“When I finally spoke to a doctor, he told me I was too young for it to be anything serious,” said Sydney Stoner
Sydney Stoner was suffering from severe symptoms but was dismissed by doctors because of her young age
The then 27-year-old decided to lie about having blood in her stool in order to get a referral for a colonoscopy, which ultimately led to her stage 4 bowel cancer diagnosis
She’s now encouraging others to make sure they’re advocating for their health regardless of the age recommendations for screenings
A young woman is opening up about having to lie to her doctors to have her symptoms taken seriously.
Sydney Stoner from Little Rock, Ark., was a newlywed in her 20s when she started suffering from severe abdominal pain and frequent bouts of diarrhea and constipation, spending months suffering in silence.
In 2019, she knew she needed to seek medical attention after collapsing in pain at work, unable to move. However, Stoner said doctors dismissed her symptoms, telling her she was “too young” to have any concerning health problems.
“People would say it was just that time of the month or that it was just ‘female stuff’ but I thought, no — it can’t be that painful,” she told Kennedy News and Media via The Daily Mail. “When I finally spoke to a doctor, he told me I was too young for it to be anything serious.”
“At that point, I wasn’t really given any other explanation, but I do remember one doctor saying it was probably IBS,” she added, referring to irritable bowel syndrome.
Stoner’s pain ultimately continued, explaining that it felt like her “insides were being twisted.”
Unable to continue dealing with her pain, Stoner — who had gotten married the previous year — decided to lie to her doctors about having blood in her stool, a symptom she knew they couldn’t ignore.
“I had to lie to get my colonoscopy,” she said. “I told them there was blood in my stool because they kept saying I needed a referral first.”
After telling the lie, Stoner received a referral for a colonoscopy and underwent the procedure in September 2020. Doctors informed her that they struggled to complete the procedure because they discovered a five-millimeter tumor blocking access to her colon.
At age 27, Stoner was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer after her tumor, which originated in her bowel, had spread to her liver and lungs.
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“When the doctors told me it was cancer, my whole world stopped spinning,” she recalled. “We were newlyweds, excited for this new chapter, and it all just came to a halt. I was terrified, but I was also really frustrated.”
“Doctors said I was too young but I probably would have died before I made it to the screening age of 45,” she told the outlet. “It was very frustrating.”
Bowel cancer, also known as colorectal cancer, is the third most common cancer in the world, after lung and breast cancers. According to the American Cancer Society, the disease is more common as you age — but there has been a steady rise in rates of colorectal cancer among young people.
Following her diagnosis, Stoner underwent surgery to remove the tumor from her colon in September 2020 and surgery to remove the tumor in her liver in January 2023. She also began chemotherapy to treat the cancer in her lungs.
She has since had 24 rounds of chemotherapy and is now considered “stable.”
Stoner, now 31, is now encouraging others to stay on top of their health and advocate for themselves regardless of the age recommendations for screening.
“I know it’s difficult but keep advocating for yourself because no one else is going to get that done for you,” she added. “Find a new doctor, or whatever that may be. Find someone to listen to you because I know people that were diagnosed at 18 years old.”
“The screening age needs to be lower or there shouldn’t be one at all,” Stoner said.
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