KNOW YOUR POO

Mum given just weeks to live after devastating cancer diagnosis reveals the two key questions doctors failed to ask her

Bryony knew something was wrong when her pee was bright yellow one day and turned deep brown the next

A MUM diagnosed with cancer was given just 12 weeks to live after going back and forth with doctors about her symptoms "for years".

Bryony Thomas, 46, revealed two key questions doctors failed to ask her.

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Bryony Thomas, 46, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2019Credit: University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust
Bryony with her daughter Eleni, now 13Credit: University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust

The mum-of-one was told she had pancreatic cancer in December 2019.

She'd been visiting doctors "on and off for years" as she battled intense fatigue and changes to her toilet habits.

The turning point came when Bryony, who lived in Bishopston, Bristol at the time, noticed her pee had darkened to the colour of "tea without milk" and her skin started turning yellow.

Doctors discovered a tumour in the mum's pancreas.

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Bryony was initially told that her tumour might be inoperable and that she would only have around 12 weeks to live if doctors were unable to remove it.

She readied herself for what she thought would be her last Christmas with her then eight-year-old daughter Eleni, wrapping presents in hospital.

But consultants at Bristol Royal Infirmary were able to successfully remove the tumour, just two weeks after the mum's devastating diagnosis.

Bryony is now calling for doctors and patients to become more comfortable talking about poo - and for vague terms like 'bowel movements' to be "banned".

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She said: "I went to see GPs on and off for years before my diagnosis and I was asked about my 'bowel movements' but no one ever asked me if my poo was pale or floating.

"If they had I would have told them that it was. I later learned that this can be a sign of pancreatic insufficiency."

A grandpa has been forced to eat just one meal a day to make his lifesaving medicine last

According to Pancreatic Cancer UK, the disease can cause diarrhoea - watery stools that strike more than three times a day - as well as constipation, which is when poo is firm and difficult to push out.

Pancreatic cancer can also make your poo pale, oily and smellier than normal, which is referred to as steatorrhoea.

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