The mum-of-five has shared her journey through cancer treatment, which changed her life overnight. Lindsey Ellis, 41, from Y Bala in Gwynedd, thought she had irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and Covid for a long time before she was diagnosed with colon and rectal cancer in 2022.
Colorectal cancer is also known as bowel cancer and affects the colon, which consists of the colon and rectum. It is one of the most common types of cancer in the UK, according to the NHS.
Speaking to WalesOnline, Lindsey hopes that by sharing her story, she will encourage others who may have similar symptoms to see their doctor. For years, Lindsey said she suffered from symptoms she thought were irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
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However, rather than going to the doctor with her symptoms, Lindsey explained that she took it upon herself to alleviate the symptoms. She said: “For a few years I suffered from what I thought was irritable bowel syndrome. Whenever I ate carbohydrates – potatoes, pasta, chips, I felt like my stomach was going to hurt and I was bloated.”
“I didn’t go to the doctor because when I talked to my friends I found out they had the same symptoms. We talked about going on a gluten-free diet and that seemed to help things and I was able to manage.” symptoms by doing such things.
“In a way it made me think, ‘Yes, it has to be if I can do it’. It’s strange, they talk about the common symptoms of colon cancer, one of which is blood in the stool, but I wouldn’t do that.” nothing like that I thought I had IBS.”
But when Lindsey was expecting her fifth child – her baby girl Doti, who was born in October 2021 – her symptoms worsened. For the latest health news, subscribe to our newsletter here.
She said: “I had four babies before Doti, I could go on until the end and I had the four overdues. But when I was carrying her I got to 35 weeks and I felt like I was never going to deliver with her.
“I felt really tired and I felt like something was pushing me. I didn’t feel good at all. I spoke to Dion, my partner, and I said, ‘Maybe I’m just too old to wait’ because in I was 39 at the time.
Doti was born at 36 weeks. Soon after her birth, Lindsey and the entire family contracted Covid-19. And although the family has recovered from the virus, Lindsey said she began to experience symptoms of prolonged Covid. She said: “The time after her birth was really difficult, Doti was only a week old.
“But then I was really excited and we were gradually getting out of lockdown. I was excited to take her for walks and see my friends who also had a baby at the same time. But then I felt like I didn’t have the energy, which was strange because I’m a person who likes to walk a lot and run a lot, but I just felt like I wasn’t good for anything.”
In January 2022, Lindsey said she felt “something wasn’t right” and went to the doctor, where she was told she might have developed an infection after giving birth to her daughter and was given antibiotics. Lindsey said she felt better in the days that followed.
But two months later, her symptoms began to gradually worsen to the point where she had to lie down after eating a bowl of cereal in the morning because her stomach hurt. Eventually Lindsey said she was going to pass out from the pain and stayed in her bed.
She said: “In March I was crying to my partner saying, ‘I just don’t know what’s going on with me, there’s nothing I can do.’ He told me I needed to see a doctor. I got to the point where I just didn’t know what was going on where I couldn’t control my symptoms and also that any medication I had for these symptoms just wasn’t working.”
Lindsey had a blood test in April, but her results were clear. A week later, Lindsey’s health took a turn for the worse. “I couldn’t go to the bathroom,” she explained. “I had the urge to go to the bathroom, but something prevented it.
“I went to the doctor and they gave me laxatives and other medicine which helped but nothing worked. It got to the point where I wasn’t on the toilet and I had a big belly. I was in a lot of pain and sometimes it felt worse than the pain, which I experienced during childbirth.
The next day, Lindsey’s partner Dion decided to take her to Wrexham Maelor Hospital, where the gastrosurgeon on duty that night took an interest in her case. Lindsey underwent an ultrasound and various other tests. The next morning she was told that they had found a tumor in her body and that they would have to operate on her in the afternoon.
