A fit and healthy mother died within eight months of a devastating bowel cancer diagnosis — after doctors originally mistook her symptoms for a food intolerance.
Maria Paszkiewicz was very rarely ill, but in 2023 she began experiencing a change in her bowel habits.
The then 76 year-old found she needed to use the toilet far more frequently than usual, and often with some urgency.
But her GP said her symptoms were likely caused by a reaction to food that she, for whatever reason, was unable to digest properly.
Ms Paszkiewicz’s daughter, Anne-Marie, 43, said no medic suggested that it could be something more serious.
‘When this didn’t feel right, my mum had to push for a blood test to be done to ascertain what the issue really was,’ she said.
Eventually, doctors discovered cancer in her bowel, which had spread to her liver.
She promptly started chemotherapy and appeared to be making good progress.
Maria Paszkiewicz (right), pictured with her daughter Anne-Marie, was never poorly but in 2023 started experiencing stomach problems and changes in bowel movements
However, shortly after the course of treatment ended, the disease began to grow back, with no further drugs proving effective at keeping it at bay.
At the end of April last year, Ms Paszkiewicz was given the devastating news she had just three to six months to live.
But she died just three days later, with her daughter by her side.
‘After that initial prognosis we spent the next few days calculating how long three months was and milestones coming up and what can we do as a family,’ her daughter said.
‘But we didn’t get to do any of that. It was a huge shock to the system.’
Anne-Marie has now launched a JustGiving campaign to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support, a charity that is very close to her heart.
The running fanatic is set to run both the Boston Marathon in the US and the London Marathon in the UK within just six days, in memory of her mum.
She said: ‘It will be a very emotional week.
Anne-Marie (left) said her mum’s sudden passing shocked her to the very core
Anne-Marie is set to run two marathons in just six days, in memory of her mum
‘Running has always been my way of processing things, so getting a place in the London Marathon felt like a lovely way to honour mum and give back.’
Bowel cancer is the second most common form of the disease, killing almost 17,000 people in Britain each year.
Only half of those diagnosed are expected to survive a decade after their diagnosis.
More recently, experts have become concerned about a rise in cases among under 50 year-olds, with diagnoses jumping 36 per cent between 2007 and 2017.
Experts aren’t entirely sure as to the reason for this increase, but some have speculated that it may be due to a combination ultra-processed food consumption, pollution and toxic plastics in the environment.
Analysis suggests deaths from bowel cancer in the UK are set to rise by 2,500 a year between now and 2040.
Symptoms of the disease include changes in bowel movements such as diarrhoea or constipation, needing or feeling the need to empty your bowels more or less frequently, blood in the stool, stomach pain, bloating, unexpected-weight loss and fatigue.
