A mother-of-three has told of how her bowel cancer went hidden for over a year as she suffered no obvious symptoms.
By the time 41 year-old Jenny Garner was diagnosed in November last year, the disease had spread to glands in her stomach and was classed as incurable.
The only sign of the cancer was spotted by chance, during a routine blood donation appointment.
‘When I went to donate, the blood droplet didn’t sink fully, which was an indicator of low iron, but I had just enough to donate,’ said the community carer from Stockport, Greater Manchester.
‘I just assumed it’s because I’m a vegetarian – and I was told not to worry.’
However, the staff at the donation centre recommended she visit her GP for supplements.
Looking at her medical notes, the doctor realised she’d had low iron levels since December 2023.
She was subsequently sent for another blood test which revealed her iron levels had dropped even lower. This led the GP to suspect she may be suffering internal bleeding.
Ms Garner was tasked with a faecal immunochemical test (FIT) – a stool swab that looks for hidden traces of blood which could indicate cancerous growths in the bowel.
A member of medical staff told her: ‘I don’t think for a second you have cancer, you have no symptoms but we need to rule it out.’
Shockingly, the results came back positive and she was given an urgent referral to cancer diagnosis services at the local hospital.
The following month, in November, a colonoscopy procedure was performed to look for cancer in the bowel.
This involves a thin, flexible tube with a camera attached being inserted into the back passage to capture images of the bowel.
Doctors found an ‘angry red thing,’ Ms Garner said. ‘And it was bleeding’.
‘I asked what it was and they said they’ll discuss it with me later. I knew then it wasn’t good.’
Within half an hour she was given the devastating news that she had bowel cancer (also sometimes called colon cancer).
NHS delays meant she was forced to wait two months before undergoing a procedure to remove the tumour, but the operation was deemed successful.
However within a month there were alarming signs that the ordeal may not be over.
After suffering pain near her abdomen she underwent a CT scan which revealed enlarged lymph nodes behind her stomach.
Due to their location, doctors said an operation to remove them would be too risky, and therefore her disease was incurable.
‘I don’t remember really reacting,’ she said. ‘I was stunned. It was totally surreal and it was all a bit of a blur.
‘This is not something you expect at 41, to be told you haven’t got long left. My first thoughts were my children.’
Ms Garner and her husband Mike, 46, a Navy officer, are now trying to make the most of the time they have left with their children – Isabelle, 14, Thomas, 11 and Charlotte, ten.
‘It’s been really hard, Mike has taken it worse,’ Ms Garner said. ‘In his job he solves problems.
‘If there’s a problem he can’t solve, he finds it really difficult. He has done nothing but non-stop research to see what could help.’
She is currently undergoing fortnightly chemotherapy sessions and will have another scan in eight to 12 weeks to assess progress.
The family is also looking into alternative treatments that are not available on the NHS in the hope of a cure, and have set up a fundraiser to help fund it.
These experimental treatments include melatonin, used to tackle sleep problems, ivermectin used to treat parasitic diseases, and fenbendazole and mebendazole – both treatments for worms.
‘The fact the NHS has turned around and said there’s nothing they can do…,’ she said. ‘They don’t have the money for treatment that may help me… it’s frustrating.
‘It’s hard even now to believe that this is happening to me – but I’m not giving up.’