“Part of me was still hoping it wasn’t cancer,” she said. “Although there was a chance it wasn’t, they told me to prepare for the worst. It was a shock, but I also came to expect the worst anyway.” And she added: “They told me that because the tumor was in the rectum, it meant nothing could get through.
“They were worried the bowel would burst because it hadn’t been emptied for 14 days. The surgeon explained they wouldn’t be able to remove the tumor – it was inoperable, but they said they would have to get rid of it.” blockage and give me an ostomy bag.
“I was told that the surgeon had cleared his diary for that afternoon so he could operate on me, they were very worried that my bowel would burst, which could be fatal. The next thing I knew, a nurse came in with a pen and I said eat where the hole for the ostomy bag could go everything happened so fast they said it was lucky I went in for the ostomy an hour later it could have burst.
Lindsey’s temporary ostomy bag surgery was successful. A day later, an MRI scan revealed that the tumor was cancerous and had spread to her lymph nodes and uterus. In the months that followed, Lindsey underwent 30 sessions of radiotherapy, followed by six rounds of chemotherapy.
In December, doctors told Lindsey that the treatment had resulted in a “complete response,” meaning the cancer and all signs of it had disappeared. She then underwent a colonoscopy and en bloc hysterectomy, in which her uterus was removed and the stoma reversed.
In January 2023, Lindsey underwent another chemotherapy session as cancer cells were again found in her body. However, since then the mum-of-five has had no signs of illness and has been receiving regular check-ups, blood tests and scans.
Despite receiving “amazing” news about her recovery, Lindsey said the disease has a lasting effect on her everyday life, both physically and mentally. “When I wake up, I have tingling in my feet from the chemotherapy,” she explained. “They call it neuropathy. I can’t feel my legs, but within 50 minutes the feeling will come back.”
“I also have to be very careful to know where the toilets are whenever I go somewhere. It makes me nervous in some situations. When I drink alcohol or too much coffee, I have to be careful. I also don’t know what is normal when it comes to my bowel movements, and that makes me nervous, when I have three to four days to be a certain way, I start to worry that it’s back.”
But the experience also taught Lindsey the fragility of life. “Nothing prepares you for facing the prospect of death,” she said. “If it was just me and I had no family, I would have no one to take care of. I was just afraid to leave my children.
“And when you’ve been through it for a year and you’re holding on to that hope that the treatment will work and you’ll come out on the other side, it changes you.” I would constantly say to myself, “When I get better.” “I’m not going to worry about it or worry about it.” When you’re in the middle of it, you think that all the little things I used to worry about were nothing.
“For example, I used to clean the house, spend Saturday mornings cleaning the house and tell the kids to go out and do something. Now I wake up in the morning and tell the kids we’re going for a walk by the lake or a day trip.
“I no longer worry in the same way that if I don’t want to do something, I’m more willing to say no. I have a can-do attitude – if I want to do something, I’ll do it as long as my bank balance can keep up. I realized how my family and my friends have been so supportive, I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Lindsey hopes her experience will encourage others to talk openly about their health. In recent years, the debate about bowel habits, knowing the symptoms of bowel cancer and the need to talk to your doctor when you’re concerned has come into focus, particularly thanks to the work of people like the late author and journalist Deborah James.
According to Bowel Cancer UK, since Deborah James’ death in June 2022, the charity has seen an increase in the number of people waiting for bowel scans. According to Lindsey, the conversation about voiding is “getting better,” but she hopes more people will advocate for their health when they feel something isn’t right.
“I think the conversations are getting better,” she said. “The reason I didn’t go to the doctor was because I didn’t want to discuss the bowels and all that, we have this idea that it’s all a bit gross. I was like, ‘I’ don’t want to do it, I’ll deal with it myself.’
“But clearly it would have been much better if I had gone to the doctors right from the start. There are so many causes and symptoms of bowel cancer. Even if you think you have IBS, it’s worth going to the doctor to get that confirmation and the help that you need.”