Renee Gosney was 25 when she started experiencing ‘strange’ symptoms she couldn’t quite explain.
It was February, 2019, when the gut pain started. Then came the vomiting, daily bloody noses and uncomfortable bloating.
She had been dismissed by doctors time and time again but after losing 11kg in one month, she headed back to the GP every two weeks to plead her case.
Ultrasounds revealed ‘nothing was amiss’. The experts insisted she was fine.
It would be months before Renee found out she had ‘rapidly growing’ stage three bowel cancer.
Speaking to FEMAIL, the now 31-year-old business owner said the pain was unlike anything she had experienced before.
‘I felt like I had a blockage in my gut and the pain was getting increasingly worse. If you stood next to me, you could hear everything that was going on in my stomach,’ she recalled.
‘Every time I went back to the GP I’d get more pain relief that worked for a few days until my symptoms worsened.
Renee Gosney was 25 when she started experiencing ‘strange’ symptoms she couldn’t quite explain
It was February, 2019, when the gut pain started. Then came the vomiting, daily bloody noses and uncomfortable bloating
‘I didn’t know this at the time, but I had a tumour that was growing rapidly.’
Renee described the pain as a ‘cramping’ feeling that was followed by a loud ‘gurgling’ sound.
‘It was very clear to everyone around me that I wasn’t well – even though I tried to push through the discomfort,’ she said.
‘I’d still go to my retail job because I didn’t want to seem weak. I’d be in the middle of a task and then just hunch over for a few minutes and deal with the pain until it passed.
‘Regular customers would come up to me and say I looked off.’
Her colleagues urged her to go back to the doctor because ‘something was clearly very wrong’.
‘I was trying to be a tough cookie about it – but in hindsight, I should’ve just taken the time off. I was worried about losing my job or my sick days making it seem like I couldn’t do the job properly and impacting my reliability,’ she said.
On 1 April 2019, Renee couldn’t take it anymore.
She took herself to the emergency room when her pain turned crippling and she began to lose colour in her face. She took all of her medical documents with her to the hospital and explained her complicated history.
Renee took herself to the emergency room when pain turned crippling and she began to lose colour in her face
Renee described the pain as ‘cramping’ in her gut followed by a ‘gurgling’ sound
‘They did an X-ray which showed a mass the doctors couldn’t identify – it was only after a CT scan the next morning that they found a T4 stage 3 cancerous tumour inside my bowel,’ she said.
Renee was in so much pain she could barely process the news.
‘My parents were absolutely devastated,’ she recalled.
‘They were bawling their eyes out and I was trying to comfort them and look on the bright side. We finally knew what was wrong and how to treat it.
‘The doctors said they were going in blind because they didn’t have time to do many screening tests. My bowel was on the verge of rupturing – they had to get in and take the tumour out as soon as possible.
‘I said goodbye to my dad in the pre-operating room and it was the first time it hit me that I could die on the table. A split second later I was being sedated and taken in to the operating room.’
Thankfully, Renee’s surgery was successful and the doctors removed a third of her bowel along with some of her lymph nodes.
‘My hands and feet got extremely dry (pictured) and I struggled with nausea and vomiting. I felt so unwell all the time,’ she said of the chemotherapy
Renee leaned on her loved ones for support during her shock diagnosis and treatment
Testing found cancerous cells in the surrounding area, which led to three months of chemotherapy.
‘My hands and feet got extremely dry and I struggled with nausea and vomiting. I felt so unwell all the time,’ she said.
After a series of further tests, Renee discovered her cancer was caused by a genetic condition she didn’t know she had.
‘I have juvenile polyposis, which is a rare condition that increases the risk of developing GI cancers,’ she explained. ‘I had polyps in my colon which turned cancerous.
‘My doctor asked me if I had a history of fatal bowel cancer in my family, and I still couldn’t associate myself and my sickness as being cancer because I was only 25.
‘However I think the cancer was a blessing in disguise. I’ve had bloody noses almost every day of my life – and I had no idea what was wrong until I was diagnosed with this.’
After a series of further testing, Renee discovered her cancer was caused by a genetic condition she didn’t know she had
She said she was angry at how easily her GP dismissed her symptoms.
‘He said it was nothing, and I had a cancerous tumour growing in me,’ she said.
‘I’m a much better advocate for myself now when it comes to issues with my body. It’s important not to shy away from asking questions.
‘Cancer doesn’t discriminate when it comes to your age – which is something we don’t hear enough about.’
Renee shared that she leaned on her loved ones for support during the time.
‘I had my dad, my stepmum, my friends, and my partner with me – I’m grateful I wasn’t alone,’ she said.
‘I knew that me being negative about the situation would bring out a worse outcome because I’d be less likely to eat and care for myself.
‘Instead, I just focused on giving it my best shot because you don’t really have a choice – you just have to go through it.’
Renee urged Australians to always get a second opinion and advocate for themselves
Renee said she was grateful to have people help her through her cancer diagnosis and treatment
Renee struggled with going ‘back to normal’ after her treatment.
‘No one knows how to treat you and it makes you feel like there’s something wrong with you,’ she said.
She recalled feeling ‘fragile’ and ‘weird’.
‘Everyone tried to protect me and help out at every possible moment – which was very kind – but I wanted things to go back to normal.
‘Other people have this reaction where they step back after you tell them you have cancer – almost like it’s contagious. It makes you feel even more isolated.’
Renee goes back to her doctor for checkups every year and regularly gets polyps removed from her colon.
She is now reminding everyone how important it is to get a second opinion and advocate for yourself if something feels wrong.
‘It shouldn’t have to get to a point where you’re in excruciating pain for you to have things looked at,’ she said.
‘Be conscious of your family history and never think your age will restrict your chances of getting cancer.’
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