Krystal Maeyke’s life took a sudden and brutal turn in the spring of 2023.
Her stomach aches she had brushed off were just the beginning of a nightmare when doctors delivered the shocking news: “You have cancer.”
The disease would ultimately take her life — but before she passed, she shared the symptoms she had ignored, hoping her story could help others.
”The words I will never forget…”
Krystal Maeyke, from Australia, shared her journey on social media, revealing that on 30 May 2023, her “life took an unexpected turn” when she was diagnosed with cancer. Before that, she had brushed off the stabbing pains that “brought me to my knees” as nothing more than a food intolerance, or food allergy.
She initially thought the pain wasn’t serious, as she ate healthily and exercised regularly. But the pain grew unbearable, and she was eventually flown by air ambulance to Alice Springs Hospital in Australia.
Morphine offered no relief, and only fentanyl dulled the agony. Once at the hospital, she learned the cancer had spread “everywhere.”
”I underwent a series of tests. That’s when I knew it was something serious. I was woken up later that night by a doctor whose words I will never forget… The weight of those words, accompanied by my question of ‘How do you know?’ and the doctor’s response, ‘It’s everywhere,’ shook me to my core,” Krystal said.
Krystal’s symptoms
Reflecting on her symptoms, Krystal realized the stabbing pains she had ignored were likely caused by the cancer moving through her body.
“I thought it wasn’t anything sinister. That’s why it became advanced cancer and spread all through my abdomen, liver, ovaries, and starting from my bowel,” she explained.
“I felt each stabbing pain as it spread in my bowel with a tumour almost blocking it. I felt the lump appear and was told it may just be a lymph node — that was the tumour I was feeling. As it spread, I felt it reach my ovaries. Never in a million years would I think I would have this cruel disease in my body trying to kill me. Cancer hurts.”
In the three months before being hospitalized, she also experienced persistent fatigue, which she attributed to being a busy mum, and irregular bowel movements she assumed were IBS.
Night sweats were another warning sign, which she initially blamed on the Australian summer, waking drenched in sweat multiple times a night.
Before her passing earlier this year, Krystal had been open about her symptoms and encouraged others to get checked early.
She also set up a GoFundMe to support her son, Maison, and her family.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, stage 4 is defined by the cancer having spread to other ”distant” parts of the body beyond its original site. At this stage, it is considered metastatic or advanced cancer.
Rising faster in women than in men
Bowel cancer is increasingly affecting younger people, even those leading a healthy lifestyle, catching them off guard with its severity. Right now, a lot of research is underway on this issue, especially in the Western world.
“Early-onset colorectal cancer is a growing global phenomenon,” explained Dr. Yin Cao from Washington University in St. Louis, who has studied this form of cancer.
“But, at the same time, it is still rare.”
According to Dr. Yin Cao’s study, the data showed that in England, Scotland, and some other countries, the rate of early-onset colorectal cancer is rising faster in women than in men — something that hadn’t been observed before.
Another recent study from Karolinska Institutet found that nearly three times as many people under 50 in Sweden are now diagnosed with colorectal cancer compared to the early 1990s.
According to the NHS, symptoms of bowel cancer can include:
- Changes in your pooing habits
- Bleeding from your bottom
- Feeling like you need to poo even after just going
- Tummy pain
- A lump in your tummy
- Bloating
- Losing weight without trying
- Feeling very tired for no reason
If you notice any of these symptoms, it’s important to schedule an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible.
