Shane’s Story

“Please see my story below, if my words can help raise awareness and help save other young NZers that will be amazing.”

“April 2023 I was participating in the Jolly Good Chaps Scooter challenge, riding a 50cc scooter from Napier to Wellington to raise money and awareness for Mental Health. The next morning I noticed a considerable amount of fresh blood in the toilet. When I got back to Hawkes Bay I made an appointment to see my GP. My GP was not worried. The bleeding continued, I was feeling fatigued, I kept going back to my GP even asking to do a stool sample, this request was turned down at two appointments. Finally on the third request they said yes to a stool sample, all that was checked for was parasites – I remember feeling frustrated at this – I was not worried about worms, I was worried about the blood. The bleeding became a normal part of life for me and we started to think that surely nothing is wrong because my GP was not worried over the months I had been seeing them.

However, one morning after more considerable bleeding, my partner and I were getting frustrated, we did not feel like I was being heard or taken seriously so we booked an appointment to see a private specialist, the private specialist checked my bloods and told me I was anemic and that he was going to refer me to a private general surgeon to investigate. In the mean time I asked my GP to book me in for an iron infusion. The appointment came around to meet the general surgeon, I explained my symptoms and he said I needed an urgent colonoscopy – at this stage I had been bleeding for about 7 months. I remember the feeling after that appointment, it felt like the weight came of my shoulders, I finally felt heard – I owe my life to these two private specialists for taking me seriously.

My colonoscopy appointment came around very quickly, at the end of the appointment I knew something was wrong when they asked my partner and I to see the doctor in a consult room. They told me they found a large mass in my sigmoid colon and that I needed a CT and that I would be in surgery within the next 4 weeks. The CT scan looked promising, the cancer had not metastasised, the only point that was mentioned was a 4mm spot on my liver however the specialists believed this was likely to be a cyst and would do an MRI in 3 months time.

After my diagnosis my GP called me, I will never forget the words “I’m sorry, cancer never crossed my mind because of your age”. I kept my cool but gosh I felt so angry and frustrated at these words.

Surgery day came along – they took a significant amount of my bowel out on the 19th December 2023, along with many lymphnodes. I spent Christmas in hospital and Santa even dropped our children’s (3 & 1) Santa sacks to hospital. I had a rough time post surgery, I wasn’t recovering how they had expected and I spent 8 nights in hospital. Returning home I felt elated, I was surrounded by my family and I was feeling positive. My surgeon called me in the New Year with some great news – all lymphnodes were clear – I was Cancer Free! The spot on the liver was deemed even more insignificant however the MRI was still going to take place in 3 months time.

We lived on, that hard and fast journey was behind us and we were ready for a great 2024. March 2024 I had my follow up MRI to check the 4mm spot on my liver. A couple of weeks passed and my partner received a call saying that the MRI is showing concerns. I now had a cluster of spots in my liver with one being 18mm now, I had to go to Wellington for a PET-CT.

It was confirmed that I have Stage 4 bowel cancer which had spread to my liver through my blood. It was a whirlwind of appointments, meeting my oncologist and hearing my treatment plan. I commenced the start of three months chemotherapy mid April 2024, with the aim of a liver resection surgery in July to remove ¾ of my liver, followed up with further chemotherapy. My oncologist believes I will benefit from unfunded treatment on top of my chemotherapy which I am currently in the process of organizing, fundraising for and hopefully I will be starting that very soon.

Although I thought my battle was over, it really has just begun, but I am up for the fight! My biggest message to others out there, please trust your gut, please push for someone to listen and please don’t take no for an answer. If I had read stories of other 27 year old men who hadn’t been listened to, I would have gone private much sooner!

As my partner, my friends, my family and I say, “We got this!”. “