WHEN Charlotte Rutherford first began experiencing stomach pain and constipation she didn’t think much of it.
But after 18 months of intermittent symptoms, the 26-year-old knew she couldn’t ignore the signs any longer.
The Brit, who was living in Australia at the time, rushed to hospital in severe pain, unable to eat and vomiting virtually every time after she ate a meal.
A CT scan revealed she had stage three bowel cancer, meaning the disease had spread to her nearby lymph nodes.
“I was told that when I went into hospital the first time in 2020 that I was maybe 48 hours away from my heart just giving up,” Charlotte, now 32, said.
After successfully undergoing treatment, she was thankfully told her cancer was in remission.
READ MORE ON BOWEL CANCER
Moving back to the UK later in 2021, she was monitored every six months with scans and blood tests.
But, it was after one of these check-up appointments in early 2023 she was given the devastating news that her cancer had not only returned, it had spread too.
Despite suffering no symptoms, she was told she had stage four bowel cancer that had spread to her lungs.
After undergoing gruelling surgery her cancer is once again in remission.
Now, Charlotte, who is a community manager for cancer charity Mission Remission and lives in Bristol, is calling on all young people to be aware of the key signs of the condition and not to ignore anything unusual.
Recalling her traumatic first diagnosis, Charlotte said: “At the time I went into hospital, I was so constipated.
“But all I can remember is the severe nausea, because, essentially, I was so blocked up and had been for a long time, it was kind of poisoning me.”
Her CT scan revealed an obstruction in her bowel that required urgent surgery and doctors asked if Charlotte had a history of bowel cancer in her family.
“I said: ‘I don’t have cancer, do I?’. And they were like: ‘We don’t know yet, but we’ll find out’,” she recalled.
On December 11, 2020 – within 24 hours of arriving at the hospital – Charlotte was in theatre having the obstruction removed for biopsy.
On December 17, it was confirmed that she had advanced bowel cancer, and doctors estimated it had been developing for three to five years.
“I had no time to think,” she said.
“I was in Australia, and it was in Covid, so I was on my own in the hospital. To be honest, the thing that was going through my mind because of how unwell I felt… I just thought I was going to die in the hospital.”
While the large tumour and the affected lymph nodes had been removed during surgery, she required 12 weeks of preventative chemotherapy administered via drip and oral tablets to ensure there was no cancer remaining.
On 6 April 2021, having completed the four rounds of chemotherapy, Charlotte was told she was in remission.
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.
Research shows those born in 1990 are nearly two-and-a-half times more likely to get bowel cancer than someone born in 1950.
Sun Columnist Dame Deborah James was diagnosed in 2016 at the age of just 35, after initially being told her symptoms were likely due to IBS or stress.
The podcaster and campaigner, who used her social media profile ‘Bowel Babe’ to spread awareness of the disease, died aged just 40, in 2022.
Symptoms often 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 signs.
Anyone experiencing these symptoms should contact their GP for advice.
Charlotte moved back to the UK in April 2021, and had scans and blood tests every six months for monitoring.
By 2023, aged 29, she “felt so fit and so healthy” prior to her check-up.
“It was probably the scan I went into with the least amount of scan anxiety”, she added.
But, just nine days later, Charlotte received a call from the hospital.
“They said, ‘Your surgeon would like to see you next week’… I was like, I’ve never been called in before, so that can’t be good news,” she said.
Charlotte was then told the cancer had returned and she was diagnosed as stage 4, meaning it had spread to other parts of her body – her lung.
“We spoke about treatment options, and normally, the NHS will say that anyone who’s had a recurrence has to have another round of chemo,” she said.
“But I was 29 at the time, and fertility was a really big factor.
“I essentially had to weigh up whether it meant more to me to not have chemo and protect my fertility, or have chemo and reduce my chance of the cancer coming back.”
Because of the tumour’s small size, Charlotte was able to have it removed through keyhole surgery in April 2023.
She was on bed rest for two weeks, and “after that, it was a case of really slowly and gradually building up my fitness again”.
She was told she was in remission again in August 2023.
The hardest part, she said, “was the breathlessness – I couldn’t walk anywhere without being so breathless… It took a long time to build up my fitness again”.
“Maybe it was naive, but I really didn’t think I was going to have a recurrence during my remission,” she added.
“It was a huge shock, because I felt so fit and healthy.”
Battling cancer twice in her late 20s has taken an emotional toll on Charlotte, too.
“Because I was so young, you’re around an age group where people are progressing with other areas of their life, like buying houses and work and stuff. You just feel so behind where everyone else is, for something that is just so out of your control.”
As April marks Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, Charlotte is urging both young people and medical professionals to look out for the warning signs of bowel cancer.
“There isn’t quite that awareness still that this can happen to young people,” Charlotte said.
“I think that just raising awareness of the symptoms and making sure people have the confidence to get checked if something doesn’t feel right… To not have that immediate thought of: ‘You’re too young to have bowel cancer’ is important.”
This Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, Bowel Cancer UK and Takeda UK are spotlighting their Stage4You campaign – developed and funded by Takeda UK and supported by Bowel Cancer UK – which has been created to address the real challenges and unmet needs of people living with stage 4 bowel cancer.
For Charlotte, Stage4You has been valuable as it “acknowledges the mental toll of what we’re going through, and gives us that acknowledgement to be able to just take some time, and to see that life doesn’t just go on as normal sometimes”.
“I think my whole perspective on life changed (after cancer),” she added.
“I say yes to more things. I make sure that all of the time I have is spent doing things that I actually want to do. I think it shows you how fragile life is.”
