Doctors brushed off my troubling symptoms because I was pregnant. Months after my baby was born, I received a shattering diagnosis. How could they have missed it?
Rhiannon Coombs had always hoped for a big family. She was one of four kids and her partner Danny was adopted into a loving family when he was four years old.
But when she fell pregnant in late 2020, there wasn’t much time to enjoy the moment.
A handful of troubling symptoms Rhiannon, 34, had been experiencing for about two years ramped up tenfold almost as soon as she learned she was expecting.
As early as July 2018, she had cramps and noticed some blood in her stool.
‘I kept getting some very bad stomach cramps, so I went to my GP,’ Rhiannon, from the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, tells me.
She was also suffering with fatigue.
‘My now-husband, Danny, who I was dating at the time, used to laugh because every time we’d get in the car for a drive, I’d fall asleep,’ she adds.
‘I was so tired but nothing debilitating.’
After some tests and a stool sample at the doctors, Rhiannon was told she had a parasite.
Troubling symptoms Rhiannon had been experiencing for about two years ramped up tenfold almost as soon as she learned she was pregnant. Doctors, however, didn’t seem concerned
‘I was treated for that. But the stomach cramps continued. Every four months I was finding blood in my stool, so I went back to my doctor and got a hospital referral to see a specialist.’
She was told she wasn’t an ‘urgent’ case and she would have to wait three to six months for a colonoscopy.
‘I trusted the experts,’ she says.
During this waiting period, Rhiannon and Danny decided to try for a baby. It was then her fears escalated quickly.
‘When I fell pregnant, I started passing blood every single time I had a bowel movement. Then every time I passed wind I also had blood,’ she explains.
‘Thankfully, Danny and I have always had a very open and honest relationship, so I talked to him about it. He kept saying, “This is not normal”, and insisted I go back to the doctor.’
By this time, a mass had begun to protrude from her anus.
‘I went to two GPs during my pregnancy,’ she says.
‘The first said, “You’re pregnant. It’s just a haemorrhoid”. A few more months passed, and Danny became insistent that this required further investigation.
‘The second doctor said it could be a haemorrhoid and wanted to refer me for a colonoscopy. I told her I was already on the waiting list, so she referred me to see a private specialist.’
But still there was a waiting list.
On June 20, 2021, Rhiannon gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and named her Hendrix Lake.
Doctors told Rhiannon the blood in her stool and the mass she’d found were likely hemorrhoids
Meanwhile, she was finally given a date for a colonoscopy: October 2021, four months away.
When that appointment finally happened, the doctor and nurse came into the room and said they were 99 per cent sure the mass that had been previously diagnosed as a haemorrhoid was in fact a tumour.
A week later, the news was confirmed: Rhiannon, who was just 28 years old at the time, was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer.
‘My life changed in that instant,’ she says.
‘I was on maternity leave; Hendrix was only four months old. I was breastfeeding. It’s not what you imagine you’re going to be dealing with on maternity leave.’
Six months of chemotherapy began almost immediately, with Rhiannon bedridden throughout.
Danny, her mother and her sister took it in turns to take care of Hendrix.
‘I was hoping to have seven months off on maternity leave. Never in a million years did I imagine I’d be having treatment for cancer,’ Rhiannon says.
‘I ended up going through chemo, that finished in February, and I started radiation in March, so I decided not to go back to work. I had to have radiation every single day. I had 27 radiotherapy sessions over six weeks through March and April.’
Rhiannon was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer when her baby girl was just four months old
Rhiannon was still breastfeeding when she received her terrifying diagnosis. Her mother, husband and sister all stepped in to help with childcare while she was undergoing treatment
‘I couldn’t drive or pick up Hendrix through that time, which was devastatingly hard,’ Rhiannon says of her cancer treatment
In June 2022, when the gruelling treatment was complete, Rhiannon underwent surgery to remove the tumour, as well as her entire rectum and some infected lymph nodes, followed by a recovery period of six months.
‘I couldn’t drive or pick up Hendrix through that time, which was devastatingly hard. She was too young to understand why I couldn’t pick her up. I guess the silver lining to this is that Hendrix and Danny have a really strong bond – it’s beautiful.’
In June the following year, Rhiannon finally heard the words she had been waiting to hear: ‘You are in remission.’
‘I bawled my eyes out. So did Danny,’ she says.
But her struggle was far from over. For three months, she had to use a temporary ileostomy bag.
‘I was nervous about having it, but I got used to it. I only had two mishaps over the three months.’
After three months, she had a surgery to reverse the ileostomy. She says it took about a year to navigate how her body works now.
Sadly, Rhiannon’s ordeal means she is now in menopause at the age of 34 and can’t have another child.
‘Hendrix always says to us, “I want a baby sister”. But I’m in menopause now; I can’t have more children,” Rhiannon says.
Rhiannon with her temporary ileostomy bag
‘We do talk about adopting because we know what a difference that can make to a child’s life. The family who adopted Danny, who are my family now too, are amazing.
‘So, it’s interesting that now we’ve come full circle, and I can’t have more biological children, so this is an option for us.’
While recovering, Rhiannon has opened her own Reformer Pilates & Yoga studio called Sol Bod Movement.
‘I’ve created a life that works around my family – and in doing so, I’ve managed to build a community around me,’ she says.
Rhiannon is now in remission and wants to warn others about the surge in bowel cancer cases among young people, and the symptoms they should be looking out for
Looking back on her journey, Rhiannon shares some final thoughts.
‘I wish I’d gone [to the specialist] sooner. I trusted what the doctors had told me about the blood and haemorrhoid,’ she says.
‘I really trusted them, more than I trusted myself – and that’s my key piece of advice to anyone reading this. If you’re concerned, advocate for yourself and keep pushing. Trust yourself more than you trust anyone else.’
Gastroenterologist Dr Réme Mountifield says there has been a ‘concerning rise’ in young people with no identifiable risk factors being diagnosed with bowel cancer.
‘While research is ongoing, environmental influences and modern lifestyle factors are likely contributing to this trend,’ she tells us.
‘The best steps people can take to reduce their risk include maintaining a healthy body weight, exercising at least three times a week, avoiding smoking, limiting alcohol to no more than two standard drinks per day, and following a healthy diet.
‘That means reducing red and processed meat intake, increasing dietary fibre through wholegrains and legumes, choosing low-fat dairy, and leaning into a Mediterranean-style diet, rich in omega-3s, plant-based foods, olive oil and prebiotic fibre.’
Most importantly, just like Rhiannon warns, you should never ignore symptoms.
‘Not all bleeding is cancer, but it should always be checked. If you’re over 45, talk to your doctor about screening options, including the FIT test. If you have symptoms, regardless of age, see your doctor for assessment and possible referral for a colonoscopy,’ Dr Mountifield says.
‘As a whole, bowel cancer is highly treatable if caught early. In fact, many cases can be prevented altogether through regular screening and the removal of pre-cancerous polyps. Early action saves lives.’
