For months, Shannin Pain struggled with debilitating nausea, sharp abdominal pain, and dramatic changes in her digestion. But despite repeated trips to doctors, the 26-year-old from Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, says her concerns were repeatedly brushed aside.
What was initially dismissed as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or anxiety ultimately turned out to be far more serious and could end her life before she reaches her 30s.
“I knew something wasn’t right,” Pain said, per The Sun. “But I kept hearing it was IBS or stress. My gut, literally, was screaming at me.”
Her symptoms began in late 2023, with persistent nausea after meals and difficulty passing stool. “I went from being completely regular to barely going at all,” she said, per The Express.
“And when I did, my stool was pencil-thin, which, I know might be TMI, but was a huge red flag.”
She also experienced intense, stabbing cramps in her lower left abdomen that left her doubled over in pain.
Still, she says physicians tested her for conditions like Crohn’s disease and coeliac, but never suggested a colonoscopy.
Eventually, she was diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer.
“Colon cancer is so treatable if caught early,” she said. “But no one thought to check because of my age.”
It was first discovered when an MRI meant to rule out more serious issues uncovered a full intestinal blockage.
She was admitted to hospital for emergency surgery, where doctors discovered a tumor in her colon. Subsequent surgery revealed the cancer had spread to her right ovary, which was removed, along with 13 lymph nodes, 11 of which tested positive for cancer, and part of her peritoneum, The Mirror reports.
Doctors diagnosed her with a Krukenberg tumor, a rare secondary cancer that originates in the gastrointestinal tract and spreads to the ovaries. Her liver was also affected, making surgical removal of those tumors impossible.
Pain underwent fertility preservation ahead of treatment, successfully freezing seven eggs in May. “Losing my fertility while fighting for my life was a devastating thought,” she said. “Being able to save those eggs gives me hope for the future.”
With the cancer classified as advanced and inoperable, she was told she had three months to live without chemotherapy, and potentially up to three years with it.
Since then, she’s completed 27 rounds of chemo, despite suffering life-threatening allergic reactions to one of the drugs. Her current regimen includes immunotherapy and a take-home chemotherapy pump. A recent scan in June brought some optimism: her condition was stable, with no new liver growths, per Nottinghamshire Live.
Pain is now exploring integrative treatments abroad. She’s working with a Swiss naturopathic oncologist to identify therapies specifically tailored to her cancer cells. If tests show promise, she plans to begin treatment in Sweden, but the costs are entirely out of pocket.
She’s launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds (which, at the time of writing, is just $5,000 CAD away from its target) and shares updates through her TikTok account to spread awareness.
“I’m not ready to give up,” she said. “If my story helps even one person get diagnosed earlier, it will have been worth it.”