Before 27-year-old Stacie Griffiths could even embark on the fight of her life against bowel cancer, she had to fight just to get her pain taken seriously.
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In the months leading up to her diagnosis in late May, the young mum-of-three had been suffering from severe abdominal pain, yet each time she went to Orange Hospital's Emergency Department for help, staff told her it was menstrual cramping or indigestion.
On the last occasion, she was sent home at 2am with an indigestion tablet, in tears and still in pain.
"I honestly started to feel like I was going crazy," Mrs Griffiths recalled.
"I was visibly in tears... you don't go to the ED if you're feeling fine and dandy."
In her discharge notes from that night, hospital staff even noted that she was "crying", "shaking" and that her skin was "clammy".
It was a phone call from her GP which prompted her finally getting a CT scan which revealed the 30cm-long tumour that was covering most of her bowel. Shortly afterwards, she was diagnosed with stage-three bowel cancer.
By then though, the cancer had spread.
The commencement of intense chemotherapy since has seen her life change dramatically. In addition to needing to take leave from her job, Mrs Griffiths now needs help with simple tasks like looking after her children. But she knows treatment is her best shot at beating her aggressive cancer.
Mrs Griffiths doesn't blame Orange Hospital for not immediately linking her symptoms to bowel cancer.
According to Bowel Cancer Australia, it's a common misconception that it's an "older person's disease".
In reality, those born in 1990 onwards have double the risk of colon cancer and quadruple the risk of rectal cancer compared to people born in 1950.
There has also been a 186 percent increase in bowel cancer cases in adolescents and young adults (15-24 years) over the past three decades.
"You hear about bowel cancer and it's always [in people] over 50.... You don't hear of it at my age and, to be honest, it took a lot of fighting [to get checked for it]," Mrs Griffiths said.
"I'm very lucky that my GP took my pain seriously and kept looking because every time I'd go out to the [hospital] they'd be like, 'you might have indigestion'... or 'you might have a cyst on your ovary'.
"I have no family history [of bowel cancer], I don't tick any of the [criteria], yet here I am, fighting for my life."
A spokesperson from the Western NSW Local Health District told the Central Western Daily that "it is hugely traumatic for any young person to receive a cancer diagnosis and we will continue to support the patient in any way possible as she continues her treatment".
"Emergency Department care in hospital focuses on managing acute symptoms and may not always be best placed to provide ongoing and longer-term care for some complex conditions," the spokesperson added.
"In general, the best place to receive appropriate care for chronic symptoms is from a general practitioner who knows the patient and can provide continuity of care."
Mrs Griffiths is quick to emphasis that she doesn't blame the local hospital for not giving her a scan - the problem with bowel cancer going undetected in young people is clearly a systematic issue.
"It's frustrating because if someone had helped me sooner ... would that mean [it could've been detected] at stage one or two and not [progressed to the point] I'm literally fighting to survive?" she said.
"I can't change what's happened... [but] if there's one positive thing that can come out of this it's that people are aware of the signs and will speak up and fight for themselves.
"That's what I want."
Those wishing to assist Stacie Griffiths and her family with their financial burden as she battles bowel cancer can do so through her GoFundMe page.
The young mum has also set up an Instagram account to help raise awareness about early onset bowel cancer:
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