I had colon cancer at 27. These are the symptoms to watch out for trends now
A woman who was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer at age 27 has revealed her early warning signs — amid a mystery uptick in cases in younger adults.
Vanessa Mendico, now 29, described herself as a 'super fit' person who exercised five or six times a week, ate healthily, didn't smoke and only rarely drank alcohol.
But the youth worker, who lives in Australia, became concerned after specs of blood started to appear in her feces in February last year.
Doctors initially put her on a two-year waitlist for tests, but three months later they moved the scan forward after she began suffering from severe cramps and a change in bowel movements. These revealed a peach-sized tumor in her rectum.
Ms Mendico's cancer is now in remission after surgery to remove the tumor and nine rounds of chemotherapy. Her case comes as colon cancer diagnoses mysteriously rise among young adults, with doctors stumped as to what could be the cause.
Vanessa Mendico, now 29, described herself as a 'super fit' person who exercised five or six times a week, ate healthily, didn't smoke and said she rarely drank alcohol. It came as a surprise to be diagnosed with colon cancer at the age of 27 years
Ms Mendico was initially put on a two-year waitlist but moved forward after she began suffering from severe cramps and a change in bowel movements
Colon cancer is normally seen as a disease of the old, with more than half of diagnoses being among people aged 65 years and over.
But there is a growing number of cases being diagnosed among younger adults — with estimates suggesting they could double in under-40s by 2030.
About 19,500 people under 50 years old are diagnosed with the cancer every year.
Ms Mendico said her first warning sign of cancer emerged the day after she had moved from Melbourne to the Gold Coast — about 2,000 kilometers or about 1,200 miles up the country's east coast.
She went to doctors with her symptoms, but was put on a wait-list and told to come back if they got worse.
Over the following weeks she returned repeatedly to doctors complaining of warning signs, but was turned away by 'dismissive' staff.
She said she also began to suffer fatigue and brain fog, which was likely due to the blood loss and disruption of her diet that she was facing.
But, she told Australia-based publication 7news: 'The doctor was very dismissive, I felt
