A mother-of-two from Cambridge has spoken out after her colon cancer symptoms were initially dismissed as piles by doctors. Bronwyn Tagg, 27, first noticed bleeding when going to the toilet shortly after giving birth to her son Austin, now two, but says her GP did not examine her and attributed it to piles from a vaginal birth.
Ms Tagg later developed frequent diarrhoea and severe abdominal pain. Despite further GP visits and an ultrasound showing an ovarian cyst, it was not until an MRI in February 2025 that a 40mm lesion was found in her rectum. A colonoscopy in May 2025 confirmed cancer, and she was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer after three lymph nodes tested positive.
Ms Tagg underwent surgery to remove part of her rectum and had a stoma fitted, followed by chemotherapy. She said the treatment was mentally and physically challenging, especially while caring for her young children. She also had to explain her illness to her five-year-old daughter Josie, using a teddy and storybook provided by stoma nurses.
Reflecting on her experience, Ms Tagg expressed anger that her symptoms were not taken seriously earlier, but said she tries not to dwell on it. She now wants to raise awareness of colon cancer symptoms, including bleeding, diarrhoea, and abdominal pain, urging others not to accept a piles diagnosis without examination.
