A young woman who received a heartbreaking cancer diagnosis had her symptoms dismissed 13 times by doctors.
Milli Tanner was repeatedly told that she was 'too young' to have cancer, having first complained of her symptoms when she was just 19, following in the footsteps of several other teens and young adults who have faced the same problems with healthcare in the NHS.
Bowel cancer can present itself among younger patients, with another woman diagnosed at just 26, but in Milli's case, things reached a life-threatening level after doctors allegedly failed to take her and her health struggles seriously.
She first went to he local GP in June 2021 complaining of stomach pains, lower back pain and blood in her stool, but was told that she either had piles, period problems or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
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Ms Tanner said of her first visit to the GP: '"hey said that maybe I'd had a night out, had too much to drink, and that was irritating my stomach.
"But the bleeding carried on, as well as the abdominal pain... it was continuous.
"There were discussions at the GP, such as: could it be my periods? Could it be this, could it be that?
"And I said: 'No, usually with a period, it's maybe you have a week every month with a bit of abdominal pain, and you obviously bleed, and that's that, but you don't tend to lose blood through your back passage.'"
She continued to struggle with symptoms and returned to the GP, but was told that she was likely suffering from piles, and that her tiredness stemmed from working late nights at the pub.
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However, she continued to bleed every time she went to the toilet and eventually took herself to A&E, where she was given the unhelpful advice to return to her GP.
She said: "I was also showing pictures of the amount of blood I was having - every time I went to the toilet I was bleeding.
"I said: 'It's not a little bit of blood on the tissue, this is clots of blood and filling the toilet bowl up.'
"I asked for a second opinion. The doctor came back into the room and said: 'Right, I've just spoken to another A&E department. You're just too young. Are you happy?'"
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Eventually, Ms Tanner took matters into her own hands and ordered a faecal immunochemical test (FIT) online, and it came back positive for signs of bowel cancer but even then she was told that she needed to take another FIT test through the NHS and that she may have to wait 60 weeks for a colonoscopy.
She added: "They were following the NHS guidelines, and because I was under a certain age, it apparently couldn't be put through as urgent until they did their own FIT test.
"Once the GP had ordered their own FIT test and it was positive, they were able to put it through as urgent.
"I knew deep down exactly what it was. I'd done my own research. It was frustrating. I felt like I was going crazy."
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It was only after an urgent colonoscopy was ordered that she was finally given her cancer diagnosis in November 2023, by which point the disease had spread to Ms Tanner's lymph nodes and was Stage 3.
She then went through chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery to have the tumour removed, and she has since been fitted with a permanent stoma.
The treatment has also left her perimenopausal and potentially infertile, so she's now urging others to persevere with their doctors rather than allowing the symptoms to get to this advanced stage.
She concluded: "It was such a massive issue and stress getting diagnosed. I had at least 20 health appointments, including 13 GP appointments and a visit to A&E where I was told I was too young to have cancer.
"I had always been maternal, so it was heartbreaking to learn I might be infertile. I'd say to people: "you know your own body better than anybody else does". If it feels wrong, then keep going back until you find what is wrong."
Topics: Bowel cancer, Cancer, NHS, Health
James Moorhouse