Woman shocked 5 colon cancer symptoms she dismissed led to diagnosis at 30

“I was in shock. I didn’t want to believe it. I kept thinking, what did I do wrong?”

Radwah Oda, 30 years old

Radwah Oda was just 30 when she was diagnosed with colon cancer, an illness that seemed to come out of the blue. But looking back, she’d been experiencing symptoms for about a year without realizing it.

“I was in shock. I didn’t want to believe it. I kept thinking, what did I do wrong?” Oda, who lives in Houston, Texas, tells TODAY.com about being diagnosed in 2021.

“I was really healthy. I worked out four to five days a week. I was eating really healthy, so I never assumed it would happen to me. Each symptom that I had, I just assumed it was something else.”

The single mom blamed irritable bowel syndrome, constipation and even a tight bra. She kept going to the emergency room with what she thought was a stomach virus.

The third time it happened, doctors ordered a CT scan and discovered the tumor. Oda had Stage 4 colon cancer that had spread to her liver.

Colorectal cancer used to be considered an older person’s disease, but it’s now the top cause of cancer death in men under 50 and the second in women in this age group, according to the latest statistics from the American Cancer Society.

Doctors don’t fully know all the reasons early-onset colon cancer is on the rise, but it’s likely lifestyle and environmental factors play a role, says Dr. Daniel Chung, a gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and professor at Harvard Medical School.

“It’s not uncommon that people ignore (the warning signs), particularly young individuals, because I think people are thinking that when you’re young, you’re not going to have something like cancer,” Chung tells TODAY.com.

“Being aware of these symptoms is absolutely critical.”

To spread awareness, Oda recently recorded a viral TikTok video listing five colon cancer symptoms she dismissed. Chung, who is not treating Oda but commenting in general, explains why these warning signs can happen:

Narrow stools

Oda noticed what she described as “pencil-thin” stools every time she used the bathroom. She thought it was due to constipation.

Doctors call this symptom a change in stool caliber. One possible reason: When a tumor grows in the lining of the of the colon, the space through which bowel content moves becomes narrower, Chung says.

“It certainly doesn’t automatically mean that it’s cancer because those sorts of things can occur without cancer,” he adds.

“It’s really a matter of if you notice an abrupt change or if you notice something that persists.”

Blood in the stool

Oda assumed it was due to hemorrhoids. She noticed darker colored blood, rather than bright red blood.

When it comes to colon cancer, the color of blood a person sees after a bowel movement depends on where the tumor is located, Chung says.

If it’s very low down in the rectum, the blood is more likely to be bright red. But if it’s further up in the colon, there’s a chance for the color to change a bit and look darker.

“So I wouldn’t say color is necessarily something that you could use as a reliable indicator of whether it’s something to be concerned about or not,” Chung notes. “Any kind of blood would be considered to be abnormal until proven otherwise.”

The appearance of blood is not necessarily associated with pain, he adds. Hemorrhoids are a common reason for rectal bleeding, but there’s no way to know for sure unless a doctor examines you, Chung says.

Bleeding is “probably the red flag symptom we get most concerned about,” he notes.

Never satisfied using the bathroom

Every time Oda had a bowel movement, she felt like she still needed to go more, “like I wasn’t empty, and I would keep pushing and pushing but nothing would come out,” she says.

She once again assumed it was constipation.

This symptom may be due to the combination of the tumor blocking the passage of stool, which makes it more difficult to pass all of it, and the tumor causing the urge to have a bowel movement, Chung says.

The urge to go to the bathroom without being able to defecate is called tenesmus.

Pain on the lower right side

Since the pain was near her right breast, Oda assumed her bra was too tight. It turned out the pain was from the colon cancer metastasizing to her liver, she says.

That’s not a typical symptom related to colon cancer, but if a person notices a new pain, it should be evaluated by a doctor, Chung says.

Chronic fatigue

Oda was always tired and exhausted. She had to nap several times a day regardless of how much sleep she got during the night. No amount of coffee helped.

She also lost 15 pounds, but assumed it was from transitioning from a pescatarian to a vegetarian diet.

Unintentional weight loss is always a concerning symptom and could be associated with different types of cancers, so it’s important to bring it up with your physician, Chung says.

If the tumor has spread, affected the liver or led to anemia from the bleeding, it could contribute to fatigue, he notes.

This excerpt comes from an article written by A. Pawlowski, published in TODAY on 2/6/2025.