A student says she was prescribed iron tablets for 'recurrent' bouts of anaemia which turned out to be stage four cancer.
Laila Hudson was just 27 years old when she was given a devastating diagnosis of bowel back in 2020 after suffering a range of debilitating symptoms for three years.
These included a distended and bloated stomach, spasm-like pain, a loss of appetite, a constant need to pee and stabbing pain in her bladder when she went to the toilet.
She spent three years on iron tablets, as medics suspected that it was a re-occurrance of an earlier episode of the blood disorder anaemia, reports GlasgowLive.
More "glaring" symptoms then started in April 2020, and Laila found her stomach was "extremely distended" and bloated constantly – something she likened to "a bowling ball in my stomach."
She was prescribed irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) medication by a doctor over the phone, but was unable to get surgery at first because of the Covid pandemic.
Laila was eventually able to see a doctor face-to-face two weeks later after the pain became debilitating, and she found herself unable to move.
Checking her stomach, the doctor said he felt "several masses" and referred her for an ultrasound in two weeks, believing that the 'masses' could be an ovarian cyst or a fibroid.
But the night after her pain became even more severe, and she was taken into casualty.
After some tests, Laila was informed by a doctor that she had an ovarian cyst that would require immediate surgery.
They believed the mass was twisting her ovary, causing the intense pain.
However, the following morning, she was told it may be ovarian cancer due to her tumour markers being very high.
Laila said she was "distraught" by the news and did not tell her family at first as she was afraid to worry them.
She had moved home to help care for her mum, who herself had been diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour.
Laila says she was "delighted" when she received a letter from surgeons after this stating that they had removed a Borderline Ovarian Tumour, and tests had concluded it was not cancerous.
But her suspicions were raised when the pain returned, and began getting even worse.
Surgeons recommended that Laila went for a colonoscopy following the operation, due to a small polyp found on her appendix.
She said: "They advised me that it would be a routine procedure and due to Covid there was a huge backlog so I would most likely be waiting a very long time."
Laila was rushed back to hospital just four weeks after her surgery, after suffering from severe pain and vomiting.
Gynaecologists found some free fluid during an ultrasound, but this was put down to her recent operation.
The debilitating pain continued, and she was sent for a CT scan which discovered a faecal impaction.
Doctors then decided to keep Laila to do a colonoscopy due to concerns about the appearance of the mass - and while in hospital Laila's pain reached its worst yet.
Sharing how she learnt of her cancer amid the pain, she said: "That night the pain somehow managed to reach a whole new level and I remember literally screaming and clinging onto the bed for dear life while they pumped me full of morphine.
"The doctor came to speak to me deep in the night and advised me that they had sought a second opinion on my scan.
I had a tumour blocking my bowel and it was most likely cancerous. I was on so many painkillers that I was unphased by this bombshell."
Doctors were unable to perform a colonoscopy due to the size of the blockage in her bowel, and a procedure shortly afterwards saw three-quarters of her colon removed.
Days later surgeons discovered the new join in her bowel was leaking and causing sepsis leading to her being rushed into surgery once again.
She described the five days that followed as "the worst" of her life.
Laila was told that the colon tumour was a type of cancer called mucinous adenocarcinoma and they were having a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) meeting to discuss her case.
After the MDT meeting, she was told they had re-examined the ovarian tumour and it was in fact a metastasis from the bowel tumour.
She added: "My final staging was T4N1M1. I was absolutely floored.
"I hadn't really batted an eye when I found out I had cancer but to find out it had spread, I was terrified. I asked the doctor 'does this mean I'm going to die?' She just said 'we'll try our best to stop a recurrence'."
"She informed me they wanted to treat it aggressively and I would need six months of chemotherapy.
"I was devastated. I couldn't imagine putting my body through even more trauma, it felt utterly ruined and broken.
Laila says the "fantastic" work of her oncologist helped her pull through from the very start, and she said she finally "felt listened to".
She started chemotherapy seven weeks after her third surgery, and her condition has been on the up ever since.
In January 2021, Laila was told that she had no evidence of disease and undergoes regular scans to monitor her progress.
She said: "All I can do is live in hope that I will remain no evidence of disease."
During her treatment, Laila managed to walk a sponsored 10k and raised £4000 for The Brain Tumour Charity in memory of her mum was tragically passed away.
Laila is sharing her story to raise awareness of the cancer. She is working in partnership with Bowel Cancer UK during Bowel Cancer Awareness Month to help people #KnowTheHigh5 symptoms of bowel cancer.
The charity have launched even launched a quiz to test the public's knowledge of the disease.
