When Serious Cancer Symptoms Are Overlooked
- Husband and father Kal Donahue, 33, went to the doctor with stomach cramps in January, but his symptoms were dismissed as irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS.
- Once the “excruciating” headaches, dizziness, and vomiting began in April, he was rushed in for a scan after collapsing at the hospital. Kal had stage 4 bowel cancer, with a secondary cancer that went to his brain.
- Too late for surgery, the barber shop owner is now beginning chemotherapy and radiation to try to get the cancer, which has also spread to his liver and lungs, under control.
- Bowel cancer, or colorectal cancer, might not immediately cause symptoms, but paying attention to a change in bowel habits, such as diarrhea, constipation or narrowing of the stool that lasts for more than a few days, should result in a call to your doctor.
Two tumors were found in the back of his head, and it was not looking good.
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When the results came back on April 27, their life “was completely turned upside-down,” she said.
Kal was fit and ate extremely well, they didn’t know how this could happen to someone like him.
“We were told that that the tumors in his brain were secondary cancer and that the primary source was in his bowel, where they had found a superior size masswhich had also spread to his liver and lungs.”
Doctors told the couple that surgery is not an option as the cancer has spread too much.
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The Manchester, England-based barber shop owner is now having chemotherapy and radiotherapy over the next three months to see how much they can get the cancer under control.
“His courage is inspiring and I am so proud of how he’s dealing with everything,” Kerrie, who works in sports admin, says about her brave husband. “Kal is determined to try and beat this horrible disease and will not go down without a fight.”
What is Bowel Cancer?
Bowel cancer is a general term for cancer that begins in the large bowel, but generally we use the term colorectal cancer or colon cancer or rectal cancer depending on the locationin the United States.
Bowel cancer, like all cancers, presents its own unique challenges for patients on the road to recovery. But Dr. Heather Yeo, a surgical oncologist and colorectal surgeon at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, wants to remind people how far the treatment of this disease has come.
"One of the most exciting things about my job is that we've made a lot of progress on treatment options," Dr. Yeo says in a previous interview with SurvivorNet. "However, patients are still while they're living longer, they are still living with colon cancer, and so I think it's really important that we talk about how some of the things in your life affect you."
Dr. Yeo also reminds people of the importance of colorectal screenings such as colonoscopies because most colorectal cancers can be prevented early with screening.
"In the United States, on a national level, colorectal cancer has been decreasing for the last 20 years," Dr. Yeo says. "And much of that is thought to be directly due to screening for colon cancer."
Symptoms of Colorectal Cancer
Colorectal cancer might not immediately cause symptoms, but these are possible symptoms to look out for:
- A change in bowel habits, such as diarrhea, constipation or narrowing of the stool that lasts for more than a few days
- A feeling that you need to have a bowel movement that's not relieved by having one
- Rectal bleeding with bright red blood
- Blood in the stool, which might make the stool look dark brown or black
- Cramping or abdominal (belly) pain
- Weakness and fatigue
- Unintended weight loss
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