{"id":587146,"date":"2026-08-08T15:56:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/587146\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:56:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:56:09","slug":"colon-cancer-diagnosed-at-32-after-doctors-said-she-was-too-young","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/587146\/","title":{"rendered":"Colon Cancer: Diagnosed at 32 After Doctors Said She Was Too Young"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SuzyShare on Pinterest<\/a>After doctors initially told her she was too young to have colon cancer, Azucena Reyes (pictured above) was diagnosed with stage 3B at age 32. Photos courtesy of Azucena ReyesColorectal cancer is rising fastest among Hispanic and Latino adults younger than 50, highlighting the importance of recognizing symptoms regardless of age.Azucena Reyes was diagnosed with stage 3B colon cancer at age 32 after doctors initially told her she was too young and did not fit the typical profile for the disease.Experts say anyone with warning signs of colorectal cancer should seek medical evaluation, even if they are younger than the recommended screening age of 45.<\/p>\n

In August 2015, AzucenaReyes dropped her youngest son off for his first day of pre-K while she pushed through intense nausea that she had been dealing with for months. The next day, the nausea was accompanied by strong stomach pain that landed her in the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought my ovary burst, but it was actually a tumor,\u201d she told Healthline.<\/p>\n

For the next three months, she navigated having the tumor removed and being told it couldn\u2019t be cancerous because she was only 32 years old and Hispanic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey told me, \u2018You have a very, very slight chance, or no chance at all, of having cancer. You\u2019re only 32. It happens to people who are African American and older in their 60s,\u2019\u201d Reyes said.<\/p>\n

Two months later, in October, the tumor came back, and Reyes was diagnosed with stage 3B colon cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I asked doctors why I got it when I was so young and not the right race, they told me they didn\u2019t have an answer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Looking back, Reyes believes her experience highlighted a broader lack of awareness about early onset colorectal cancer.<\/p>\n

Today, research shows<\/a> that while colorectal cancer is increasing in adults younger than 50 across all racial and ethnic groups, rates are rising fastest among Hispanic and Latino people in the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time I was diagnosed, I don\u2019t think doctors were as educated as they are now,\u201d said Reyes. \u201cBut now it\u2019s rising. It\u2019s rising high in Hispanics.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2018, the American Cancer Society revised its guidelines<\/a> to start screening at age 45 rather than 50. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) then followed suit with its 2021 guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo most testing in people under 45 is in response to symptoms,\u201d Richard Wender, MD,<\/a> Medical Advisor at the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, told Healthline. \u201cWe are increasingly realizing that people of any age can develop colorectal cancer, so warning symptoms require diagnostic testing regardless of a person\u2019s age.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said reach out to your doctor if you experience the following symptoms no matter your age:<\/p>\n

Blood in your stool or rectal bleedingA persistent change in bowel habits, such as new diarrhea, new constipation, thin stools, or trouble emptying completelyPersistent abdominal pain, cramping, or bloatingUnexplained anemiaUnintentional weight loss and feeling weak and tired<\/p>\n

Wender noted that there are some people under age 45 who don\u2019t have symptoms but should be screened, including:<\/p>\n

Anyone who is a known genetic carrier of a familial mutation, such as Lynch syndrome and Familial Adenomatous PolyposisPeople with a strong family history of colorectal polyps and\/or cancer, particularly starting at a young ageAnyone who has had inflammatory bowel disease, like Crohn\u2019s disease or Ulcerative Colitis<\/p>\n

Because insurance is unlikely to pay for screening in people under age 45 who don\u2019t have symptoms or are not considered high risk, Wender said if you want to be screened, ask your doctor about non-colonoscopy screening, such as FIT-DNA (Cologuard), FIT-RNA (Colosense), or Fecal immunochemical testing (FIT).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis reserves colonoscopy for the individuals who have a positive initial stool test,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Reyes\u2019s GI team initially told her she\u2019d need only a couple of rounds of chemotherapy; however, her oncologist went forward with 12 rounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sure was tough, especially toward the end,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Chemotherapy reshaped Reyes\u2019s body in ways she hadn\u2019t been warned about. She said she went from around 120 pounds before treatment to close to 250 afterward. She had difficulty walking, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy feet felt numb a lot,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Extensive physical therapy helped her regain her strength, and over the years, she gradually lost the weight she had gained during treatment. However, the effects of treatment on her digestive system have never fully gone away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s some foods that I still cannot tolerate,\u201d she said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know that my diarrhea, or my bowel [issues], weren\u2019t going to go away. I thought it was something temporary,\u201d Reyes said. \u201cNow I have to make sure there\u2019s a restroom everywhere I go. It\u2019s a different way of living, but I\u2019m grateful to be alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continues to manage lasting effects from treatment, including low thyroid function, low B12 that requires regular shots, and low iron that she treated with infusions. While she still worries the cancer could come back, she takes what she feels are the proper steps, including eating a diet high in fiber and low in red and processed meat. She also gets routine bloodwork and screenings done.<\/p>\n

She is hopeful for how far treatment has come. \u201cThe chemo I received 10 years ago is no longer used,\u201d she said. \u201cI hope science keeps improving and someday figures out what is causing this increase in younger people.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the medical field hasn\u2019t found one single cause for the increase, Wender said most experts believe it\u2019s due to multiple factors occurring at the same time across the population, affecting different communities and different people in a variable way. He said the main factors being considered include:<\/p>\n

Changes in eating patterns, including high intake of ultra-processed foods and red meat Increase in rates of overweight and obesityEnvironmental exposures, including chemicals, microplastics, pollutants, and endocrine-disrupting chemicalsChanges in the gut microbiome, like colibactin-producing E. coli, and potentially the use of antibioticsStress and its impact on genetic expression<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to have to watch this trend closely,\u201d said Wender. \u201cIt\u2019s not inconceivable that we may need to lower the screening age even below age 45 at some point, although we\u2019re not there now. In the meantime, know your risks, start screening at the right time for you based on risk, and definitely get symptoms checked out!\u201d<\/p>\n

What made treatment and recovery harder for Reyes was how little information there was about colon cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere weren\u2019t advocacy groups like there are now,\u201d she said. \u201cI didn\u2019t have anyone my age who went through it to connect with.\u201d<\/p>\n

She remembers asking her doctor directly who could help her make sense of what she was going through. He sent her to the hospital\u2019s support services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey give me the basics about chemo and what to expect, but from a professional, not from a person that\u2019s lived through it,\u201d Reyes said.<\/p>\n

About a year and a half after she finished chemo, she came across a page called Living Active After Cancer, which connected her to someone from the colorectal cancer community for the first time.<\/p>\n

Years after her recovery, she wanted to help others in the colorectal cancer community feel less alone, so she became a member of the Colorectal Cancer Alliance\u2019s Never Too Young Taskforce<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are getting diagnosed with colorectal cancer younger and younger each year,\u201d she said. \u201cWe need to make people aware about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She shares her story at events and festivals and reaches out to Spanish-speaking communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Spanish-speaking community doesn\u2019t have equal access to colon cancer information,\u201d she said. \u201cThere also aren\u2019t many advocates who speak Spanish, so I\u2019m passionate about being that person for my community.\u201d<\/p>\n

She points people toward free screening resources and information such as colorectalcancer.org<\/a>, which she said can help people understand their risk and next steps, regardless of their age or race.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very important for me to educate people about this,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a deadly disease that we need to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Share on PinterestAfter doctors initially told her she was too young to have colon cancer, Azucena Reyes (pictured…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587147,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[103,61,60],"class_list":["post-587146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587146\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}