Anika’s Story

I was diagnosed with Bowel Cancer back in 2016 when I was 36 years old. I’d been having mild symptoms for probably three to six months. As a mother of three very small children (at the time, they were 6, 3 and almost 2), I figured I was just run down and exhausted from managing them and getting very little sleep! The following two years involved surgery, six months of chemotherapy and then further surgery to relieve some complications.
My symptoms were general digestive issues. It would swing between bloating and constipation to running to the toilet ten times a day. I was exhausted 24/7 and had a specific ‘swelling inward’ of the glands in my neck, which was incredibly painful. I’d have ‘flare-ups’ of these symptoms probably every four to six weeks, then they’d go away. However, these ‘flare-ups’ were becoming more and more regular and lasting longer.

I had been to my GP and was tested for everything – Coeliac disease, Crohn’s disease, Colitis and every random infection – all came back negative. Because the symptoms would go away after a flare-up, I then forget about it – til the next time.

I had been getting back into exercise after my third baby and had been for a sports massage one day. I came home, walked in the door and suddenly had to run to the toilet. Blood just went everywhere. It was terrifying. In all honesty, my intuition was screaming at me that I had cancer. But I didn’t listen because that would mean I had cancer. Amazing logic! A week later, the same thing happened. Back to the doctor I went and was instantly referred for a colonoscopy and gastroscopy. A few weeks later, I was sitting and hearing the words no one wants to hear: “Anika, I’m sorry, but you have cancer”.

I stared at him for a while (they give you a minute to let it sink in) and said, “Right. So, am I going to die?” he said, “No, but we are going to have to get this out of you as quickly as we can”. This was a Friday afternoon, and things moved quickly. On the Monday, I had a CT scan to see if there were any more tumours in my body (I’ve never felt so sick with anxiety). I met with my surgeon on Tuesday and was booked in for surgery two weeks later.
Then, there was the lovely week-long wait for histology to know how bad it was and whether further treatment was necessary. They removed a third of my bowel and retrieved 14 lymph nodes. The three closest to the tumour had cancer. This gave me a 40% chance of it coming back somewhere in my body within the next five years if I didn’t do chemo. With chemo, I had an 18% chance of it returning, and now, at over six years post-chemo – I’m still clear. But I’m only clear because of yearly colonoscopies to remove new polyps. I’m bloody lucky.

I retrained, undertaking two coaching diplomas and set up The Cancer Club, a coaching hub for those who have walked the cancer journey. My programmes aim to bridge the gap between treatment and the new “What’s Next?” because I believe the healing starts when the treatments are finished. I had a dream to make this coaching easy, accessible and affordable to anyone who’s walked the cancer path. So I did!

The biggest thing I can say is, even though you are scared and you feel embarrassed talking about it – Do It Anyway. Get your symptoms checked. Go scared, go tired, go nervous, go embarrassed – Just Go. Early detection gives the best outcomes.