A 32-year-old woman with intense nausea was told she was ‘too young’ for colon cancer. She was diagnosed at stage 3.

No matter how fit she tried to eat or how frequently she ran 4 miles at her community college, Azucena "Suzy" Reyes felt bloated in her stomach.

"I looked akin I was pregnant," Reyes, who's 43 and based in Alvin, Texas, told Business Insider. At 32, she was studying to be a certified caregiver aide during operating a building business alongside her hubby and raising their four children together.

Then, her symptoms got worse. She was frequently exhausted, which she attributed to operating out and being busy. She started getting fevers and emotion serious nausea. There was additionally her severe stomach pain.

"I really idea it was an ovary that had burst since it was that painful," she said.

Between August and October in 2015, Reyes went to the ER four times, initially diagnosed alongside inflammation in her intestines. When she eventually saw a GI doctor in October, she was sent to the ER a fifth time, anywhere she had emergency operation and learned she had stage 3 colon cancer.

"I was frightened since I did not cognize item concerning colon cancer," Reyes said. "It was very, extremely theatrical to me since I didn't desire my children to go through the fear of thinking that I was going to die."

She was told she apt didn't have malignancy since of her age and race

After the ER personnel looked at her vitals, Reyes was archetypal diagnosed alongside colitis and enteritis, inflammation of the small and ample intestines, as fine as a microperforation. She was sent residence alongside antibiotics. When the ache didn't go away, she returned to the ER and was put on a PICC row to oversee medication and kept in the hospital for three weeks. Around the identical time, Reyes tried to publish a GI project and was put on a waitlist until first October.

When the PICC row was removed, the nausea came back. The next two ER visits didn't output additional answers. By the period she eventually saw her GI, she couldn't keep motionless lengthy adequate since she kept throwing up.

Within hours, Reyes and her hubby went to the ER a fifth time, anywhere an ultrasound revealed a tumor that had entirely obstructed her transverse colon, the longest part of her ample intestine, and made it difficult for her to keep food down. The next morning, she had emergency operation to eliminate it.

At first, Reyes said, the surgeon told her not to concern concerning the tumor. He told her she was extremely young, and that colon malignancy wasn't as common in Hispanic populations and people under 60.

But a week later, she learned she had phase 3B colon cancer. "I was scared, but afterward relieved at the identical time," Reyes said. "For three months, I was suffering, and I didn't cognize why."

Worried concerning worrying her family

The first scheme was to conceal her assessment and care from her family, particularly her four kids, ranging in ages from 4 to 16 at the time. The doctor stated she would apt lone need two or three rounds of chemotherapy. Reyes and her hubby wanted to depart their children alongside her mother and say they were going on a lengthy couple's trip for concerning a month.

Once she met alongside her oncologist and learned that the malignancy had grown through her muscular partition and into her lymph nodes, she learned she would need 12 rounds of chemotherapy — concerning six months of treatment. It would be unattainable to keep a secret. "I fair didn't desire anybody to suffer, akin my children and my parents," Reyes said.

Reyes informed ide effects from the chemo, specified as nausea, fatigue, and importance gain. "I was exactly swollen," she said. "It's akin they pumped air into me."

All the while, she avoided looking up colon malignancy or trying to investigation her prognosis online — item she stated helped her keep a "peace of mind" throughout treatment.

She now advocates for malignancy awareness in Spanish-speaking communities

As of October 2026, Reyes has been cancer-free for complete a decade. She says she continues to obtain annual follow-ups, including colonoscopies, lifeblood work, and CT scans.

Some of her care flank effects haven't gone away. "The neuropathy in my feet, arms, fingers — it fair feels akin needles poking them," she said.

After she was diagnosed, she urged her brother, who was 42 and a few years below the recommended screening age of 45, to get a colonoscopy. After several resistance, he accepted — and learned he had colon malignancy as well. After operation to eliminate his tumor, he's been cancer-free for 4 years, she said.

Looking back, Reyes stated she had wanted additional direction from another group who had colon cancer. She remembered posting concerning her cognition on social media, but "nobody always reached out to me and said, 'Hey, I'm an protagonist for colon cancer. I'm here,'" she said. "I desire I would've had that."

Reyes is now engaged alongside the Colorectal Cancer Alliance's Never Too Young Taskforce, as fine as a few another groups. She additionally tries to concentration on assisting the Spanish-speaking community. "There are so many group that arrive out to us, me and my husband, and they're like, 'Thank y'all for doing this,'" she said.