Health
Stage 4 Cancer Survivor Warns That Overlooked Minor Signs Can Hide Deadly Disease
When 47-year-old Susan Schmidt from Brisbane began feeling exhausted all the time, she never imagined her body was quietly fighting a battle she couldn’t see.
She was a mother, a physiotherapist, and a woman always on the move — too busy, too hopeful, too unaware that her fatigue was the whisper of something deadly growing inside her.
By the time she found out, it was almost too late. In 2023, Susan was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer — an incurable illness that changed her world forever.
And yet, through her pain and fear, she’s chosen to speak out. Not for sympathy, but for survival — yours, mine, and everyone who thinks, “It won’t happen to me.”
The Symptoms That Hid in Plain Sight
“Strange” and “subtle.” That’s how Susan describes the first signs that something was wrong.
The fatigue crept in slowly. A heaviness in her body she couldn’t shake. “I’d drive my daughter 15 minutes to rowing, then have to stop on the way home and nap for 40 minutes,” she recalled. “That’s not normal. That was a warning sign, but I brushed it off.”
She told herself it was menopause. Midlife stress. The cost of being a working mom. Anything but something fatal.
Then came the constipation — the kind of small, passing issue most of us would laugh off or blame on travel. During a trip to France for a friend’s wedding, Susan noticed she “just wasn’t going properly.” She blamed “the rich food, too much cheese, too much indulgence.”
It didn’t seem serious. Until it was.
When she returned home to Brisbane, everything changed.
“I ended up on the bathroom floor in absolute agony. Vomiting, diarrhoea, unbearable pain. It lasted for eight hours,” she said.
At first, she thought it was salmonella from her horse. But it was far worse. “It was worse than childbirth. I was crawling into the shower, trying to relieve the pain with heat. It was a nine out of ten on the pain scale.”
She didn’t know it yet, but that night was her body screaming for help — the sound of a life-threatening disease making itself known too late.
“The Diagnosis Is Incurable”
When doctors first examined her, they didn’t suspect cancer. Her blood tests were normal. Stool tests revealed nothing unusual. She was told to rest, to eat better, to stop worrying.
But Susan’s instincts kept whispering: something’s wrong.
Then came the colonoscopy — the moment that changed everything.
”When I woke from the colonoscopy something seemed abnormal, as I wasn’t offered anything to eat or drink, and was told by the nurse that the gastroenterologist would be in to see me. I received the news from the gastroenterologist that he had located a tumor,” she said.
Those words — “he had located a tumor” — split her world in two. Before, she was healthy, hopeful, alive. After, she was a woman staring down the barrel of stage 4 cancer.
“The diagnosis is incurable,” Susan told Daily Mail. “The goal now is to stay well for as long as I can. I’ll probably resume chemotherapy after my next overseas trip.”
The cancer had already spread — to her uterus, her pelvic lymph nodes, and her right lung.
No one expects to hear that. Not at 47. Not with children still growing up. Not with a life still unfolding.
The Silence That Kills
Susan believes that one of the greatest dangers of bowel cancer isn’t just the disease itself — it’s the silence surrounding it.
“I didn’t talk about my bowel habits, who does?” she said. “That’s part of the problem with bowel cancer. People don’t raise the alarm early enough.”
In a world where people talk openly about heart health, mental health, even menopause — bowel health remains taboo. It’s awkward, it’s uncomfortable, and it’s killing people quietly.
Bowel cancer doesn’t always start with blood in the stool. It can begin with symptoms that feel ordinary — fatigue, constipation, bloating, stomach pain. The kinds of things that make you roll your eyes and say, “It’s nothing.”
But sometimes, it’s everything.
“Push for Answers”
Susan’s story could have ended the day she received her diagnosis. Instead, it began a new chapter — one defined by courage, advocacy, and fierce determination.
“I want people to know the signs. I want them to push for answers if something feels off,” she said. “Even if your blood work is normal, even if they say it’s stress, diet, or hormones, listen to your instincts.”
Those words carry the weight of someone who’s seen what ignoring symptoms can cost.
She continues to undergo chemotherapy, sharing updates with followers on Instagram — not to gain attention, but to build a lifeline for others. Her openness has inspired thousands who now see her not just as a patient, but as a fighter, a mother, and a symbol of what it means to keep living, even when life tries to take everything from you.
Turning Pain Into Purpose
Instead of withdrawing into grief, Susan chose to turn her suffering into something greater. She founded The Floozie Foundation, an organization that supports adult cancer patients and their families across Australia.
Her mission is simple yet powerful: to bring comfort, dignity, and companionship to people enduring the loneliest battle of their lives.
Susan knows that cancer isn’t just a medical condition — it’s an emotional earthquake that shakes families to their core. It changes relationships, priorities, and what you think matters.
For her, every moment now counts. Every laugh, every sunrise, every hug from her children feels like a defiant act of hope.
“The goal now is to stay well for as long as I can,” she said — and in those words lies a quiet, relentless strength that no illness can take away.
A Message That Could Save a Life
Susan’s journey is a painful reminder that cancer doesn’t always come with obvious warnings. It can hide behind excuses — fatigue, diet, hormones — and by the time we stop dismissing it, it may already be too late.
If you’ve been ignoring your body’s whispers — the persistent tiredness, the sudden constipation, the stomach pain that won’t fade — Susan’s story is your sign to listen.
Her experience shows that early detection can mean the difference between treatment and tragedy.
“I want people to know the signs,” she said again. “Even if your blood work is normal… listen to your instincts.”
That instinct — that quiet voice inside — might just be the thing that saves your life.
A Fight That Inspires
Today, Susan continues her battle with resilience and grace. Her Instagram posts show the unfiltered reality of chemotherapy — the exhaustion, the uncertainty, the small moments of joy between the storms.
But through it all, she remains grounded in gratitude and purpose.
She travels, laughs, and fights for the time she has left — time she refuses to waste living in fear.
“I’ll probably resume chemotherapy after my next overseas trip,” she said, her voice calm, her spirit unbroken. It’s not denial; it’s defiance. A promise to herself that cancer may take her body, but never her will to live.
The Legacy She’s Building
What Susan is leaving behind is more than a story — it’s a legacy. A mother’s warning, a woman’s truth, a human reminder that silence is deadly and that life, even when uncertain, is still worth every breath.
She wants to make bowel cancer a conversation people aren’t afraid to have — because those conversations could save someone else’s mother, sister, daughter, or friend.
Susan Schmidt’s voice is steady, clear, and unforgettable:
“I want people to know the signs.”
And thanks to her courage, thousands now do.
We’re keeping our fingers crossed for you, Susan — and we hope the world hears your message before it’s too late.
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