Health · Public Health & Disease · 8 hrs ago
Texas woman diagnosed with stage 3B colon cancer at 32
Suzy Reyes was diagnosed with stage 3B colon cancer at age 32, while living in Texas and raising four children.
She had bloating, exhaustion, fevers, intense nausea and severe stomach pain, but was initially told she was likely too young to have colon cancer.
She went to the emergency room five times between August and October 2015 as her symptoms continued.
Doctors found a tumor blocking her colon, and she had emergency surgery to remove it.
The cancer had reached her lymph nodes, and she learned she would need 12 rounds of chemotherapy over about six months.
Her experience shows how assumptions about age and ethnicity can delay recognition of colon cancer.
Her planned treatment was six months of chemotherapy, though the available information does not say what happened afterward.
Azucena “Suzy” Reyes was diagnosed with stage 3B colon cancer at age 32.
She went to the emergency room four times between August and October 2015 before a tumor was found.
An ultrasound revealed a tumor obstructing her transverse colon, and she had emergency surgery the next morning.
Reyes said she had initially been told colon cancer was unlikely because she was young and Hispanic.
Her cancer had grown through the muscular wall of her colon and into her lymph nodes, and she learned she would need 12 rounds of chemotherapy.
- Who
- Azucena “Suzy” Reyes, a Texas woman.
- What
- She was diagnosed with stage 3B colon cancer after a tumor obstructed her transverse colon.
- When
- In 2015, when she was 32.
- Where
- Alvin, Texas; the article says she went to the emergency room but does not identify the hospital.
- Why
- The article does not state why she developed cancer. She sought care because of worsening symptoms, including nausea and severe stomach pain.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Reyes went to the emergency room four times and was initially diagnosed with intestinal inflammation.
After seeing a gastrointestinal doctor, Reyes went to the emergency room for a fifth time.
Reyes had emergency surgery to remove a tumor obstructing her transverse colon.
Reyes learned she had stage 3B colon cancer.
- Age at diagnosis
- 32
- Cancer diagnosis
- Stage 3B colon cancer
- Location
- Alvin, Texas
- Emergency room visits
- Five by the time the tumor was found
- Tumor location
- Transverse colon
- Planned chemotherapy
- 12 rounds, about six months of treatment
What people are saying
I was scared because I did not know anything about colon cancer.
I was scared, but then relieved at the same time.
For three months, I was suffering, and I didn't know why.
I really thought it was an ovary that had burst because it was that painful.