Alexa Lardieri US Deputy Health Editor Dailymail.Com
July 18, 2024 17:23, updated July 18, 2024 17:36
A 14-year-old dancer was diagnosed Terminal colon cancer She suffered pain for years and doctors refused to treat her.
Liberty “Libby” Ashworth of Panora IowaShe was in sixth grade when she first began feeling unwell, suffering from back pain and loss of appetite.
She became severely constipated and her family She saw multiple doctors to try to determine the cause of her symptoms, only to be assured time and time again that she was fine.
Libby experienced blood in her stool during her freshman year of high school in 2020, but doctors told her it was normal for teenage girls.
But her family didn’t give up: “My mother wasn’t satisfied, so we decided to see another doctor,” she says. Said today.
Libby, now 18, experienced severe abdominal pains and was rushed to hospital, where doctors discovered a “grapefruit-sized tumour” and diagnosed her with stage four colon cancer, aged just 14.
Libby’s father, Tim Ashworth, added: “It was really frustrating. They just thought we were taking her to the doctor too many times. We kept saying there was something wrong with her.”
When she first experienced symptoms of back pain, Libby thought it was due to her intense dance training and routine, but when she continued to lose her appetite she decided to see a doctor.
She said: “I was feeling really sick. I had no appetite so I actually went to get an allergy test.”
Tests didn’t reveal a cause and doctors told Libby she was OK, but in 2020, Libby said “everything got worse.”
She told TODAY she began experiencing regular stomach upset and high fevers, and doctors tested her repeatedly for COVID-19, but the results were always negative.
Concerns for Libby’s health quickly grew when she noticed blood in her stool, but doctors still didn’t take her under their wing, telling the family that it was normal for teenage girls to have blood in their stool.
One doctor even said her condition was psychosomatic, an illness brought on by stress and anxiety.
She said: “It was heartbreaking to be told by medical professionals who I should be entrusting my life with that I thought it was all in my head.”
“They actually referred me to a psychiatrist.”
But her parents insisted that her doctor write her a referral for a colonoscopy, the gold standard screening test for colorectal cancer.
The new doctor finally agreed and ordered the test.
Before her surgery, she had been suffering from severe abdominal pain, which she initially attributed to her period, but which “just got worse and worse.”
“I was screaming and crying. I couldn’t walk or stand,” Libby said. “It was awful.”
Her parents took her to the emergency room, where she underwent a CT scan.
She said: ‘[Doctors] “Oh, actually, you have something in your stomach,” she said, but she didn’t know what it was.
“An MRI revealed a tumor the size of a grapefruit.”
Her back pain was the result of a large tumor pressing on the painful area, causing two discs to bulge.
Doctors sent Libby to a hospital in Des Moines, Iowa, where she could receive more advanced medical care, and in November 2020, the family received a clear explanation for her condition.
The five-year survival rate for stage 4 colon cancer is about 14 percent.
“It was really scary,” Libby said.
A month later, she underwent surgery to remove the tumor and half of her colon. Doctors also had to remove one of her ovaries.
She immediately began chemotherapy at UnityPoint Health Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines.
According to recent statistics, colon cancer is 500 percent increase For children ages 10 to 14, the figure was 333 percent, and for adolescents ages 15 to 19, the figure was 333 percent.
The American Cancer Society predicts that this year there will be 106,590 cases of colon cancer and 46,220 rectal cancer cases, resulting in 53,010 deaths.
And experts warn that the number of deaths from bowel cancer in young people is expected to double by 2030.
This cancer is particularly difficult to treat because of delayed diagnosis and widespread symptoms, and it is predicted to become the leading cause of cancer deaths in people under 50 within the next decade.
It is currently the fourth most common cancer in the United States after lung, prostate, and breast cancer, and nearly one in four patients is diagnosed after the disease has already spread to other organs.
Doctors are still trying to determine the cause of this unprecedented increase, with theories including modern diets, antibiotic use, fungi and delayed detection among younger people.
Libby’s mother, Jennifer Jensen, again urged doctors to have her daughter tested for Lynch syndrome, a genetic condition that increases the risk of developing several cancers, including colorectal cancer.
While both parents tested negative, Libby tested positive. The gene mutation is often inherited from parents, but can also occur randomly with no family history.
Approximately 1 in 300 people in the U.S. suffer from Lynch syndrome and face hereditary cancer Quote.
People with the disease are more likely to develop colorectal cancer by age 50, endometrial cancer by age 50, and have a family history of multiple types of cancer by age 50.
according to The Jackson LaboratoryIt is thought that 2 to 4 percent of colorectal cancers are attributable to this disease.
Although doctors removed Libby’s larger tumor, in February 2021 they discovered several smaller tumors that were causing a fatal complication: a small intestine blockage.
She was soon transferred to the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
The rest of his colon was removed and he had to have an ileostomy (an opening in the abdomen that allows faeces to pass through the small intestine and out of the body).
Libby underwent immunotherapy for the next two years, which she says worked “incredibly.”
The high school student went two years without any signs of the disease, but in 2023, when she turned 17, the disease returned and she resumed chemotherapy, which left her so ill that she could no longer walk.
Libby’s mother urged her daughter to be tested again for another condition called dihydropyridine dehydrogenase (DPD) deficiency.
Click here to resize this module
DPD is an enzyme that helps the body process chemotherapy, and without it, chemotherapy can build up to dangerous levels in the body.
Libby’s doctors cut her chemotherapy dose in half, and her symptoms subsided.
Doctors recommended that Libby take part in a clinical trial at the University of Minnesota using CRISPR technology, which could allow for personalized treatment.
If it’s successful, she may no longer need further treatment for her disease.
However, she is prone to cancer and needs to be closely monitored.
Libby told Today: “I always try to find the positive side of things. Sometimes it can be really tough.”
But she said she was heartened by the support she had received from family, friends and the community.
She added: “It’s nice to know I’m not fighting this alone. No matter what, God has a plan for me. I can help someone else in the future.”
“Without cancer, I don’t think I would be where I am today. I live each day as if it were my last. You never know what’s going to happen. You have to look on the bright side.”
