At 25, I was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. This is the unusual symptom that ALL 20-somethings should know about… as the disease is on the rise among young people

When Ellie Wilcock started experiencing sharp pain on one side of her abdomen and sudden bouts of fatigue in 2022, she blamed it on a urinary tract infection.

But the real cause was a form of cancer that kills almost 17,000 Britons every year – with numbers rising into the low 50s.

The then 25-year-old from Peterborough was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer – the most serious form of the disease, which means it spreads elsewhere in the body.

Now in one TikTok videoseen more than 400,000 times, she has warned of the four early warning signs she suffered from before her diagnosis.

Perhaps most unusual was the agonizing pain that affected only one side of her abdomen and pelvis, leading some doctors to believe there was a problem with her reproductive system.

‘It [the pain] was on my left,” she said. ‘It was because the tumor was blocking my colon.

“I thought it was more like urinary pain…doctors thought it was a urinary tract infection.”

In another clip, she explained that some hospital doctors thought she might have an ovarian cyst.

Now Ellie Wilcock has warned of the four early warning signs she suffered before her diagnosis in a TikTok video that has been viewed more than 400,000 times

In 2022, the then 25-year-old from Peterborough was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer – the most serious form of the disease

Mrs Wilcock also suffered other symptoms more commonly associated with bowel cancer.

The first was a change in bowel habits that caused her to have both diarrhea and constipation.

She said: ‘For me it was a constant change between the two, but it just wasn’t normal for me’

‘And tiredness. I came home from work and just wanted to lie down and go to bed.

‘I was really tired, I was really tired. Even sitting at my desk I fell asleep, I was so tired.”

She also noticed blood in her stool; another easily recognizable sign of the condition.

“At the time I didn’t think I had this, but on second thought I did, but I just didn’t notice it,” she said.

‘This can be a range of colours, it can be bright red or dark red.

‘But anything that’s not normal for you and you’ve noticed consistent blood in your poop, get it checked out.

‘It’s nothing to be ashamed of. The sooner you look at it, the sooner you get it out of the way.”

According to the NHS, anyone experiencing these symptoms for three weeks or more is advised to speak to their GP.

The first, a change in bowel habits that caused her to have both diarrhea and constipation, is one of the best-known symptoms of the disease.

The content manager’s illness started with “extreme pain” in her abdomen, a classic symptom of the disease. But at the time she thought ‘nothing of it’ and suspected it was just a urinary tract infection

Symptoms of bowel cancer can also be caused by other conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome, but it is important to get this checked so that the disease can be caught as early as possible.

Ms Wilcock first sought help for pain in her abdomen in April 2022.

Tests for a urinary tract infection were negative, but blood tests done around the same time showed signs of inflammation.

Such symptoms can indicate cancer, but also other possible diseases and conditions.

She was then booked for an ultrasound and doctors expected to find an ovarian cyst.

But the pain quickly worsened, forcing her to seek help through the emergency room.

It wasn’t until a biopsy was performed that the devastating truth was revealed.

Tests in February 2022 showed the disease had spread to her liver, ovaries and peritoneum – the membrane that holds organs in the abdomen.

But when the pain got worse, she decided to seek help from her doctor. Tests for a urinary tract infection were negative, but blood tests done around the same time showed signs of inflammation

Bowel cancer can cause you to have blood in your poop, a change in bowel habits, or a lump in your bowel that can cause blockages. Some people also suffer from weight loss as a result of these symptoms

After undergoing multiple surgeries to remove her cancer and undergoing grueling chemotherapy treatments, she was told in August 2022 that there was no longer any evidence of the disease.

In her new TikTok video, she urged anyone with unusual symptoms to get checked immediately.

‘I always say: cancer can happen to anyone, it makes no difference.

“It’s just a bulldozer invading people’s lives and filling waiting rooms with people, all with their own stories, their own families fighting this terrible disease.”

Her post comes as experts continue to warn of a worrying rise in cases of bowel cancer under the age of 50, which has baffled doctors around the world.

The disease, the third most common cancer in Britain, is the same type that killed Dame Deborah James at age 40 in 2022.

There are more than 44,000 new diagnoses of bowel cancer in the UK each year, and almost 142,000 in the US.

Although the vast majority affects people over 50, rates in older age groups have declined or remained stable, while diagnoses in younger adults have increased by 50 percent over the past thirty years.

Dame Deborah James, nicknamed the ‘gut babe’, has raised more than £11.3 million for cancer research and is credited with raising awareness of the disease, which took her life in 2022 at the age of 40.

Earlier this month, actor James Van Der Beek revealed he was diagnosed with the condition at the age of 47.

Cancer Research UK estimates that more than half (54 percent) of bowel cancer cases in Britain are preventable.

Doctors have suggested that obesity, overuse of antibiotics, cell phone radiation and even invisible plastic particles in drinking water are potential triggers.

However, a growing number of experts point to ultra-processed foods as the cause.

These are also known as UPFs. These are prepared foods – including bread, cereal and even salad dressing – made with artificial ingredients used to preserve flavor, add flavor and improve texture.

Some have even gone so far as to say they can be as dangerous as tobacco – and should come with a cigarette-style health warning.

Speaking to MailOnline earlier this year, Queen’s University Belfast oncologist and professor Dr Joe O’Sullivan said: ‘The spike in young cancer cases must be due to something we consume.

“And ultra-processed foods are the biggest lifestyle change of the last 40 years.”

Another concern is that younger people with colorectal cancer have slightly different symptoms than older patients, according to a recent study.

The researchers looked at 5,000 people Taiwan of different ages with the disease, it found that six in ten over-50s suffered from rectal bleeding before being diagnosed with the disease, compared to less than half of over-50s.

And almost 60 percent of young people with the disease also experienced changes in their toilet habits leading up to or after a diagnosis, compared to 48 percent of older patients.

The study found that patients under 50 are more likely to be diagnosed later if the cancer has spread, perhaps because they ignore the health changes.