Living with bowel cancer: Being told I had stage 4 cancer was a huge shock
Linda Burnett Bowdler who has bowel cancer with her son Mason, 4, at her home in Rialto, Dublin. Photograph Moya Nolan
As a healthy 44-year-old sitting on a doctor's table with mild pain last year, Linda Burnett Bowdler was never expecting to receive a stage 4 cancer diagnosis. The busy mum of five never suspected her short-lived symptoms would lead to bowel cancer, nor did she understand quite how much the diagnosis would change her life.
"I have five kids, I had a full-time job as a social worker, life was busy," Linda says. "I started to get a bit of pressure and pain in my bowels and then some bleeding, but it had only been going on for six weeks. I never thought they were going to diagnose me with stage 4 cancer."
About 16 years ago, Linda, who is from Dublin, had gone in for a routine colonoscopy where doctors found polyps. A diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome followed five years later. When she was due for her next colonoscopy, Linda was pregnant and was told she would have to wait until after she gave birth.
“I never followed up and neither did the hospital. I really had no idea what bowel cancer or the symptoms were,” she says. In July 2021, when Linda started displaying mild symptoms, one tumour was found in her rectum and four in her liver.
"Within 10 days of seeing my GP, I was told I had cancer. My oncologist said that I was asymptomatic for a long time, I think I must have had it for years.
"It was just shocking to hear at 44 years of age. I'll never forget the day I was told. I was cracking jokes, and my husband was out puking in the toilet. I just felt like it wasn’t me they were speaking to.
“Some days I still pinch myself and wonder how we got here. I had a full-time job, everything was going OK, and it was all turned upside down overnight."
Linda started a 12-week chemotherapy programme, where she spent one hour in hospital and went home to finish treatment via a pump in her chest for another 48 hours. Initially, she was told there was no hope for surgery but after six rounds of chemotherapy, her tumours had shrunk.
"I had open surgery in January where they removed the tumours in my liver. It was quite traumatic, I got sepsis and a blood clot in my neck. Then on top of all of that, I got Covid,” Linda says.
"But they got the tumours out and now I'm back on chemo again. They'll do a week of radiation after and then I'll have the tumour in my bowel removed, please God. This all only started nine months ago. It was a really quick process once I got into the system. It's just a pity that we have such issues around the screening age."
The current screening age for the HSE’s BowelScreen programme is 60, which Linda believes should be lowered. Through her Instagram page, @when_you_have_hope, and the podcast she has set up with her cousin, ‘ Just the Twomor of Us’, she has met numerous people with bowel cancer who are of a similar age to her.
"There are so many people being diagnosed with this under 60. Everyone says that I don’t look like someone with cancer. They have that preconceived idea that we have no hair and we're very sick but that's not my reality,” Linda says.
“My siblings were screened because of my diagnosis and my sister had polyps found that could have grown had she not been screened. She’s only 47. The age really needs to be looked at.”
While chemotherapy is tough, Linda says that the hardest part of her journey has been watching the toll it's taken on her family.
"I've been with my husband for 25 years, he loves me so much, but when I had my liver surgery, he had to shower me, change me, and look after me and we've never had that in our relationship before. It was really tough for him," Linda says.
“My 19-year-old daughter doesn’t say a lot but she worries a lot and my four-year-old knows that Mammy gets sick but he doesn’t really get it. My 11- and seven-year-olds then have had play therapy with Arc Cancer Support because they were really impacted by it.
“The hardest part was when I got sick after my liver surgery. I told them I’d be back from the doctors’ in an hour and I didn’t come home for two weeks. It was a really difficult time but Arc has helped so much, as has me going back to work because it brings a bit of normality.
“I went to my son’s wedding in London last month and it was so beautiful, but it really made me think about how much I want to be here for the others when they get married."
While treatable in early stages, bowel cancer is the second largest contributor to cancer death in Ireland, accounting for 12% of cancer deaths in men and 10% in women, according to the most recent figures from the National Cancer Registry of Ireland.
To mark Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, the Marie Keating Foundation is asking the public to ‘Join the Bowel Movement’ and make themselves aware of the early signs. With screening backlogs and cases down 20% since the beginning of the pandemic, experts fear many cases are being diagnosed late.
The foundation says that is more important than ever for anyone who notices any of the following to see their GP: bleeding from the back passage or a change in their normal bowel habit for more than six weeks, unexplained weight loss, pain in the abdomen or back passage or a feeling of straining as if you need to go to the toilet even after opening your bowels. Anyone aged between 60 and 69 should also make sure they are registered with BowelScreen.
“I would tell people to do their homework and get to know the symptoms,” Linda says. “When I noticed a change, I went to my GP, and it may have saved my life. If I could tell people one thing, it would be to educate yourself and advocate for yourself, no matter what age you are.”
- Find out more about Join the Bowel Movement at www.mariekeating.ie
- Bowel cancer screening is available to all people aged 60 to 69 living in Ireland. For details call Freephone 1800 45 45 55 or see exa.mn/HSE-Bowel-Screen
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