After Doctors Deemed Her Treatment 'Non-Urgent,' 29-Year-Old Woman Receives Unexpected, Life-Threatening Diagnosis
Sarah Graham had only just turned 29 when she was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer, a disease that is becoming more prevalent among younger patients
"The first thing I said to [my surgeon] was, 'Am I going to die?' to which he said, 'Look, I hope not,' " Graham recalled about learning of her diagnosis
After undergoing chemotherapy and having part of her colon removed, Graham is currently cancer-free, but she remains in a five-year period of surveillanceThe first question that Sarah Graham recalled asking her doctor after being diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer days following her 29th birthday was, "Am I going to die?"
Her diagnosis came in 2024 after she went to the doctor to discuss a variety of symptoms, including an approximately 44-lb weight gain, extreme pain when going to the bathroom, and blood in her stool. That July, her general practitioner sent her for a stool test, which came back inconclusive, she told Australian news outlet Mamamia.
A colonoscopy was recommended, but Graham learned that it had been deemed "non-urgent," meaning that she was unable to schedule it until November.
The Australian interior designer's symptoms continued, and she told the outlet that she decided to get a second opinion. This led to her receiving a diagnosis that is becoming more prevalent among people her age.
"I explained my symptoms again to her, and said, 'Look, [the blood] is happening almost every time I go to the bathroom now. I'm getting really scared to go to the bathroom,' " she recalled.
Graham, who became lactose intolerant at 22 and was diagnosed and treated for endometriosis at 26, said that doctors initially thought that she had "something like Crohn's or Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)."
She said that they told her she was "way too young for bowel cancer."
However, after undergoing a "traumatic" colonoscopy, Graham said that nurses seemed to be giving her a wide berth in the recovery room.
"It was getting to 6 p.m. ... and I was the only one in the recovery room," she said, adding, "And, for some reason, none of the nurses were stopping to talk to me. They were all staring at a distance."
Her mom was brought back, and the surgeon finally told her that they had found a mass.
Graham was told that she needed "to move quickly" to receive treatment and was scheduled for an "urgent CT scan," with the doctor saying that the mass was "likely malignant."
After undergoing additional testing, she was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer."I knew something was wrong [but] I never expected this. I felt let down, I think," she admitted. "I know my body, and I knew what I was living with and no one would listen."
Referring to the original doctor, who believed she might be suffering from hemorrhoids or a fissure, Graham wondered "what would've happened" had she waited until November to undergo her colonoscopy.
Graham had part of her colon removed and went through six months of chemotherapy.
After treatment, she said that she is undergoing surveillance for five years. However, her outlook is "good" at the moment.
"They've put me in a low risk of recurrence category but, of course, there is no life free of the burden of cancer, unfortunately," she explained.
Now, the designer is sharing a lesson that she hopes others will learn from.
"The best piece of advice I was given is that if your doctor says no to something you request, ask them to write that down. You will quickly realize that if they don't want to put their name to denying you something, and something happens later, they don't want to be liable for it," she said, adding, "If anything is out of the ordinary, you need to get it checked."
In 2025, the American Cancer Society noted that people under the age of 50 are increasingly being diagnosed with colorectal cancer. The diagnosis is also slightly more deadly than it was in the past.
The reason for the diagnosis becoming more prevalent is unclear. However, a study published in April 2025 suggested that there might be a link between children under 10 being exposed to a bacteria in some strains of E. coli. Another 2022 study links colorectal cancer and the rise in ultra-processed foods; however, this is generally in men.
Read the original article on People
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