Doctors First Diagnosed This 29-Year-Old With IBS — Later, She Died of Cancer

Photo credit: Kellemarie Haley

Photo credit: Kellemarie Haley

Photo credit: Kellemarie Haley

From Prevention

No one wants to be a hypochondriac, but sometimes it’s hard to differentiate symptoms of everyday, harmless conditions from those that are a lot more dangerous. And tragically, this exact mistake led to a 29-year-old woman losing her life after she was treated for IBS when, in fact, she had cancer.

Sammi Fox first began noticing she had issues with her stomach, reports the UK’s Chronicle Live. She went to the doctors who diagnosed her with IBS, and gave her a treatment they believed would ease her symptoms.

When this didn’t work, however, experts looked further into Fox’s health and suggested the pain might actually have been arising due to gallstones. But when she went for a scan in September this year, doctors discovered a tumor on her ovaries.

The cancer, it turned out, had started in her bowel and had since spread to the ovaries. Earlier this month Fox, from North Shields in England, was offered a full hysterectomy, but upon closer inspection the consultant saw the cancer was more aggressive than first thought, and she was given just weeks to live.

On a Just Giving page to raise money for the care of her young sons, Fox’s friend posted a Facebook status she had written prior to her death: “As of today I’ve been given literally DAYS to spend with my beautiful friends and family! I’m going to miss every single beautiful person I’ve met in my life … there’s some absolutely awesome people in my life and I love you truly.

“The point of this status is for young woman such as myself not to be fobbed off by doctors, etc., who originally tried to tell me I had IBS.” Explaining that she had originally gone to the doctor about her stomach problems more than eight months ago, Fox wrote that she believed “my age discriminated against me.”

“To every young person out there, please push to be checked if needed, don’t let this happen to you … I am only 29,” she added.

Tragically, Fox’s consultant was correct in his prognosis and she passed away earlier this week. She died in the early hours of Wednesday morning, surrounded by close family, reports Chronicle Live.

“It has all been very quick but she went very peacefully,” her sister Kelle told the newspaper. “Anyone who knows Sam knew how bright and bubbly she was. We will ask people at her funeral to wear bright colours.”

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