“I want to raise awareness because the symptoms can be so small, so easy to dismiss—especially for anyone under 50 – I want them to know, even a small symptom matters. If my story can help just one person, then it’s worth it.”

Laois Mother of three Fiona Mockler was only 49 when she was diagnosed with Bowel Cancer.

She had noticed blood in her stool and put it down to haemorrhoids as she otherwise felt healthy and well. Cancer never crossed her mind, initially.

Due to her maternal grandmother having had a bowel cancer diagnosis, Fiona decided she couldn’t ignore it and went to her GP.

On Friday, Dec 13th, 2024, she had her colonoscopy.

This is Fionas story.

I was 49 years old when I attended the Beacon Hospital for a colonoscopy on Friday, Dec 13th, 2024. For a few weeks prior, I noticed one main symptom: a change in bowel habits and the appearance of blood in my stool. Sometimes it was bright red, sometimes darker and it was a combination of trickles or clots. At first, I put it down to haemorrhoids which I was aware I had, and I didn’t give it much further thought. I felt well – no fatigue, no weight loss, no pain – so cancer never crossed my mind. But because my maternal grandmother had a colorectal cancer diagnosis my gut instinct was not to ignore it.

On December 5th, just two weeks before Christmas, after discussing it with my husband Philip who was working in the Middle East at the time and outlining my concerns, I took photographic evidence to my GP – it was a case of having to, there was no better way of explaining what I was seeing ! Philip also had a raised awareness as to the risks associated with ignoring signs/symptoms of colon disease. Sadly, he lost his own mother to colorectal cancer in 2007 after a delay in early intervention due to misdiagnosis of her symptoms.

My GP asked me some questions and why I was concerned, I told her that I felt good, all was fine however I had some bleeding and said I needed to show her to describe it, once she saw the pictures she said that an urgent colonoscopy was needed and she drafted a referral and sent it immediately to a local hospital/consultant and marked it urgent. She also tested me for Coeliac disease, and I still thought it could possibly be irritable bowel syndrome (as I had the odd mild cramping moments but so minor I wouldn’t have even considered taking any medication) or something related – but never cancer.

I left feeling hopeful that I had acted quickly and that I would be seen pretty soon, but when the next day came and I still had not received any confirmation that the referral had arrived at the specialist I started to get more anxious over that weekend. On the Monday morning, I picked up the phone and called his clinic to see if anyone had seen the referral only to discover that no one had even seen it, staff holidays meant it wouldn’t be reviewed that week at all. I had also been informed that I might be waiting a few weeks for a colonoscopy in my local region, so I became more concerned.

That’s when I realized I had to advocate for myself. I made a list of hospitals and specialists, anywhere that might take me quickly for a colonoscopy. We had had a few excellent experiences with the Beacon Hospital over the years and so I finally rang them. I told them how urgent it was, and that I couldn’t get seen in my local hospital. They reassured me they would call me the following day to let me know if they could see me the following week. They rang me the following day and said they could bring me in later that same week. I felt such relief. My husband flew home from overseas and we headed to the Beacon on Friday 13th December, it’s a date that I will never forget.

After the procedure, while I was in recovery with my husband beside me, the consultant Mr Hafeez and his team pulled the curtain around us I instantly knew something wasn’t right. He didn’t mince his words and told us he had concerns—he didn’t say the word cancer—just that he saw something suspicious and that it needed immediate further investigation.

I was in utter shock, but I asked him straight away: “How serious is it? Is it a tumour? Has it moved elsewhere in his opinion” but of course he said he couldn’t give exact details yet, but from what he saw, he was about 60 to 70% sure it was a lesion. He told me I needed an urgent chest, abdomen, and neck CT scan early the next week—by Monday. Panicked I asked “ so you don’t know if it has moved into other areas and this is why you need this scan”, of course he had to just nod and confirm but it was just panic stations in my head as I realise he doesn’t know and I don’t know and nobody knows extent until that scan is done, those were the longest and hardest 3 days and nights, so many anxious thoughts, so many “ what if’s”

A nurse was instructed to do bloodwork there and then, and a biopsy sample was sent. We went home, and I sat in silence or cried most of that drive home, thinking of all the worst possible outcomes, Friday 13th is a date I will never forget. I went through every scenario with my husband from Friday night until the CT scan on Tuesday. I wanted the results that same day because all I could think was, had it spread? What were we dealing with? My biggest fear was that it had gone beyond the bowel.

