Woman explains the 'one key symptom' she dismissed before being diagnosed with colon cancer at 24

Warning: This article contains discussion of cancer, which some readers may find distressing.

A 24-year-old woman who dismissed a major symptom of cancer as something else, while her friends and family thought there was 'nothing to worry about' due to her age.

Meagan Meadows started noticing blood in her stool in October 2024, but dismissed it as a case of haemorrhoids until months later, when she went to see a doctor and was left in 'complete shock'.

The woman from Temecula, California, made an appointment with her primary care physician in February 2025 after months of blood in her stool.

The physician 'wasn't concerned', but ordered blood work and a CT scan to be safe, and the tests came back clear.

However, Meagan was referred to a gastroenterologist who performed a colonoscopy and was left 'shocked' after finding a large mass, leading to her being given another blood test and a CT scan, and doctors took a biopsy of the mass.

24-year-old Meagan Meadows dismissed blood in her stool, with her friends and family sure it was something else (Meagan Meadows / SWNS)

Three days later, she was diagnosed with colon cancer and told it would take an operation to remove the tumour, and in June 2025, doctors removed the mass, some of her colon and 20 lymph nodes.

Seven of those lymph nodes came back cancerous, resulting in Meagan's cancer being put at stage three, and she was placed on a six-month course of chemotherapy.

She said: "My heart sank when they told me that my cancer was stage three. When they said that seven lymph nodes were cancerous, I was floored. I did not expect it to be so extreme. After that, I didn't hear a thing - I shut down.

"The whole drive home, I was telling my parents that I didn't want to die. It was so scary going from a normal 24-year-old to knowing that death was a possibility at my age."

Months later, she was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer and after having her tumour removed is on chemotherapy (Meagan Meadows / SWNS)

Megan explained that blood in her stool was her 'only symptom' and, thinking she had haemorrhoids, which, according to the NHS, can cause symptoms such as blood after going to the bathroom, decided to wait it out, 'but every time I went to the bathroom, it was there'.

The woman had been planning to cancel her appointment with the gastroenterologist she'd been referred to since her blood work and CT scan had come back clear, thinking she 'didn't need to go further'.

After her diagnosis Meagan 'was in complete shock' and felt 'really scared and upset', but the most difficult part of it 'was not knowing what was going to happen next'.

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Her doctor said she was the youngest person they'd ever seen with a colon cancer diagnosis. She's 'so relieved' the tumour has been removed, but she's finding treatment difficult.

Her friends and family have set up a GoFundMe, which you can donate to here, to help pay for her medical expenses.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.