- Shannin Desroches, 27, from Canada, said her symptoms first arose in 2023
- It took months and numerous visits with doctors before she got a diagnosis
- She said they suspected that she had a gluten allergy and brushed her off
A woman battling stage four colorectal cancer who was initially dismissed by doctors and told she had a gluten allergy has laid bare her months-long quest to finally get a diagnosis.
Shannin Desroches, 27, a nurse from Canada, said her symptoms first arose in October 2023, when she started to notice some ‘lower left abdominal pain’ after she ate.
She immediately scheduled an appointment with her doctor, but was brushed off after her blood work came back ‘normal.’
But Shannin said her symptoms continued to worsen, and she knew deep down that something was wrong.
Despite her feelings, it would take months and numerous visits with medical professionals – who told her she was too young for it to be something serious – before she found out that she had stage four metastatic colorectal cancer and tumors on her colon, ovary, and liver.
‘My symptoms started in October 2023. It started off as lower left abdomen pain after eating meals,’ she explained during a recent chat with DailyMail.com.
‘I went to my family doctor and was sent for bloodwork but that came back normal. I went back to my doctor who scheduled me for a CT scan but it wasn’t until [a year later] in October 2024.
‘I tried to get more tests and they requested an ultrasound, but that wasn’t booked until June 2024.’
A woman battling stage four colorectal cancer who was initially dismissed by doctors and told she had a gluten allergy has laid bare her months-long quest to finally get a diagnosis
Shannin Desroches, 27, a nurse from Canada , said her symptoms first arose in October 2023, when she started to notice some ‘lower left abdominal pain’ after she would eat
Shannin explained that as she waited for her tests, which were months away, she continued to get sicker.
The pain in her stomach was worsening and she was now also battling constant nausea.
Finally, in March 2024, nearly six months after she first went to the doctor, she decided to go to urgent care to get a second opinion.
And while she said the doctor there ‘took her more seriously,’ she was told it was likely a gluten allergy and was sent for testing. But that came back negative, so they finally did an ultrasound.
‘They found lesions on my liver and a mass on my right ovary, this led to me getting a referral for a CT scan and MRI,’ she recalled.
‘A family friend who was a nurse got me in for the CT scan and I owe her my life, if it wasn’t for her who knows how long these tests would have taken.’
After doing the scan, Shannin said she didn’t hear from the doctors, so she assumed they didn’t find anything.
Two weeks later, in early April, she went in to get her MRI, and asked the doctor if anything had come up on the CT scan… and that’s when things took a drastic turn.
She immediately scheduled an appointment with her doctor, but was brushed off after her blood work came back ‘normal.’ But her symptoms continued to worsen
It would take months and numerous visits with medical professionals – who told her she was too young for it to be something serious – before she found out that she had cancer
‘I went back two weeks later for my MRI not thinking anything, but the doctor looked at the [results of my CT] and by the time I came out of my MRI, she was waiting for me with a surgeon to get me admitted for emergency surgery,’ Shannin explained.
‘She said I had a blockage in my sigmoid colon, and the lesions look like cancer.’
Shannin recalled feeling complete shock when she heard the word cancer, but she didn’t have much time to process the news.
The next day, she was rushed into emergency surgery, where doctors removed the tumor from her colon, her right ovary, and 13 of her lymph nodes.
They also discovered a ‘number of tumors’ on her liver, but couldn’t remove them because it was too risky.
Amidst the heartbreaking news, Shannin had one thing on her mind: freezing her eggs to ensure that one day she could start a family with her partner, Cody.
Immediately after recovering from the surgery, she met with a fertility doctor and started the process for egg retrieval, and thankfully, ended up with seven eggs that she froze.
She started chemotherapy one month later, in May 2024, and flash forward almost a year and 21 rounds later, she’s still undergoing treatment.
She was diagnosed in April 2024 and initially told she likely only has three years left, but she hasn’t given up hope. She’s seen with her husband, Cody, at their wedding in October
Despite being ‘terrified everyday,’ Shannin told DailyMail.com that she is determined to ‘live in the moment and make as many memories as she can’
Shannin was initially told she had less than a five percent chance of surviving and that she likely only had three years to live.
She hasn’t given up hope, and she is now trying to get another extensive surgery to remove the tumors from her liver.
But it’s pricey and has to be done in America, so she’s raising money on GoFundMe to cover the costs of the travel and the procedure.
She married the love of her life, Cody, in October and tries to stay positive, living every day to the fullest.
‘My mindset at the begging was very dark, I didn’t want to accept help from anyone because to me that meant it was true that I was sick, she shared.
‘But in reality I just needed time to try and process as much as I could. I feel like I’m still processing to this day as my treatment plan and next steps are always changing.’
Despite being ‘terrified’ constantly, Shannin told DailyMail.com that she is determined to ‘live in the moment and make as many memories as she can.’
‘I truly believe your mind is very powerful and it’s rather you let it win and bring you down with dark thoughts or you use it to your advantage,’ she concluded.
‘At the end of the day I have cancer. I can sit here and cry about it (which some days I still do) or I can live in the moment and make as many memories I can.
‘I am terrified every day, I just try not to let it win.’