Prior to her cancer diagnosis, Wendy (not her real name) was a healthy 50-year-old. She is now 53 and healthy again, but forever changed.

She handles the accounts at the pet food supply company she founded 14 years ago with her husband William (not his real name).

Besides having difficulty emptying her bowels completely, she often suffered from constipation, bloating and experienced fatigue.

As her symptoms continued, her stools became thin and spotted with blood.

Her first reaction was to brush these symptoms aside, thinking that she had eaten something that had upset her stomach. She wanted to justify the symptoms because she was an active, healthy person.

Wendy says it’s a good thing that she didn’t give in to denial and went in for a routine colonoscopy because her maternal grandmother had colon cancer. Her mother is also being routinely checked for the same condition.

After the colonoscopy, she was diagnosed with having a cancerous tumour, which a biopsy later revealed to be Stage IIA colon cancer.

Although shocked and upset with the news, William calmly discussed the options with her. Two weeks later she underwent resection surgery where 25.4 cm of her sigmoid colon was removed, and her colon reconnected.

Wendy is grateful for medical innovations like Laparoscopic surgery, a technique in which short, narrow tubes called trochars are inserted into the abdomen through small (less than one centimetre) incisions.

Through these incisions, long narrow instruments are inserted for the surgeon to manipulate, cut and sew tissue. Traditional surgery would have meant a long ugly cut into her abdomen and around 20 to 25 stitches.

Following the surgery, Wendy underwent several cycles of chemotherapy where they monitored for tumour marker CEA, a protein found in many types of cells but associated with tumours.

Wendy is now in remission and being checked every six months by her oncologist with tumour marker blood tests and an annual blood test and computerised tomography (CT) scan.

She has “changed” because this experience has made her realise the importance of living her life well and to not take for granted that she has tomorrow. Her family and friends were all very supportive and that helped her cope with her situation.

Wendy freely admits that the whole experience has been challenging because she is scared of the cancer returning, but she takes comfort in her faith and she is thankful for the many fruitful years she has lived.

Now being cancer free, Wendy is sharing her story to get the word out; that if you have any change in your bowel symptoms, please see a doctor right away and have a colonoscopy if necessary.

It is a quick and painless procedure which does not require hospitalisation. Do not wait. It could save your life.

TELEME Healing Life Stories is a collection of inspirational stories of how ordinary people triumph over their health conditions and recover to lead a healthier life after that.

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