I’m a 34-year-old with colon cancer and I don’t know how long I have left – I kick myself for ignoring two key warning signs

A 34-year-old man diagnosed with incurable colon cancer has revealed the key symptoms he dismissed — in a bid to help others avoid the same fate.

Joe Faratzis first began suffering problems in 2019, including ‘a dull, mild ache’ in the lower right of his abdomen from time to time that ‘was easy to ignore and forget about’.

He visited his doctor who asked about his bowel habits and referred him for scans but, heartbreakingly, Mr Faratzis didn’t go through with the tests, admitting: ‘I assumed it was unnecessary.’

Six months later he began noticing blood on the toilet paper when he went to the bathroom, but again claims he ‘wasn’t too concerned… it was never an alarming amount and it didn’t happen every day’.

Writing in US health publication Self, Mr Faratzis, from Los Angeles, says: ‘As a 28-year-old man I thought I was invincible, so I didn’t do anything about it.’

Two more months passed before he sought medical attention after beginning to bleed heavily — and after a colonoscopy was given his shocking cancer diagnosis.

His treatment is currently holding the disease at bay. One in ten patients with advanced colon cancer of the type Mr Feratzis has live for more than five years.

He now shares his story on TikTok to raise awareness adding: ‘I sometimes kick myself thinking back to that first doctor’s appointment, and what I would have, could have, should have done.’ 

Mr Feratzis also admits part of his reluctance to have further bowel investigation was because ‘I didn’t want to just run to the doctor to get a digital rectal exam. 

‘That whole situation, where the physician inserts a gloved finger in and around your rectum, seemed uncomfortable and embarrassing.’ 

After his diagnosis, worse was to come. The cancer was confined to the bowel when it was initially picked up, but after surgery, within the first few months of treatment it ‘exploded’ through his body.

Tumors appeared in his lungs and liver, at which point the disease is termed stage four, and considered incurable.

Having undergone more treatment, including further surgery in 2021 and 2022, he is currently clear of cancer — but if and when it might return is unknown. 

‘I probably had nine or 10 lung surgeries that worked, but also led to some not-so-fun complications, like a collapsed lung, along the way,’ wrote Mr Feratzis.

‘I asked my doctor if I was going to die… I was never given a prognosis, or survival rate, for what I’m going through. 

‘Even if you have stage IV cancer, if you’re able to find tumors early and have them removed, there’s a chance you could continue to live for a really long time.

‘This isn’t always the case, but, thankfully, my doctors have been able to surgically remove all the malignant lesions that have popped up so far.’

He is now in ‘a never-ending cycle’ of tests. Mr Feratzis adds: ‘I’ve had clear scans for the past year — it’s the longest stretch I’ve gone with no lesions. 

‘I feel good, I’m hopeful, and I live my life as if there isn’t an issue. I sometimes kick myself thinking back to that first doctor’s appointment, and what I would have, could have, should have done.’

Advising others who find themselves facing similar symptoms, he adds: ‘Listen to your body. If you think there’s something wrong, it doesn’t hurt to go get it checked out. 

‘If I hadn’t waited — if I got the CT scan back in 2019 when I had my earliest colorectal cancer symptoms — I might not have wound up in the position I’m in now.’

Mr Feratzis’ worrying story comes amid an explosion of bowel and other cancers in younger patients that has baffled doctors around the globe. 

The disease has surged by 50 per cent in this age-group over the past three decades, recent data suggests. 

The vast majority of bowel cancers still affect those aged over 50.

But the disease in older groups has either declined or remained stable while diagnoses in younger people have risen.

Earlier this year, American actor James Van Der Beek, star of 90s drama Dawson’s Creek, revealed he’d been diagnosed at the age of just 47.

In 2022, BBC host and campaigner Dame Deborah James succumbed to the disease at the age of just 40.

While some experts believe the explanation must lie with rising levels of obesity, which affects the digestive system, others suggest antibiotic over-use, mobile phone radiation and even invisible particles of plastic in drinking water could be to blame.

A growing number of experts are pointing to one major cause: ultra-processed foods.

Also known as UPFs, these are ready-made foods — including bread, cereals and even salad dressing — made with artificial ingredients used to preserve, add flavour and enhance texture.

Some have even gone as far as to say they could be as dangerous as tobacco — and should come with a cigarette-style health warning.

The main symptoms of colon cancer are the same for all ages: Changes in bowel habits, such as diarrhoea, constipation or both.

A change in frequency of bowel movements or the feeling of needing to go, even if you’ve just been.

Blood in the stool or toilet or bleeding from the rectum are also tell-tale signs.

Unexplained weight loss, fatigue, bloating or feeling full even when little has been eaten, and a changes in appetite are also seen.

Anyone suffers these symptoms should visit their GP visit and may be referred to a colorectal clinic for further investigations.

Commenting on Mr Feratzis’ case on Instagram, in a post that’s been viewed more than 500,000 times over the past few days, NHS surgeon Dr Karan Rajan says those worrying if their symptoms are a sign of bowel cancer should follow three key rules. 

‘Number one, if you experience new symptoms — if you have chronic symptoms, for example if you’ve had diarrhoea for years, that’s less likely to suggest a colorectal cancer. 

‘But if you experienc ea few weeks of diarrhoea which is a change from your normal bowel motions, that’s a trigger to get evaluated.

‘Number two, if you’re having a combination of three or more of these symptoms — diarrhoea, rectal bleeding, abdominal pain and suffering anaemia — you have a six and a half times greater risk of colorectal cancer than someone who has none of these symptoms.

”Number three, look for a change in symptoms. For example, if you’ve had years of bright red rectal bleeding, you’ve been investigated and had a colonoscopy and you’ve been diagnosed with hemorrhoids.

‘Now you’ve bleeding has changed in colour from bright red to dark red or maroon. 

‘You should not assume the bleeding is still because of hemorrhoids, because there has been a change to character and nature of that bleeding which warrants further investigation.’