Woman's warning after doctors dismissed stomach pains as 'IBS' before being diagnosed with cancer on wedding day
A woman who is due to go in for surgery for cancer this week first got her diagnosis on her wedding day, and says that for five years before being diagnosed her concerns weren't taken 'seriously'.
Back in 2019, Claire Boulton had been getting her hair done just hours before she was meant to tie the knot with Matthew when she got a call from the doctors telling her she had bowel cancer.
She'd been complaining about stomach pain, nausea and blood in her stool, but doctors told her that if she had cancer she'd be losing weight and said that one doctor told her she was 'too fat' to have cancer.
However, she persisted with her concerns and it turned out that she did have cancer after doctors removed a polyp and discovered cancer in it.
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In 2022 doctors also discovered she had a colon tumour which meant she needed to be fitted with an emergency stoma bag. She is due to go in for another major surgery tomorrow (16 January).
"I thought, 'all this time of me saying there's something wrong, actually there was something wrong'," she said.
"It was a nurse that rang me up and when I said 'I'm literally sitting in the hairdressers about to get married' she was like 'Oh my god I'm so sorry, if I had known I wouldn't have told you'.
"I was a bit numb. It hadn't really sunk in. I rang him and said 'I'll see you in a few hours but guess what I've just been told'. He said, 'Oh my god are you alright'.
"I said 'don't worry, it's not in my body now, I don't have cancer, I had cancer'. I didn't know I had it because it was in the polyp.
"I didn't have to have any chemo or anything because it was contained and they removed it. Had they not found it, it could have spread quite quickly. That was a lucky break."
Claire went to the registry office, got married to Matthew and then went on her honeymoon in Spain, but the week didn't feel particularly joyous as the cloud of her diagnosis hung over her.
She had to wait a further six weeks to discover whether the cancer was only in the polyp that had been removed or if it had spread to other parts of her body.
Claire and Matthew ended up going to Corfu for a second wedding, and on that day she was given the news that her cancer had been contained.
The bride said it was 'just insane it happened to be on both of my wedding days',
Having previously been diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and fibromyalgia, Claire faced an uphill struggle convincing doctors that there was something else wrong, and she said that when one doctor told her she was 'too fat' to have cancer she 'wanted to tell that doctor what a p***k he was'.
Her persistence also led to the discovery of another tumour in 2022, as she said that her consultant told her 'if you hadn't pushed to come in when you did and listened to your body, you might not be here'.
"I'm very much a strong believer of 'listen to yourself'. If you think there's something wrong, I don't care how many people tell you you're not, get it checked. Be 100% sure," Claire said.
"Make them look at you. If I'd just sat there and gone 'it's not due for 6 months', I realistically probably wouldn't be here today."
Despite the cancer diagnosis on her wedding day she said that husband Matthew had 'just been amazing' and was 'my rock'.
Her warning to others is that if 'you're not feeling well within yourself for whatever reason that may be, go and see a doctor', and if you're told 'it's nothing' then insist on tests and seek a second opinion.
A spokesperson from the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board said: "We're sorry to hear of this patient's experiences and we encourage them to contact the ICB's customer services team so that it can be fully investigated."
Joe Harker