Brisbane retail worker’s vomiting turned out to be cancer

Renee Gosney was 25 when started vomiting uncontrollably. Her doctor thought it was irritable bowel syndrome – the truth was much worse.

A retail worker is pushing for young people to understand that bowel cancer isn’t just an illness that impacts the older population after her life was turned upside down by her own diagnosis.

Renee Gosney was 25 when started spontaneously vomiting and experiencing severe stomach cramps which got worse over the next two weeks.

The Brisbane woman went to her GP, who suspected irritable bowel syndrome, and gave her pain relief medication.

It helped initially, but it always wore off and the pain got exponentially worse with the cycle of GP visits and pain relief prescriptions continuing.

Renee Gosney started vomiting and getting stomach cramps. Picture: Instagram

Other symptoms started to present themselves – Renee was drastically losing weight and her bowel movements began to drop off.

Eventually, she was given an ultrasound, which showed nothing, and a colonoscopy referral for further investigation.

But, a few days later, the pain became unbearable and she went to the emergency room to get to the bottom of what had been going on.

She brought a file of everything she had talked with about her doctor and was kept in overnight.

“The doctors said; ‘What we’re trying isn’t alleviating it. We can feel this swelling’. You could actually hear if you were standing next to me my stomach churning and gurgling from the pain,” Renee told news.com.au.

It took multiple doctor visits before she ended up in hospital. Picture: Instagram

She underwent an X-ray and, the following day, she called her father and stepmother to let them know what was going on and they rushed to be with her.

Doctors did their rounds and revealed the X-ray showed an abnormality.

“They said they found a tumour and believe it’s highly cancerous – most likely that it was bowel cancer,” Renee said.

“I was just complete shock. I didn’t react. My parents straightaway were bawling their eyes out about it and I turned to them and said ‘It’s okay, we know what it is now. Let’s deal with that’.”

She was told she needed to have emergency surgery, but was told doctors had no idea what they would find.

It was sitting in the pre-operating room signing forms that it finally hit her what was about to happen.

She went to hospital, and found out she had a tumour. Picture: Supplied

She was told she may leave surgery with an ostomy bag and, the first thing she did when she woke up was check to see if that had been the case.

It wasn’t – but it did turn out she had stage three bowel cancer. The good news was that it hadn’t spread like most stage three cancers.

After recovering from the surgery, she had 12 weeks of chemotherapy to which she only had mild symptoms.

Following the treatment, she was given the all clear.

She wants others to know anyone can get bowel cancer. Picture: Supplied

But, the horrifying health battle opened up another can of worms that Renee didn’t expect – a reconnection with her mum who she’d been estranged from for a decade.

During the revelation she had a tumour, doctors asked if Renee’s family had a history of bowel cancer. Her immediate reaction was no, until her Dad stepped in and said her mother’s family did.

Doctors called Renee’s mother to delve into her family history, with her mum revealing she was getting polyps, which is a projecting growth of tissue from a surface in the body, removed from her colon at the time.

Polyps can be an indicator of something more sinister – like cancer.

Renee's brother was able to get help because of her. Picture: Supplied

Renee’s mum told her own gastroenterologist about what was happening with her daughter, and it led to the entire family getting tested for genetic markers for the disease.

It turns out they all had genetic markers for juvenile polyposis, which can turn into bowel cancer if left undetected.

Renee’s younger brother was then revealed to have polyps all throughout his colon – more than doctors had seen for anyone his age.

None were cancerous, although it came with its own health issues and complications.

But, Renee’s surgery brought her mother to her side and it allowed the pair to reconnect, starting fresh and putting the past behind them.

She was given the all clear. Picture: Supplied

Renee said her cancer journey luck led to her brother getting help and a new chapter started for her and her mother, and it was something positive from a scary experience.

Now, Renee is also armed with the knowledge about her genetics when she has children of her own.

Renee, now 29, is sharing her story to warn other young people that bowel cancer doesn’t just impact those over the age of 55.

She is now the co-chair of a youth advisory board where dozens of members like her have cancers – such as ovarian – that is stigmatised as only impacting older people.

“There’s always that assumption that ‘Oh, no, you won’t have cancer. You’re too young’. I think that’s definitely been proven wrong … there is a highly likelihood that anyone could potentially have it,” she said.

Originally published as Brisbane retail worker’s vomiting turned out to be cancer