Burping & Colon Cancer
- Bailey McBreen, 24, was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer after experiencing an unusual onset of excessive burping, acid reflux and stomach cramps.
- Now, as she undergoes chemotherapy, McBreen is spreading awareness for colon cancer and urging others to get any new symptoms checked.
- Burping, otherwise known as belching, is what our bodies do to remove excess air from you upper digestive tract, Mayo Clinic explains. Burping is usually caused by swallowing too much air, which builds up in the esophagus.
- While burping itself is not a direct symptom of colon cancer, it can be a sign of health conditions.
- In McBreen’s case, her tumor created a bowel obstruction and led to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which is when stomach acid repeatedly flows back into the esophagus.
- This GERD is what led to McBreen’s excessive burping. So while not a direct symptom of colon cancer, it was definitely a sign of her underlying problem.
At first, McBreen wasn’t too worried when she began burping 10 times a day back in 2021.
Read More@healingwithbailey Don’t be fooled its a daily fight ?? #coloncancerawareness #coloncancer #cancer #cancerfighter #fyp ♬ original sound – Bailey McBreen
McBreen has already undergone an emergency surgery to remove a piece of her colon, appendix, and 52 lymph nodes, as well as to conduct a biopsy. It led to her colon cancer diagnosis, and she will continue receiving chemotherapy until the end of August.
The nurse is sharing her story in hopes to inspire others to get unusual symptoms checked.
“I worked out five to six times a week consistently for at least 14 months,” McBreen, who became engaged to her fiance Caden last year, told NeedToKnow.co.uk in a recent interview, according to LadBible.
“The first sign something was wrong, although I didn't know it at the time, was when I began excessively burping.”
She explained how she would burp approximately five to 10 times day, saying, “This was not normal for me. I actually rarely ever burped before and that is why I noticed how weird it was.”
“But I honestly didn't think too much of it,” she added. “I never thought it could be linked to such a horrible disease.”
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It wasn’t until February 2022, that she decided to seek medical advice for the painful acid reflux she was suffering from, the New York Post reports. However, she claimed doctors initially dismissed her symptoms as anxiety.
Eventually, she no longer had an appetite, felt extreme pain preventing her from going to the bathroom, and noticed an “obstruction” in her body, which was discovered by a CT scan to be a tumor in her colon.
@healingwithbailey I feel like there is a lesson to be learned from any hardship or storm in persons life. If i am going to fight this cancer diagnosis I sure as heck am going to come out a better version of myself afterwards! ?? #coloncancerawareness #fuckcancer #cancersucks #fyp #cleanbeauty #toxicfreeliving
“Never in a million years did I think that any vague symptom I had was actually stage 3 colon cancer,” McBreen explained,” noting that her diagnosis was “an out-of-body experience” that left her in a “complete state of shock.”
McBreen said that her tumor was found in the transverse colon (an area of the large intestine that’s located under organs in the abdominal cavity).
McBreen explained that her tumor caused gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which “occurs when stomach acid repeatedly flows back into the tube connecting your mouth and stomach (esophagus),” according to Mayo Cinic.
For Mcbreen, “my tumor was slowly causing a complete bowel obstruction. As a result, my food was not completely digesting and was getting ‘trapped’ above my tumor, causing my reflux and burping.”
“Excessive burping isn't your textbook sign of colon cancer but my oncologist told me that it was likely the start of my symptoms,” she added.
Now she’s insisting that she will never let cancer “define” her and often takes to social media (Instagram and TikTok) to raise awareness for the disease.
She wrote in recent Instagram post, “Cancer does not discriminate!! You can be the healthiest person on the planet and can still develop young adult cancer (trust me I learned that the hard way). Skin cancer, breast cancer, and colon cancer are just a few of the cancers that are being found in younger and younger populations/ early 20s.”
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“I had nearly zero symptoms prior to getting diagnosed,” McBreen continued. “Symptoms to look for are blood in stool, new onset GERD, abdominal pain persistent or periodically, changes in appetite or unintentional weight loss and abnormal bloating. Basically if it is NEW it's NOT normal. Advocate for yourself and know your family history.”
Meanwhile, a GoFundMe titled “Bailey Strong- kick cancers butt!!” has since raised nearly $70,000 of it’s $75,000 goal.
In a GoFundMe update on March 20, after McBreen completed her second round of chemo, she thanked everyone for their “outpouring of love, support, and prayers,” saying, “They have lifted me up during the most difficult time in my life.”
Burping & Colon Cancer: What’s the Connection?
Burping, otherwise known as belching, is what our bodies do to remove excess air from your upper digestive tract, Mayo Clinic explains. Burping is usually caused by swallowing too much air, which builds up in the esophagus.
According to the Mayo Clinic, swallowing excess air can take place, for example, when eating too fast, chewing gum, or drinking carbonated beverages.