We took our children off to a beach on the Sunday—just the five of us. We told them something was going on, but we didn’t have all the answers. I stayed as positive as I could, but for those few days, I was in a complete blur. I couldn’t sleep; I had no appetite. My mind kept drifting to the worst-case scenario—what if this had spread? My kids were so young—at the time, 15, 13, and 9—and we didn’t want to overwhelm them, but we had to be honest with them as well.

So, I had the CT scan on Tuesday morning. I remember trying desperately to observe the radiographer and get any feedback from her as it was just the two of us in that room. You feel so helpless and vulnerable as at that moment there is nothing you can do, it’s all there on a screen and yet you must wait to be told the outcome. I waited all that day for the results, and although I realise now how lucky I was to even have a result same day, it felt like an eternity. I was in a constant state of anxiety waiting on that call. That phone call finally came in the afternoon, and I remember being alone at that moment and barely being able to breathe until I heard the words – “So, after reviewing the scans, everything looked okay— no other area outside the bowel was affected “I just burst into tears. He said they still wanted me to come back on Friday morning to discuss the plan ( So, from that Friday the 13th to the following Friday 20th I went through colonoscopy, CT scans, biopsies, bloods & results ) and that Friday morning ( 5 days before Christmas ) and exactly one week later, my husband and I met with my consultant and colorectal team.

That was when they outlined exactly what I was facing. The lesion in my sigmoid colon was an adenocarcinoma. I would need surgery to remove it, and they planned to stage it after. I knew then what I was dealing with. I was booked for surgery after Christmas. I stayed at the Beacon for six days after the bowel resection which was performed by robotic surgery. I was relieved that I didn’t need to have a stoma fitted, however, when faced with your own mortality, you will do anything to have a chance at life, so a stoma or any further treatment was the least of my concerns then, my first thoughts are to remove the lesion as soon as possible. Once I came home, the biopsy results arrived about a week later: stage II colon cancer. No lymph nodes involved, no metastasis.

I then met with the oncology team, and they said the surgery had likely taken care of it. No chemotherapy, no radiation—just follow-ups. It’s been 12 months since my diagnosis. It has taken me that length of time to even start to say the word “cancer.” For the first half of last year, I couldn’t even bring myself to say it—I just called it a tumour.

I still think about it all most days if im honest, it hasn’t gone away yet – its shell-shocking news especially when I just did not feel sick at all – I was healthy, never smoked, drank very little, and suddenly, at 49, I was knocked for six with this news. The questions keep coming — why did my children and my husband have to go through that very frightening time? What did I not do “right”? Why must this be the new me now, the Fiona after cancer, the person I was, changed over those 6 days lying in hospital after the surgery, there’s a new fear there now that of course it can happen to me and it can happen again and that’s what I carry around that I suppose hadn’t really crossed my mind too often. When you are grappling with your thoughts and coping with the shock of all that just happened, it literally brought me to my knees – both physically and emotionally. I can never go back to being that person now, the Fiona before Friday 13th Dec 2024. I was diagnosed with Stage II Bowel Cancer in January 2025, and a different Fiona moves forward from that date. I also am so aware that so many others endure far worse and so many families don’t get the outcome we got. I’m doing well. I have regular checkups—annual colonoscopies, CT scans, and bloodwork every six months. I’ll continue that for another two years – remain under “surveillance.”

I feel so lucky and so grateful though. If nothing else, this has taught me and my family that life is for living. Go on the trips, make the memories, and don’t put things off. Those few days while waiting on that scan appointment, I just prayed for the chance to be given more time with my family, and to be around for them as a wife and mother for a while more.

And that’s why I’m sharing my story now. I want to raise awareness because the symptoms can be so small maybe insignificant to some (mild cramping, change in bowel habits etc) so easy to dismiss. It is no longer seen as an “older persons” disease. It can happen at any age and so if this alerts even one person to this fact – early awareness is key. The numbers are on the increase in the under 50 cohort presenting with colorectal cancer symptoms and unfortunately too many are at the more advanced stages of the disease when diagnosed. Please familiarise yourself with the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer. I would even suggest that from the age of 45, consider having a colonoscopy if you want to be proactive in terms of your bowel health. Early detection is key; a polyps can be removed during colonoscopy and very often that’s where a cancer begins. If I had been proactive, I could have considered a colonoscopy a few years ago especially with a family history of the disease.

I hope by me sharing my story it helps just one person to act on symptoms or just push for screening and advocate for yourself, don’t be dismissed especially if you are considered “too young” – you are never too young when it comes to cancer.