“They Said It Was Just Piles”: A 27-Year-Old Mother’s Devastating Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis
For 27-year-old dental nurse Bronwyn Tagg, a mother of two who had just given birth to a healthy baby boy, cancer was the absolute last thing on her mind.
However, after passing a worrying amount of blood when using the toilet, Bronwyn booked an appointment with her GP. Instead of conducting a physical exam, her doctor immediately diagnosed her with piles (hemorrhoids)—a very common, benign condition experienced by many women after childbirth.
It was a misdiagnosis that allowed a deadly disease to grow undetected.
A Year of Dismissed Symptoms
At the start of 2024, Bronwyn began experiencing severe diarrhea combined with debilitating stomach pains that left her barreled over and unable to move. She returned to her GP, who suspected a burst ovary or ovarian cancer and sent her for an ultrasound. The tests came back clear.
It wasn’t until February 2025, when she was referred to a gynecologist to rule out endometriosis, that an MRI finally revealed the truth: she had a 40mm lesion in her rectum.
By May 2025, she officially received her diagnosis of colon cancer.
“I feel like if the doctor had taken the time to examine me in the first place, then I would have been diagnosed earlier,” Bronwyn, from Cambridge, says today. “I’m angry, but I can’t dwell on it.”
Bronwyn had just given brth to her son Austin, now 2, when she started experiencing symptoms
The Devastating Medical Journey
Bronwyn received the life-changing phone call while shopping with her 18-month-old son. She was asked to come into the clinic the following day and to bring someone for support.
“I instantly knew it was bad news,” she recalled. “I felt so numb doing the rest of my shopping… just thinking, ‘What am I going to do?’ The rest of the appointment was a complete blur. I had no questions at that time, my husband was next to me in tears, but I just felt nothing.”
Bronwyn bravely elected to undergo life-altering surgery to remove part of her rectum (the final few inches of the large intestine) and have a stoma fitted. Because there was not enough healthy bowel left to join the healthy intestine back to the anus, part of her colon was brought through an opening in her stomach. Stool now passes out of the colostomy into a sealed, external bag.
Tragically, six weeks after her surgery, she received more devastating news. A quarter of the lymph nodes removed during surgery tested positive for cancer, meaning the disease had spread. She immediately began rigorous chemotherapy.
Parenting Through Chemotherapy
“Chemotherapy was a lot more mentally challenging than it was physically,” Bronwyn shared. “I struggled with exhaustion, nausea, and nerve pain… But it also made being a mum really hard. Josie started school in September, and I started chemotherapy the week after.”
Explaining her illness and her new stoma bag to her five-year-old daughter was one of the hardest parts of the journey. Aided by a children’s book provided by hospital nurses, Bronwyn decided to be completely transparent.
“She was very unsure at first, asked all sorts of curious questions as any five-year-old would, like, ‘Does it hurt? Why do you have a bag?'” Bronwyn remembers. “I was just really honest with her. I change and empty my bag in front of her… I think it’s good for her to realize not all bodies look the same and that’s ok.”
The Warning for Young Adults
Bronwyn has recently completed her chemotherapy and is currently awaiting scan results to determine if she is in remission. While she is hopeful, she acknowledges that life will never be the same.
“It’s a new normal,” she explains. “A normal where we now understand just how fragile life is. I don’t sweat the small stuff anymore.”
Colorectal cancer kills 17,000 people in the UK every year. Because its early symptoms heavily mimic less serious problems like IBS, period pain, or hemorrhoids, it is frequently diagnosed at a late stage when it is much harder to treat. Cancer Research UK estimates that more than half (54%) of bowel cancer cases are preventable.
Bronwyn’s message to others is simple but urgent: Advocate for your health.
“For anyone noticing any symptoms, I would say go and get them checked with the GP,” she warns. “If you are disregarded because of your age, you need to persist. Early diagnosis saves lives.”
