couple of years.
‘I’m young enough that they’re not considering it a terminal diagnosis 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.’
There are around 44,000 cases of bowel cancer every year in the UK and 142,000 in the US, making it the fourth most common cancer in both countries.
But cases are rising in young people, an alarming trend that experts have linked to modern diets, chemical exposure and lifestyles.
Bowel cancer symptoms include changes in bowel movements such as consistent and new diarrhoea or constipation, needing or feeling the need to poo more or less frequently and blood in the stool.
Stomach pain, a lump in the stomach, bloating, unexpected weight-loss and fatigue are among other common signs.
It was only after a full-body CT scan that doctors confirmed she had a 5cm tumour on her bowel and the HR head-of-department was diagnosed with stage four cancer. Pictured, Zoe with husband Sam and kids Leo, Izzy and Odin
Now undertaking her fifth round of chemotherapy Ms Gardner-Lawson is calling for the bowel cancer screening minimum age to be dropped to ‘at least’ 30
Anyone experiencing these symptoms should contact their GP for advice.
Having always felt ‘fit and healthy’ and rarely anxious about her health, Ms Gardner-Lawson said she was alarmed when she began experiencing lower back pain and booked a phone appointment with her GP.
‘There was just no change and by my third dose [of antibiotics], I’d really deteriorated,’ she said.
‘I was basically bedridden — I felt so unwell, and the back pain had spread to my abdomen.’
It was only after a fourth appointment with her GP on September 19 that she was urged to go to A&E.
‘My blood was checked for infection markers, called creatine reactive protein,’ she added.
‘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.
Bowel cancer can cause you to have blood in your poo, a change in bowel habit, a lump inside your bowel which can cause an obstructions. Some people also suffer with weight loss a s a result of these symptoms
Having always felt ‘fit and healthy’ and rarely anxious about her health, Ms Gardner-Lawson said she was alarmed when she began experiencing lower back pain and booked a phone appointment with her GP
‘I threw my toys out the pram then, I told them I wasn’t going to leave until I had a full-body CT.’
Results showed she had a lime-sized tumour on her bowel that had spread to her liver, peritoneum — a membrane that surrounds the abdominal organs — and stomach lymph nodes.
After being transferred to the Cleveland Clinic in central London, she underwent a four-hour operation in October to remove as much of the tumour as possible and was told she’d need chemotherapy.
‘I’ve tolerated it as well as anybody can, it’s pretty hardcore,’ Ms Gardner-Lawson said.
‘I’m on round five of eight in total — it’s three chemo drugs per round.
‘I’ve basically just taken the approach to throw the kitchen sink at it, improve my prognosis as much as possible.’
But she believes if she had been offered a faecal immunochemical test [FIT] earlier, doctors may have caught her cancer years ago.
After being transferred to the Cleveland Clinic in central London, she underwent a four-hour operation in October to remove as much of the tumour as possible and was told she’d need chemotherapy
People aged 60 to 74 years who are registered with a GP practice and live in England are automatically sent an FIT kit every two years.
But as part of plans to lower the age of people that receive the test to age 50 by 2025, the kits are also currently rolled out to those aged 54 and over.
People use a small stick provided to collect a tiny sample of poo from the toilet, which they then sent back to an NHS lab in a plastic pot.
Scientists then check for small amounts of blood in the poo — that would not be visible to the naked eye — as this could be an early sign something is wrong.
Now, Ms Gardner-Lawson believes the standard testing age should be lowered to ‘at least’ 30, if not 25.
‘If my disease was caught earlier, it would’ve been easier to treat… I think the minimum age for testing needs to reduce,’ she added.
Her ordeal comes as experts continue to warn of a disturbing rise in bowel cancers in under 50s, which has baffled doctors around the globe.
The disease, the third most common cancer in the UK, is the same type that killed Dame Deborah James at age 40 in 2022.
Dame Deborah James, nicknamed the ‘bowel babe’ raised more than £11.3mn for Cancer Research and is credited for increasing awareness of the disease, which killed her in 2022 aged 40
Although the vast majority of diagnoses affect those aged over 50, rates in older age-groups has either declined or held stable while diagnoses in younger adults have risen by 50 per cent over the last 30 years.
Cancer Research UK estimates that over half (54 per cent) of bowel cancer cases in the UK are preventable.
Doctors have suggested obesity, antibiotic over-use, mobile phone radiation and even invisible particles of plastic in drinking water are potential triggers.
However a growing number of experts are also pointing ultra-processed foods as a cause.
