Lucy What cancer were you diagnosed with? Stage 3 locally advanced Colorectal Cancer What age were you diagnosed? 35 What has helped you to thrive? At first, I didn’t want to get involved with any groups online as I thought I’d find it too depressing but I have found Trekstock and the young adults involved to be super inspiring and positive. When I’m on the ward receiving treatment, I sometimes feel like I’m the only young person going through this but then I go through Trekstock’s Instagram and see loads of other young people that are in the same position. Knowing that there is a whole community of young people that understand what it’s like to be living with the daily stress and fears that come with this, that I can talk to at any time has been a real boost. Lucy's Story It started when I tried to donate blood in November 2018 but they told me I was severely anaemic and needed to get a blood test. I then started suffering horrific stomach pains which ended up with several trips to the doctors and A&E. After a few mistakes by my GP I decided to go private which has probably saved my life. I had to wait 4 days to see a gastroenterologist, rather than the usual 5 month wait on the NHS. They said that if I had waited, it would’ve been a very different story. Looking back, I had been suffering fatigue and bloating but the doctor just put it down to side effects of my job. I work as long haul cabin crew for British Airways and as a result, have had to take a year off work as it’s not the sort of job you can do with a compromised immune system and so many trips to hospital. That’s been quite difficult to deal with as I’ve gone from travelling the world to being stuck at home with no income. I had a Right Hemi Colectomy on June the 13th I then went through the egg freezing process before starting 4 rounds of chemo on the 4th August. I am currently receiving immunotherapy on a clinical trial. Since I am an identical twin, I also underwent genetic testing to see if I had Lynch Syndrome or any other genetic predispositions that would put my sister at high risk but thankfully it all came back ok. Manage Cookie Preferences