Pregnancy Sickness Hid Stage 3 Bowel Cancer

Nikki Potter-Penrice, 36, faced a life-threatening diagnosis of stage 3 bowel cancer, a condition rarely seen in her age group but increasingly prevalent. Her severe pregnancy sickness, hyperemesis gravidarum, masked early symptoms. These included changes in bowel habits, such as diarrhea, and significant fatigue, which were initially attributed to her pregnancy.

During her pregnancy in 2021, Nikki's symptoms worsened, including extreme pain that led to hospitalization. Doctors discovered a mass during an MRI, which was later confirmed as a 12cm tumor via colonoscopy. She delivered her daughter, Connie, at 36 weeks pregnant in December 2021. Tragically, on Christmas Day, Nikki experienced bleeding and severe pain, leading to a bowel perforation upon returning to the hospital in January 2022. This emergency necessitated open surgery, a bowel washout, and the insertion of a temporary stoma.

Following surgery and recovery, Nikki underwent three months of preventative chemotherapy starting in February 2022. Although the cancer had not spread despite the perforation, she faced the immense challenge of recovery while caring for a newborn. In June 2023, she received stable results, but sadly, her father passed away shortly after. Nikki is now on surveillance treatment, undergoing yearly scans and six-monthly blood tests, and advocates for open conversations about bowel health.