SYDNEY Stoner claims lying to doctors saved her life after they dismissed her tummy issues saying she was “too young for it to be anything serious”.
The 31-year-old had ignored her long-term and , but grew more worried in 2019.
When she found herself doubled over in pain at work, she visited the doctors who told her it was “IBS” and that she was “too young for it to be anything serious”.
Frustrated Sydney, who got married the previous year, says the pain she was experiencing felt like her “insides were being twisted”.
So she resorted to lying about having .
Sydney was then referred for a colonoscopy in September 2020 where the doctors reportedly told her they struggled to even investigate as a tumour was “blocking” her colon.
The then-27-year-old says her “whole world stopped spinning” when she was diagnosed with stage four which had spread to her liver and lungs.
Doctors removed the cafe worker's cancer from her colon in September 2020 and from her liver in 2023 but she's still undergoing for in her lungs.
She feels frustrated that medics didn't take her symptoms seriously earlier and says they believe she would have died before the regular screening age of 45.
Sydney, from Little Rock, Arkansas, US, said: “For years before my diagnosis [in 2020] I was having really bad abdominal pain, diarrhoea and .
“People would say it was just that time of the month or that it was just female stuff but I thought no, this can't be that painful.
“I wasn't getting any blood in my stool, but one time at work I was bent over in pain so I decided to make a phone call and do something about it.
“When I spoke to a doctor, he told me I was too young for it to be anything serious.
“At that point I really wasn't told anything that it could be but I do remember one doctor saying it was probably IBS.
“I had to lie to get my colonoscopy – I told them that I had blood in my stools because they kept telling me that I needed a referral to be seen.
“When the doctors told me it was cancer my whole world stopped spinning. We were newlyweds so we were excited for this new chapter and it kind of all just came to a halt.
“I was terrified, but also I was really frustrated.
I had to lie to get my colonoscopy – I told them that I had blood in my stools because they kept telling me that I needed a referral to be seen
Sydney Stoner
“I was also really mad at myself because I'd ignored my symptoms for so long, or just acted like it would fix itself.
“Doctors said I was too young but I probably would have died before I made it to the screening age of 45. It was very frustrating.”
Sydney had wondered if her symptoms were related to a , a bout of or even .
She has braved 24 rounds of chemotherapy so far and says her cancer is now “stable”.
The 31-year-old is now urging anyone experiencing worrying symptoms to visit their GP – regardless of their age.
The NHS says main symptoms of bowel cancer include persistent blood in the stools, a persistent change in bowel habits, persistent lower abdominal (tummy) pain, bloating or discomfort.
Sydney said: “I know it's difficult but keep advocating for yourself because no one else is going to get that done for you.
“Find a new doctor, or whatever that may be.
“Find someone to listen to you because I know people that were diagnosed at 18 years old.
“The screening age needs to be lower, or there shouldn't be one at all.”
In the UK, is offered to individuals aged50 to 74 every two years.
