A mother with terminal colon cancer has said that before her diagnosis, she had nothing more than abdominal pain.
Bank manager Rebecca Atton, 41, of Southend, Essex, was otherwise ‘fit and healthy’ before being told she had stage four colon cancer in December last year.
Now faced with battling a deadly disease, she is “devastated” at the thought of leaving her 10-year-old daughter Ava behind.
The mother of one said she had a stomachache, which was ‘rare’ for her, and went to see a doctor.
She told FEMAIL: “I used to joke about my iron stomach. I could eat anything, so when my stomach hurt, I thought about getting it checked. I didn’t think it would matter much.”
Bank manager Rebecca Atton, 41, from Essex, was otherwise ‘fit and healthy’ before being told she had stage four colon cancer in December last year. She hates the thought of leaving daughter Ava, pictured
Rebecca says ‘people don’t even think I look sick’, she’s pictured here, post-diagnosis, with Ava looking slim and healthy – yet suffering from stage 4 colon cancer
The mother of one is undergoing treatment at Southend NHS Hospital, Essex. Every treatment she gets is meant to prolong her life
Two weeks later, Rebecca sat in a doctor’s chair and was told she had terminal stage four colon cancer, which has spread to her liver and spleen.
Rebecca has since started chemotherapy and says she “felt fine” prior to treatment.
She says a fitness test, offered to people over 60 on the NHS, ‘would have saved her life’ if she had taken one at 30.
The fittest, which checks samples of feces for blood, is currently available from Boots for £15 and Rebecca says she has encouraged family and friends to get themselves checked.
She said: “Based on my diagnosis, my cousin and brother both took the test, which found small traces of blood in their feces.
Rebecca, pictured on a night out with friends, has started chemotherapy and says she was “feeling good” prior to treatment. She says a fitness test, offered to over-60s on the NHS, ‘would have saved her life’ if she had taken one when she was 30
Rebecca and Ava, pre-diagnosed, go on a day trip together. She said she is grateful for her family’s support as she faces the disease
‘As a result, they both underwent further tests and both colon polyps were removed – which could have turned into cancer later on. They’re both under 60.’
Australia recently lowered the standard age for the fittest to 50, a move Rebecca hopes will be repeated in the UK.
She said: ‘Even now my friends can’t believe my diagnosis, my skin looks good, I haven’t lost my hair, I went to the gym regularly, I quit smoking before I turned 40 – but my time is limited, and I am aware of that.’
The mother is “stunned” to possibly leave Ava, but said, “Ava and I are very close, and her father was fantastic while I was being treated, as was her stepmother.
“I know she also has a strong support network with my family. She knows I’m not feeling well, but she doesn’t know the prognosis.
Rebecca laughs on a night out with friends, after diagnosis she says people ‘can’t believe she’s terminal’ because she still has her hair and good skin
“We are a close-knit family and I’ve had so much support. Sure, I’ve had my bad days, but I’m trying to stay positive, which will help me.
“Some days the meds and chemo make me feel unwell, but knowing my mother has survived breast cancer gives me hope – she’s here to tell the story, and Ava’s attitude helps too.
“She asked me ‘are you going to die’ and I told her the doctors are doing their best.”
Rebecca is not only an advocate for lowering the age for the fittest, but is also to collect money to be treated alongside her NHS care.
Since her diagnosis, she has undergone 12 cycles of intensive chemotherapy, which has so far helped stabilize the disease.
She said, ‘This will eventually stop working. However, there are several other treatment options, some of which are not available on the NHS.”
She continued: “Let me be clear that I have less than a 10 percent chance of living five years. I am fully aware that the treatment will not cure me, but it may extend my life and give me the chance to see my daughter, Ava, reach her teens.”
As Rebecca continues her NHS treatment, her morphine dose for pain has doubled, and she thinks her next scan ‘will not be good’.
She told FEMAIL: “The morphine often makes me feel like a space traveler, and I just have a feeling that my next scan, which is next week, isn’t going to be good.
“I call it ‘scan-xiety’, this kind of cancer can spread to your lungs and heaven forbid your brain, so far it’s my spleen and liver that aren’t exactly typical.”
In the UK and Australia, colon cancer has overtaken car accidents as one of the biggest killers of people aged 25-45 and Rebecca wishes its symptoms were as widely publicized as breast cancer.
She said: ‘There was no blood in my poo, as the NHS advert a few years ago suggested it was a warning sign, I wasn’t tired, nothing – people should be more aware of this – there seem to be two camps of people.
“People like me with no symptoms and the diagnosis hits them like a sledgehammer or others who have symptoms that are mistaken for Crhon disease or IBS.
“I made the mistake of thinking this was something that happened to old people. I never dreamed it would happen to me, it didn’t even occur to me – that’s why we need more awareness.”
Rebecca is currently being treated at Southend Hospital in Essex, whom she “cannot praise enough” for their hard work and “speed” in getting her diagnosis.
She said: ‘They were fantastic and so fast, it was less than two weeks that I was in an accident and emergency for suspected appendicitis to be diagnosed and treated.
“The day I called the GP I almost gave up, I tried to get through two hours, but I’m glad my mother urged me to stay on the line and the GP encouraged me to go to the hospital.” to go.
“I just think if I had a fitness test in my thirties, my life would be a lot different now.”