A father-of-one has shared how what he thought was just a simple case of constipation turned out to be terminal bowel cancer.
Shawn Michael, 48, from Springfield Missouri in the US, shared his heartbreaking diagnosis in a clip on YouTube last month which has been watched nearly 100,000 times.
He confirmed the cancer had spread to several of his vital organs but said he still had hope that chemotherapy, as well as his age and general good health, would give him a ‘fighting chance’.
Mr Michael, who originally moved to Missouri to help with his parent’s classic car part business, started experiencing trouble passing stools in October of last year.
Finding none of the over-the-counter remedies worked he eventually sought help from an urgent care centre.
Sent home with what he described as ‘napalm for your intestines’ he found that this did relieve his symptoms.
However, he said something still didn’t feel right.
‘Two days later I could still physically feel something inside of me,’ he said.
Shawn Michael, 48, from Springfield Missouri in the US, shared his heartbreaking diagnosis in a clip on YouTube last month which has been watched nearly 100,000 times
He said medics had confirmed the cancer had spread to several of his vital organs but added he still had hope that chemotherapy, as well as his age and general good health, would give him a ‘fighting chance’
‘It hurt so bad.’
Initially, Mr Michael suspected he was suffering from faecal impaction, which is where a large amount of hard and dry faeces builds-up and becomes stuck in the rectum.
But a glug of a fizzy drink saw his condition took a dramatic turn, convincing him the problem was likely far more sinister than he expected.
‘I took one sip and it felt like someone shot me in the gut it was so painful’ he said.
Returning to urgent care medics performed a CT scan which revealed a mass in his colon.
‘[The nurse] informed me the indications there were for stage four colon cancer,’ he said.
‘I’ve been to hospitals before, when I was a kid I spent a great deal of time in them with my mum, and nothing happens fast in medical unless there’s a problem.
Bowel cancer can cause you to have blood in your poo, a change in bowel habit, or a lump inside your bowel which can cause an obstructions. Some people also suffer with weight loss as a result of these symptoms
He added: ‘The only thing I could think about was how do I tell my wife because she’s sitting at home, waiting for me to come home.’
After a ‘rough’ phone call with his wife, who then rushed to be by his side, the surgeon explained that a scan had shown a ‘huge blockage’ in his colon that needed immediate surgery, as well as other concerning masses.
Mr Michael was then speedily taken in for an operation where a large part of his colon was removed.
Upon waking from the surgery, he said he had been desperate to know what else, in addition to the large mass, surgeons had spotted and if they had managed to remove all of the cancerous tissue.
‘He explained that the obstruction that was in my colon at the time was so large he was absolutely shocked that it hadn’t ruptured yet,’ he said.
The surgeon also detailed how they had found a number of very large cancer-like tumours on his omentum, a large layer of fatty tissue that wraps around the colon.
‘That was actually kind of a lucky break that it had attached to that fatty tissue there,’ Mr Michael said.
He continued: ‘That had been able to help slow down the progression to the other organs.’
Medics also found seven lymph nodes with tumorous tissue attached to them and these were also removed.
While the surgeon reassured him they had removed all the cancer they could find, they subsequently found the disease had already spread to his liver, spleen and lungs.
This is known as stage four cancer, the final stage of the disease, where it has spread to other organs in the body.
‘That’s where it is sitting currently and what we’re hoping to kill off with chemo,’ he said.
Medics have told him not to be too concerned about a potential ‘timeline’ and that given his age and general health he had a ‘very good shot at fighting this’.
‘Our plan currently is to do three months of chemo,’ he said.
After that Mr Michael said he is set to undergo what is called a hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) procedure.
This will involve a medic using a tube to pump heated chemotherapy drugs directly into his abdominal cavity, the internal space in the torso that houses many of the digestive organs.
HIPECs are most frequently used for patients with abdominal cancers as traditional chemotherapy, commonly delivered via injection or tablets, can struggle to reach this area.
The procedure is often considered an option to help improve long-term outcomes for patients diagnosed with advanced stage cancer in this part of the body, like Mr Michael.
Mr Michael, who described himself as a normally ‘active’ person, said one of the most challenging aspects of his treatment was having to rest.
‘This has put me lounging around my house for the last month and I am going absolutely stir crazy,’ he said.
In a more recent update, posted to his TikTok account this week, Mr Michael said a very promising scan had showed ‘no evidence of disease or active tumours’.
His case comes amid a mysterious global rise in bowel cancer rates among the under 50s.
Perhaps the most recognisable victim of the trend is Deborah James — known as ‘bowel babe’ — who was diagnosed at just 35 and raised millions for charity in her final days in 2022
Experts say the exact reasons behind the disturbing rise in these cancer cases is still unknown.
However, some believe poor diets, increased consumption of ultra-processed foods, obesity and a lack of exercise or a combination of these could be responsible for the alarming trend.
A study at the end of last year found bowel cancer rates in adults aged 25 to 49 rose in 27 out of the 50 countries in the decade to 2017.
The steepest increases were found in Chile (4 per cent annual rise on average), New Zealand (4 per cent), Puerto Rico (3.8 per cent) and England (3.6 per cent).
Separate data from Cancer Research UK suggests bowel cancer has seen a 52 per cent increase in incidence rates for adults aged 25 to 49 since the early 1990s.
In contrast rates of the disease in older groups, who are statistically more likely to get the disease overall, have either declined or remained stable in the same period.
There are about 2,600 new bowel cancer cases in people aged 25-49 in the UK every year, with 44,100 new cases among all ages.
Multiple heartbreaking stories of young people in the prime of their lives being diagnosed with bowel cancer have emerged in recent years.
Perhaps the most recognisable victim of the trend is Deborah James — known as ‘bowel babe’ — who was diagnosed at just 35 and raised millions for charity in her final days in 2022.
Analyses suggest deaths from bowel cancer overall in the UK are set to rise by 2,500 a year between now and 2040.
Meanwhile, the number of people in the UK diagnosed with the disease will rise by around a tenth in the same period.
Bowel cancer currently kills just shy of 17,000 people in Britain each year, with only half of those diagnosed expected to survive 10 years after their diagnosis.
Constipation is a very common health ailment with an estimated one in seven adults in the UK having it at anyone time.
Other symptoms of bowel cancer include bleeding from the bottom or blood in the stool, stomach pain, a lump in the stomach, bloating, fatigue or losing weight without trying.
People who have these symptoms for three weeks or more should contact their GP for advice.
