Off The Record
Woman Diagnosed With Stage 4 Cancer Warns People Of 5 Seemingly ‘Innocent’ Signs She Ignored
Note: This piece talks about cancer, which may be upsetting for some readers.
A single mom with stage four colon cancer is warning others about the signs she first overlooked.
Radwah Oda has unfortunately been diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. She is trying to keep her office job in Texas and take care of her child at the same time.
A mother shared a TikTok video that has 2.3 million views, where she talks about warning signs she ignored, thinking they were not important.
She is now encouraging people to “advocate for themselves” because many are told their symptoms are not cancer.
She explained the five main symptoms and said, “If you have any of these symptoms, please don’t be concerned, but go see a doctor.”
Changes in bowel movements
A common sign of colon cancer is changes in how your bowels work. For Oda, it was the first small sign she noticed.
Her stool looked thin and pencil-shaped, but she dismissed it as just ‘constipation’.
She also noticed blood in her stool, but thought that it was as a result of haemorrhoids.
A study from 2024 pointed out that blood in the stool is one of the two main warning signs in younger patients.
She also mentioned feeling like her guts were never completely empty.
In the video, she said: “Each time I would use the restroom, I would feel like I still needed to go. I would keep pushing and pushing but nothing would come out.”
Pain that has no clear cause or reason
Pain in the belly is a common sign of colon cancer, but if you feel pain in other parts of your body, it might mean the cancer has spread.
Oda felt pain on her right side, close to her breast.
She said: “I just assumed my bra was too tight, even though it was just on one side.”
In fact, her cancer had spread to her liver.
@radwah.oda Colon cancer symptoms #coloncancer #stage4cancer #coloncancerawareness #mdandersoncancercenter ♬ Deep Understanding – Dominic DiTanna
Chronic fatigue
She felt pain and had changes in her stool, and she was always very tired, regardless of how much sleep she got.
She shared: “I would still need to take a nap a few times during the day and nothing really helped.”
Cancer can make you feel very tired because the cancer cells consume a lot of the body’s energy.
Other signals
In another video, she shared some of the lesser-known signs she had before getting diagnosed.
This included losing weight, not feeling hungry, and having regular stomach pain.
Before doctors told her she had cancer, she thought her symptoms were just a bad stomach bug.
If you have any of these signs, it’s important to talk to a doctor right away.
If these problems have affected you and you want to talk to someone privately, call Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line at 0808 808 00 00. They are available from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week.
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