Female, 31 years old, overlooked pregnancy warning sign

When Jenna Scott, then 31 years old, was about seven months pregnant, she began to experience anxious symptoms. Rectal bleeding, Nausea stomach ache.. Her doctor assured her that hemorrhoids and discomfort were only part of her pregnancy.She learned shocking news when her symptoms did not go away after childbirth: she had stage 4 Colorectal cancer..

“I don’t know how this happened to me and someone My ageScott, now 34, in Norcross, Georgia, said today. “”cancer I wasn’t in my world. “

Scott shares her story to raise awareness of colorectal cancer in young people of color.

“I’m serious about disseminating information to my community, the black community, because I don’t talk much about it,” she said. “We don’t really go to the doctor as we should, and access to health care is not that easy.”

She was worried when Scott began to feel nausea and bleeding during her pregnancy in 2017. But her OB-GYN reassured her that what she had experienced was normal.

“He said,’Well, it’s associated with the area of ​​pregnancy,'” Scott recalled. “I bored it. Until my son was born and nothing stopped. I was still in pain.”

She tried different types of contraception, but she still felt sick. Shortly after her son Cameron’s first birthday, she went to her primary care physician. The GP listened to her concerns and advised her to have a normal blood test and go to a gastrointestinal doctor who ordered a colonoscopy.

“I told him what was happening, and he just looked at me and said,” You are physically healthy. You are really young. I don’t know what this is. But let’s rule out all the serious things. “That’s why I had a colonoscopy,” she said.

When she woke up from the surgery, the doctor told her what he found, and she didn’t believe it.

“He said I had cancer,” Scott said. “We’ve had a very good relationship up to that moment, I laughed and laughed … and I said,” Seriously? ” I thought he was playing, and he just had a straight face. And he said, “I would never make a joke about something like this.”

Then Scott felt “numbness”. Doctors initially thought they had discovered it early, but Scott later learned that he had stage 4 cancer.

“Things went into one ear and out of the other,” she said. “The situation is very rare,” said the doctor, “because we don’t even get the best images on a CT scan because we don’t have enough body fat.”

That was especially frustrating for Scott. She was athletic, young and ate healthy food — everything she thought would protect her from colorectal cancer.

“It sounds interesting, but I got angry with my body.” What are you doing to me? “She said. “I was like,’I’m taking care of you and you treat me this way.’ I usually fit into the’bubble’of people who fit this type of illness. did not do it. “

Colorectal cancer in young adults is still rare, American Cancer Society It is estimated that in 2020, about 18,000 people under the age of 50 will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Since the mid-1980s, colon cancer has increased in adults aged 20-39, and the proportion of people aged 40-54 has increased since the mid-1990s. , The organization says.

According to the American Cancer Society, blacks experience about 20% more colorectal cancer than non-Hispanic whites, with a nearly 40% higher mortality rate. Organization started by SurvivorNet Fill the gap Raise awareness of racial disparities regarding the diagnosis, treatment and survival of cancer.

Symptoms of colorectal cancer are:

• Rectal bleeding
• Iron deficiency
• stomach ache
• Narrow stool
• The urge to defecate
• Unexplained weight loss

Scott originally shared her story SurvivorNetI felt it was important to talk about her experience so that other young people wouldn’t feel so lonely. In support groups, she is often the youngest person there. She spends her time teaching young people with colorectal cancer and helping them through experience.

“When you go for chemotherapy infusion, no one is your age,” she said. It’s difficult to be able to ask, “If you don’t have someone similar to you, or depending on your age,” So how did you deal with it? ” “

After the initial diagnosis, Scott underwent a rigorous chemotherapy regimen and also had surgery to remove the legs of the colon, two parts of the liver, and the gallbladder. She developed rare side effects and had to drain infected fluid that had accumulated in her chest, back, and abdomen.

“It was hard,” she said. “The only remedy from terrible pain was warm water, so I’m probably in the tub five times a day.”

She finished chemotherapy, but nine months later, the cancer had recurred and spread to the liver and lungs. Again, Scott received rigorous chemotherapy and then developed a rash on her face. She also underwent targeted therapy and two surgeries on the liver and lungs. Sometimes stress and loneliness reach her.

“Since I was diagnosed, I’ve only met three other people, young like me, all over the country,” Scott said. “It’s terrible, and then we really don’t have a lot of resources to help prevent this from happening.”

Scott receives chemotherapy for the rest of her life to prevent the cancer from spreading. She has received many treatments, sometimes with severe side effects, but she remains strong for Cameron and her husband, Derrick.

“There were two things I asked for when I experienced the worst. Would you like to see my son grow up and grow older with his husband?” She said. “They are what I’m focusing on.”