A mother from Cambridge has spoken out about her bowel cancer diagnosis after noticing health red flags while using the toilet. Bronwyn Tagg, 27, first experienced bleeding after giving birth to her son, Austin, now two. Her GP initially suggested it was likely piles following a vaginal birth, without conducting an examination.
Initial Symptoms and Misdiagnosis
Bronwyn later developed frequent diarrhoea and underwent a gluten tolerance test, which came back negative. By early 2024, she was suffering from severe tummy aches that left her doubled over and unable to move. She returned to her GP, suspecting ovarian cysts as she had experienced them before. An ultrasound revealed a cyst on her left ovary, but tests for ovarian cancer returned normal results. She was referred to gynaecology for the pain.
In February 2025, a gynaecologist suggested endometriosis and arranged an MRI. The scan uncovered a 40mm lesion in her rectum, prompting an urgent referral on a two-week cancer pathway. A colonoscopy in May 2025 removed the entire polyp.
The Devastating Diagnosis
Two weeks later, Bronwyn received a phone call while shopping. She was asked to come in the following day for results and to bring someone for support. “I instantly knew it was bad news,” she said. “I felt so numb doing the rest of the shopping, my 18 month old sat in the trolley just thinking ‘what am I going to do?’” In a sombre appointment, the consultant confirmed the polyp was cancerous. Bronwyn recalls: “The rest of the appointment is a complete blur – I didn’t take anything in. I had no questions at that time, my husband was next to me in tears but I just felt nothing.”
A consultant bluntly told her: “This will have already knocked a few years off my life.” Bronwyn, also mother to Josie, five, underwent surgery to remove part of her rectum and had a stoma fitted. Six weeks later, three of 12 lymph nodes tested positive, reclassifying her cancer as stage three, requiring chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy and Family Life
Chemotherapy brought exhaustion, nausea, nerve pain, and emotional turmoil while caring for her young children. “Chemotherapy was a lot more challenging mentally than it was physically,” Bronwyn explained. “I struggled with exhaustion, nausea, and peripheral neuropathy and pain. And I found it so hard hyping myself up to go in for treatment that was going to make me feel rubbish.” Her husband Glen, 27, continued working, so Bronwyn handled most childcare with help from friends and family for school runs and dinners.
Discussing her illness with five-year-old Josie was particularly difficult. Bronwyn initially explained she needed an operation to remove something unpleasant from her belly. After waking up with a stoma, she used a teddy and storybook from stoma nurses to explain her new body. “She was very unsure at first, asked all sorts of curious questions… like ‘does it hurt? why do you have a bag? why does it look like that?’” Bronwyn was honest, changing and emptying her bag in front of her daughter. “I think it’s good for her to realise not all bodies look the same and that’s ok.” When chemotherapy began, Bronwyn explained it as important medicine that would make her tired and sick but necessary to prevent the cancer returning. She recently told Josie she had cancer, and her daughter asked if she was going to die. “I think I really wanted to protect her to begin with but really it’s about being open and honest with your children,” Bronwyn said.
New Normal and Raising Awareness
Bronwyn has finished chemotherapy and awaits scan results to determine if she is in remission. “I’m really hopeful that we’re done but I know that we won’t ever go back to how life was before. It’s a new normal. A normal where we now understand just how fragile life is. I don’t sweat the small stuff any more,” she said. Following the death of Married At First Sight star Mel Schilling, Bronwyn is speaking out to raise awareness. “With the recent passing of Mel Schilling, I know that being in remission doesn’t always mean it’s done and finished.” She now values her time, says no to things that waste her energy, and says yes to what excites her, planning to make incredible memories with her children.
Bronwyn urges others to persist if something feels wrong: “If they are disregarded because of their age, they need to persist. Early diagnosis saves lives.”
NHS Bowel Cancer Symptoms
- Needing to poo more or less often than usual
- Often feeling like you need to poo, even if you've just been to the toilet
- Bleeding from your bottom
- Tummy pain
- Losing weight without trying
- Blood in your poo, which may look red or black
- Changes in your poo, such as softer poo, diarrhoea, or constipation not usual for you
- Feeling very tired or short of breath (signs of anaemia)
- A lump in your tummy
- Bloating
The NHS advises seeing a GP if you have any symptoms for three weeks or more, urging people not to be embarrassed. Seek urgent help if your poo is black or dark red, you have bloody diarrhoea, or if bleeding is non-stop or heavy.
