The 39-year-old tried changing her diet, but she needed urgent care
A woman who suffered from stomach cramps for months initially thought she had a dairy intolerance before being diagnosed with bowel cancer. Cheyenne Midwinter, 39, began to notice her stomach didn’t “feel right”, which she originally thought might be because of her period.
When things didn’t improve, Cheyenne cut out caffeine, spicy food and began drinking more water to see if it’d make a difference. But when it continued to get worse and Cheyenne began suffering from loose stools, blood in her stools and needing to go to the toilet as soon as she’d eaten, Cheyenne decided to see a doctor.
After initial blood tests, Cheyenne had a colonoscopy which revealed a large tumour blocking her bowels – she was eventually diagnosed with bowel cancer after a biopsy. She underwent four rounds of infused and oral chemotherapy before she had surgery to remove the tumour, as well as a hysterectomy.
While still under surveillance, mum-of-two Cheyenne is now in her recovery stage. Cheyenne, a supermarket cashier from Kingston upon Thames, said: “I thought it was either a dairy intolerance, or it was IBS. No part of me that thought it could be cancer at that point. My grandfather died from bowel cancer, but he was in his mid 80s so when I shared that with the first doctor, they said that was more common at that age.
“When they told me and my husband, Dan, that they had found a tumour, it was devastating, as you think the worst. I had the impression that it was going to be cancerous after they found it – even though they didn’t have the biopsy results.”
Cheyenne, who initially spoke to Sell Us Your Story, revealed how she conducted her own tests before going to see a doctor – including drinking more water, cut out spicy food and caffeine and exercising more. She added: “I had a two-month period where my tummy didn’t feel right. At the beginning, I put it down to sometimes my period making me feel bloated and bowel movements – sometimes if I had too much caffeine. I went through a lot of things, and then I started drinking more water, cut out the spicy foods and caffeine as well as a better diet in general to see what’s going on.
“I didn’t want to go to the doctor for them to tell me to cut out certain foods. But things weren’t improving – I had loose poo, tummy cramps and then I found blood in my poo. I was a bit worried about that, but I thought something had ripped or I had wiped too hard.
“But then it got to the point where I would have dinner, my tummy would rumble like crazy, and it would come straight out again.”
Because of her tests, Cheyenne was concerned and visited her local GP in June 2025. She says the doctors were concerned and took things further immediately. She said: “They were concerned and I had a sore spot on stomach which was sore to touch. I provided a stool sample, and they did blood tests as well.”
She was referred to St Peters Hospital, Surrey, where she underwent a colonoscopy, which revealed a “large” tumour. After a tumour was found, Cheyenne was told that doctors were concerned about it blocking her bowels. She said: “When they first mentioned to me that they had found a large tumour I was by myself coming out of sedation, so I was still confused.
“They found a few polyps that they were able to remove during the colonoscopy and a large tumour. They were concerned that it was quite large and worried about it blocking my bowels.”
Cheyenne then began four rounds of chemotherapy at the end of July and underwent a tumour removal surgery and a hysterectomy – as cancerous cells were found on her ovaries – over Christmas. She said: “I was fortunate that I didn’t completely lose my hair – each round included infusion with the drip and tablets.
“I had it once every three weeks for a 2-hour infusion. The chemo ended in October and then I had the surgery over Christmas. I had the tumour removed, part of the bowels removed, and a full hysterectomy. They can’t say I’m officially cancer-free as I’m still under surveillance, but anything cancerous has been removed.”
Cheyenne’s message to others is to “advocate for yourself” and “check your poo.”
She said: “One thing is to definitely listen to your body and try not to palm it off as something else. People can dismiss it and when you’re worried about something, people that love and care about you want to put your mind at ease, but sometimes that can prolong you actually seeking help.
“We can get illnesses that you think might be an older person thing, but the one thing I got told more than anything was I was so young. So, it’s just being aware of how you feel. Do check your poo, give it a glance, just to make sure.”
