A woman who needed her colon removed because of bowel cancer at first put her symptoms down to drinking too much coffee.
Amanda Cunnington, from Bristol, was diagnosed with colorectal cancer last year after she noticed she had become constipated and had a persistently low mood.
Thinking the change in her gut may have been caused by her diet, Mrs Cunnington and her doctor initially thought she had irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
But after her illness got worse medics later diagnosed her with cancer and she needed drastic surgery to get rid of the disease.
The 47-year-old mother is now trying to raise awareness of the more subtle signs of cancer and urging people to pay close attention to their health.
Amanda Cunnington, from Bristol, at first thought the change to her bowel habits was caused by drinking too much coffee or irritable bowel syndrome, but it turned out she had cancer
Mrs Cunnington posted a photo of herself in hospital on Facebook to warn her friends and others about ignoring changes to your health.
She had begun feeling unwell a year ago but she put her symptoms down to drinking too much coffee.
But, on Valentine's Day this year, she had surgery to remove her colon to try and get rid of the cancer.
On February 16, Mrs Cunnington wrote in a Facebook post: 'I wanted to share this with you to highlight the importance of noting subtle changes in your health.
'Two days ago I underwent an operation to remove my colon due to bowel cancer.
'The operation was a success however, as you can see from these photos I had no obvious symptoms usually associated with this condition such as pain, extreme weight loss or anaemia.
'I was however constipated and my mood had been extremely low for a while.'
Mrs Cunnington, pictured with her son, Gregory, needed surgery to remove her colon to get rid of the cancer. She says her doctors have given her a good prognosis and hope to cure her
Bowel cancer is one of the most common cancers in the UK and kills more than 16,000 people per year, according to Cancer Research UK.
Nearly six out of 10 patients live for 10 years or more after their diagnosis, even though most cases are diagnosed in people over the age of 60.
The main symptoms are finding blood in your stool, needing to defecate more often and stomach pains.
However, signs can
