Donna Gee thought she was navigating the natural transition of menopause. The tiredness, the bloating, the changes in her body - it all seemed to fit. But what the 52-year-old mother dismissed as 'the change' was actually a silent, deadly intruder: stage 3 bowel cancer.
Her story serves as a critical warning to women across the UK to listen to their bodies and challenge assumptions about their health.
The Symptoms She Dismissed
"I put everything down to menopause," Donna recalls. "The exhaustion was overwhelming. I was bloated, my toilet habits had changed, and I just felt... off."
Like countless women, she attributed her symptoms to hormonal shifts. It wasn't until she noticed blood in her stool - a classic red flag for bowel cancer - that she sought medical help. The diagnosis that followed was a devastating shock.
A Race Against Time
Doctors discovered a 5cm tumour in her bowel. The cancer had already spread to her lymph nodes, classifying it as stage 3. She immediately began an aggressive treatment plan at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester.
Her treatment has been gruelling: 28 rounds of radiotherapy, five rounds of chemotherapy, and life-altering surgery. Surgeons removed a significant portion of her bowel and 18 lymph nodes, followed by the creation of a stoma bag.
An Urgent Public Health Message
Donna's mission now is to prevent others from making the same potentially fatal assumption. "Don't be fobbed off. Don't assume it's menopause, or IBS, or anything else," she urges. "If something doesn't feel right, push for answers. It could save your life."
The NHS emphasises that while bowel cancer is more common in people over 50, it can affect anyone. Key symptoms everyone should watch for include:
- Persistent blood in your stool
- A lasting change in bowel habits
- Unexplained weight loss
- Extreme tiredness for no obvious reason
- Pain or a lump in your abdomen
Donna's courageous decision to share her story provides a powerful reminder that when it comes to our health, vigilance and advocacy are our greatest defences.
