Doctors thought I had acid reflux – now I’ve got six months to live: Agony of mother, 34, diagnosed with bowel cancer who fears her three-year-old daughter ‘will forget me’
A cancer-stricken mother who has been given six months to live has heartbreakingly opened up about her fear that her daughter will ‘forget me’.
Sophie Louise Wright, 34, from Torquay, Devon, was at one point told her telltale illness symptom could be due to acid reflux or a stomach ulcer.
Her world was turned upside down when doctors discovered she had terminal colon cancer.
Speaking about her painful diagnosis, Mrs Wright, whose girl is three, said: ‘Whenever my daughter is mentioned or I think about the time I have left with her, I can’t control my emotions.
“My biggest fear is not being there to see her grow up.
Sophie Louise Wright, 34, from Torquay, Devon, was at one point told her telltale illness symptom could be due to acid reflux or a stomach ulcer
‘She’s almost four and I don’t think she’ll remember much of her life at this stage, so I’m worried she’ll forget me.
‘I don’t want anyone to replace me. I just want to be her mother forever.”
She added: ‘I would happily live with cancer that would destroy my life forever if it meant I had to be with her.
“No one my age should have to fight cancer and worry about when our time is up.”
Ms Wright, who works as a medical secretary, had previously undergone surgery to remove polyps – small growths on the lining of the colon.
Doctors were alerted after she started bleeding from her buttocks, a telltale symptom.
The mother has only six months to live and is afraid her daughter will no longer remember her
Mrs Wright, pictured with her fiancé Lewis, 35, had previously undergone surgery to remove polyps – tissue growths – from her intestines and believed her ‘debilitating’ symptoms were a result of this.
She underwent polyp removal in May 2023.
After experiencing pain under her ribs and vomiting, Mrs Wright assumed these were the usual effects of polyp removal, which she claims can take up to 12 weeks to recover from.
In addition to nausea, she also suffered from bloating.
A biopsy taken during her removal that summer was negative. but Mrs. Wright felt that something was wrong.
She said: ‘I thought the polyps might have spread throughout my body, but I didn’t think it was cancer.
‘Gradually I became sicker, more tired, lost weight and found life difficult.
‘I had to cancel all plans with friends and family because I couldn’t eat and was housebound.
‘It also made my relationship with my daughter and fiancé more difficult because I gave up.
‘My life was completely destroyed and I wondered if there was something wrong with me mentally as all my results came back clear.’
The mother has been diagnosed with metastatic lower gastrointestinal adenocarcinoma cancer in her intestines, which has spread to her liver and spine
She is currently receiving chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiotherapy, which she claims worsened her symptoms, including ulcers and numbness in her feet.
Ms Wright claims she was given anti-sickness tablets and told this was probably due to acid reflux or a stomach ulcer, until she underwent a series of blood tests, CT and MRI scans, as well as a liver biopsy.
She was then diagnosed with colon cancer in October, which has since spread to her liver and spine.
Without treatment, doctors estimate she has only six months left.
Mrs Wright is currently receiving chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiotherapy.
There is nothing else available to her in Britain, she claims.
She has discovered another treatment in Germany that aims to shrink the tumors by delivering chemotherapy directly to the liver, rather than to the entire body, until they disappear completely.
Mrs Wright and her fiancé Lewis, 35, are raising money for this treatment, raising £16,531 of the £25,000 needed so far
But it costs an eye-watering £3,300 a pop, with an estimated 10 sessions needed to achieve these results.
Ms Wright and her fiancé Lewis, 35, are fundraising for this treatment.
Bowel cancer, one of the most common types of cancer in Britain, is also called colorectal cancer.
Tumors can be found anywhere in the intestine or rectum.
Around 43,000 Britons are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year, says Cancer Research UK.
Telltale symptoms include bleeding from your buttocks, bloating, losing weight without trying, abdominal pain, and changes in poop, such as softer poop, diarrhea, or constipation that is not usual for you.
Advanced colon cancer, also called metastatic cancer, is a cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, such as the liver, lungs or lymph nodes.