Is life a series of definitive points, events? Our journeys predestined? What then happens when we come across an unexpected fork, or twist, in the journey.  Is this possible? Never, rarely, sometimes, always.....just like in the film we have to open to the possibility, to chance.  As health professionals, whilst common conditions are common, uncommon conditions, unusual presentations are out there too. We need to be open to the possibility, to the chance.  Patients come to see us with these too. Life journeys may, or may not be predestined, but we should not be the ones to alter life's course because we haven't considered the rarely, the sometimes.
It is less common for younger people to have bowel cancer, than those over 50 years old. But it happens, 2500 times in the UK, each year. And that number is going up.
Olivia speaks to Dr Penny Ward about the struggles she faced to be diagnosed with bowel cancer in her 20s.  How the implications of treatment affected her fertility, she talks about her stoma, and the excitement which the Summer of 2020 brings having found a surrogate.


References:

Olivia's blog can be found here - https://oliviasgotguts.wordpress.com
and to follow her on social media @oliviasgotguts

How to describe what your stool looks like - https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg99/resources/cg99-constipation-in-children-and-young-people-bristol-stool-chart-2

A food diary template from Hillingdon Hospital - https://www.thh.nhs.uk/documents/_Patients/PatientLeaflets/dietetics/Food_and_Symptom_Diary.pdfInformation 

Bowel cancer and trying to increase awareness in young people, 'Never Too Young' campaign - https://www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/campaigning/never-too-young/

Music by Josh Woodward, 'Little Tomcat' - http://joshwoodward.com