Additionally, the clinic notes that acid reflux or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) can cause people to burp more.
“Chronic belching may also be related to inflammation of the stomach lining or to an infection with Helicobacter pylori, the bacterium responsible for some stomach ulcers,” the clinic adds. “In these cases, the belching is accompanied by other symptoms, such as heartburn or abdominal pain.”
After hearing about Bailey McBreen’s colon cancer story, it’s easy to wonder whether burping is directly related to colon cancer. There’s not much information on whether burping is really a colon cancer symptom, however, belching can also be a symptom of other conditions or cancers.
In McBreen’s case, the 24-year-old also experienced acid reflux and stomach cramps, more common symptoms of colon cancer.
“If gas and bloating are related to colon cancer, they tend to be late symptoms caused by an obstructing tumor in the colon,” VeryWell Health explains. “Bloating may also occur as a result of cancer spreading to nearby lymph nodes. ”
Meanwhile, burping alone isn’t usually a sign of cancer. According to Healthline.com, if burping is associated with unplanned weight loss, difficulty swallowing, loss of appetite, heartburn, getting full quickly after eating/drinking, or increased fatigue, you should notify your doctor to be safe.
Sometimes those symptoms, alongside continuous burping, can be a sign of stomach, esophageal, or pancreatic cancers.
Some reasons behind excessive burping could be a bacteria known as Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in the body’s digestive tract, a rare disorder called meganblase syndrome when excess air is swallowed after eating, aerophagia (swallowing extra air repetitively), gastritis, acid reflux, and chronic acid reflux known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), Healthline explains.
In McBreen’s case, it was the bowel obstruction from the tumor and the subsequent GERD that led to her excessive burping. So while not a direct symptom of colon cancer itself, it was definitely a sign of her underlying problem.
Colon Cancer Overview
Colon cancer is a type of cancer that affects your large intestine (colon) or the end of your intestine (rectum). Your doctor might call this type of cancer colorectal or bowel cancer.
RELATED: Colon Cancer Overview
The cancer starts when abnormal lumps called polyps grow in the colon or rectum. If you don't have these polyps removed, they can sometimes change into cancer. It takes up to 10 years for a colon polyp to become a full-blown cancer, according to SurvivorNet experts.
If you get the recommended screenings, your doctor will have time to remove any polyps that form, before they can cause problems.
While experts don't know exactly what causes colon cancer, they do point to certain risk factors, such as diet, smoking tobacco, and drinking alcohol. Having a family history of colorectal cancer can also increase the risk.
Both men and women can get colon cancer, which is the third most common cancer in people of both genders in the United States. But it's also very preventable, with the recommended screenings.
Symptoms of Colon Cancer
Dr. Paul Oberstein, a medical oncologist and Assistant Director of the Pancreatic Cancer Center at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, spoke with SurvivorNet in an earlier interview about the most common symptoms of colon cancer.
Learning About Colon Cancer Symptoms
When symptoms do appear, one of the most common is a change in bowel habits. This could range from constipation or diarrhea to a change in the size or shape of bowel movements.
Noticing a different stool color, specifically black or tarry stools, can reveal bleeding from a tumor located deep in the colon.
Other symptoms can be harder to decipher as cancer, such as abdominal pain and unintentional weight loss. Lastly, some tumors bleed slowly over a long period of time, resulting in anemia (a low red blood cell count) that can be shown on a blood test.
Some other possible colon cancer symptoms are:
- Cramps
- Gas
- Weakness
- Tiredness
If you are experiencing new or unusual symptoms or those that last for more than a week or two, you should contact your doctor. Treatments for colon cancer can include surgery, as well as chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.
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If colon cancer is discovered early on, treatment can be fully effective and stop the cancer from returning.
Younger People Are Getting Colon Cancer
The average age of diagnosing someone with colon cancer is 68 for men and 72 for women, as per the American Cancer Society, so McBreen’s case is very rare. For rectal cancer, the age is 63 for both men and women.
However, there's a worrying trend of an increasing number of younger people being diagnosed with the disease.
"In contrast to decreasing CRC [colorectal cancer] incidence in older adults, rates have been increasing in adults aged 2039 years since the mid-1980s and in those aged 4054 years since the mid-1990s," the ACS report reads.
"From 2011 through 2019, rates increased by 1.9% per year in people younger than 50 years and in those aged 5054 years."
Additionally, the report found a rise in people being diagnosed at more advanced stages than in the mid-1990s, prior to widespread screening.
Dr. Heather Yeo Talks About Colon Cancer Treatment Options
Dr. Heather Yeo, a surgical oncologist who specializes in colorectal cancers at Weill Cornell Medicine, sayd the shift could be caused by various things.
"We don't know for sure why we are seeing earlier onset and death from colon cancer," Dr. Yeo previously told SurvivorNet. "It is likely a combination of factors, including diet and genetics as well as access to care and some environmental factors."
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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