Doctor diagnosed with stage 4 cancer after spotting two mild symptoms

Dr Lauren Juyia, a gynaecologist who diagnosed herself with stage 4 colon cancer, has shared the two key symptoms that led her to this shocking discovery. Despite only experiencing two "mild" symptoms initially, she's been raising awareness about these early warning signs as she believes many people may dismiss them as something else - which is exactly what she did at first.

She explained that she started feeling fatigued in August 2022 but initially attributed it to ageing and leading a busy life. However, when this tiredness was accompanied by a "sense of pelvic heaviness", she had a gut feeling that something wasn't quite right.

When this "heaviness" evolved into what Dr Juyia described as a "pelvic mass", she knew she needed to schedule an ultrasound. It was during this scan that larger-than-normal masses near her ovary were discovered, leading to her colon cancer diagnosis.

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Speaking to Good Morning America, she said: "Having a background in obstetrics, we describe size by weeks of pregnancy, and so I was like, 'Oh my God, I have a 16-week-size mass'. From experience, I could tell that this was my ovary."

The Florida-based doctor consulted with other doctors and sought multiple opinions, reports Surrey Live. She admitted she knew it wasn't "going to be good" when the mass grew from 8cm to 24cm within just two weeks, reports the Irish Mirror.

Dr Juyia disclosed that she had "never seen anything benign" grow as fast as her tumours did, which is what prompted her suspicion of cancer, first thinking it was ovarian due to where the masses were found. By September 2022, Dr Juyia underwent surgery to remove growths which had spread to key areas including her ovaries, uterus, omentum, appendix, and abdomen.

Though the masses grew quickly, she only felt "pelvic heaviness" and tiredness — symptoms she put down to her hectic lifestyle as a working mum of two young kids. Reflecting on her lack of severe symptoms, Dr Juyia said: "I was a little tired in the afternoon for about two months previous to this and as a mum with two little kids - I had been recently nursing them, they were still waking up in the night, I work full time - I didn't think anything of saying, 'Oh, I think I need a tea in the afternoon'. Whereas maybe someone in their 50s or 60s would be much more tired from stage 4 tumours taking up their energy."

The HSE advises people to look out for other colon or bowel cancer signs like changes in bowel habits, bloody stool, abdominal pain, and unexplained weight loss.

Despite being diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, Dr Juyia went through six months of chemotherapy without taking a leave from work, finding a sense of therapy in caring for her own patients.

Last March, Dr Juyia underwent another surgery to remove a dormant tumour and by April, she received the all-clear with "no evidence of disease". Now, the mum-of-two is dedicated to raising awareness about early symptoms of the illness, such as fatigue and a sensation of "pelvic heaviness", especially urging the younger demographic to stay alert.