Woman diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer at 38 after mistaking symptom for being a busy mom

When Shaedra Byrd dropped 100lbs in a year with no effort, she put her weight loss down to her increasingly busy schedule.

With two young children, the then 38-year-old from Texas found herself rushing between taking her fifth grade daughter to sports games and school, while caring for her one-year-old son. 

She said that the weight loss became so noticeable, that friends and family complimented her and she enjoyed the praise.

At the time, she didn’t think once about there being anything wrong with her health and she went about her business as usual. 

She mused, in a first person piece for People: ‘I thought maybe I’m just doing something right – being more active with the kids.’

However, in February 2022, the mother-of-two started experiencing abdominal pain which caused her to change her diet to lighter foods such as salad and chicken and she kept a food diary in a bid to find out what could be causing the discomfort.

But soon afterwards, she noticed that the pain was still there – even when she wasn’t eating – and she noticed her appetite diminished, while her toilet habits also changed. 

Explaining what kind of bowel movements she experienced, Byrd said: ‘I was going to the restroom every five minutes. 

‘I would feel like I have to poo, but nothing was coming out. And when it would come out, it wouldn’t be formed. It would be a blob.’

In light of all of these symptoms, Byrd decided to weigh herself, and that’s when she discovered she had lost almost 100lbs without trying.

Her weight had dropped from a high of 270lbs, following the birth of her son, to 198lbs. 

In a bid to find out what was behind her mounting health issues, Byrd went to see her primary care doctor in May 2022, but tests – which included an abdominal ultrasound – were inconclusive. 

She was then referred to a gastroenterologist, who immediately started quizzing her about there being a history of colon cancer in the family. 

She recalled: ‘I told [the doctor] my symptoms. 

‘He asked me if there was anyone in my family that had colon cancer, and I told him about my uncle who had died several years prior from colon cancer. We scheduled my colonoscopy for July.’

Byrd said her worst fears came true when she woke up from the procedure – which takes up to an hour to complete – and she saw the look on her doctor’s face. 

After frantically asking him what was wrong, Byrd was informed that she was ‘really, really sick’ and at that point, she remembers screaming and the medical staff rushing to get her husband, Roysi.  

The doctors revealed that they had discovered a ‘pretty big’ rectal mass and Byrd was then referred to an oncologist for a CT scan and MRI. 

These scans revealed that she had a tumor the ‘size of a golf ball’ and that it was stage three colon cancer.

This meant the disease had spread beyond the lining of the colon and into nearby lymph nodes, but not to distant organs.

Recalling how she felt about the devastating diagnosis at the time, Byrd said: ‘Of course, when you hear ‘cancer,’ you’re thinking death or that it’s something that you’re not going to survive. That’s what I was thinking. I was 38.

‘I started thinking about my son – he was only two years old, and my daughter and my husband – I don’t know what life would be if God took me right now. I started praying and asking God, ‘What do you need me to do?’

‘I had so many things that I wanted to still accomplish. I have to be here for my children and my husband. I had recently lost my mom and I knew how bad it felt. I know they need me. So I had to fight. I had to.’

After having a surgery to remove the majority of the tumor, Byrd underwent chemotherapy in October 2022, which saw her weight plummet further to around 140lbs as she was hit by major fatigue. 

She also lost her appetite as the chemotherapy made ‘everything taste like metal’.

Following chemotherapy, Byrd started radiation which took her to March 2023 and she had another surgery to remove the rest of her tumor around four months later.  

It was at that point, the medical team declared Byrd cancer-free. 

She had a temporary ostomy bag fitted for about a year while she healed from the surgery and one more round of chemotherapy lasting for three months to ensure the disease didn’t return. 

Throughout her cancer journey, Byrd says her family has been her rock and her husband ‘wore all of the hats when I needed him to’.

While she is now cancer-free, there are some side effects that will never leave her. 

The mom-of-two says: ‘Even now, after having everything done and my cancer being in remission, I still have the abdominal pain. 

‘I still feel like I have to go to the restroom every five minutes and nothing happens as far as my bowels moving. They say that won’t ever go away for me because of where the tumor was.’

Byrd hopes her story will inspire other young people to go and checked out as soon as they feel something isn’t quite right with their bodies.

The American Cancer Society recommends that adults who are at an average risk for colon cancer begin screening at age 45 and then receive a colonoscopy once every 10 years until age 75 if they are in generally good health.

However, for those with a family history of colorectal cancer or other risk factors, screening may need to begin as early as age 40 or even earlier. 

Byrd concludes: ‘If you have a family member that had colon cancer, even if it’s not in your immediate family, advocate for yourself at the doctor’s office and tell them.

‘I’m happy that I went to the doctor, and I did not wait.

‘Cancer is something that you can’t predict. We only have one life to live. So if my journey can help somebody else, then I’m here for it, because we all deserve to be here and enjoy life.’