WHEN Andria Devlin noticed a mucus-type substance in her poo, she thought nothing of it.

The 47-year-old said she had always 'lived life on the constipated side', and while the mucus was different, she says it was nothing concerning.

Andria, who lives in Kansas, US, first noticed the symptoms in 2016.

Soon after the mucus first appeared, the mum-of-two started to have intermittent bleeding with her bowel movements.

She put off going to the doctor as she thought 'everything would be fine', but was shocked when she learned that she actually had stage 4 colorectal cancer.

The cancer was found in both her rectum and her lungs.

Andria is now urging people to talk openly about their poo habits and says that people should not 'die from embarrassment'.

She said: "People don’t want to go to the doctor and say, “I’ve got mucus in my poop. What’s that about?” But people should not die from embarrassment."

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Cancer in the large bowel is known as colorectal cancer and around 34,000 people are diagnosed with the cancer each year in the UK.

It's still not known what the cause of colorectal cancer is, but various studies have stated that the frequency of bowel cancer is greater in countries which eat a diet high in fat and low in fibre.

It's also previously been found that high alcohol intake, particularly of beer, may be linked to this cancer.

Andria said she experienced no weight loss or stomach issues – which are both tell-tale signs of cancer.

"There was nothing that would indicate that I had a tumour growing in my rectum, other than the constipation and the bright red blood in my stool", she told TODAY.

Andria hadn't given much thought to colorectal cancer as she was active, didn't smoke and ate well.

The symptoms of colorectal cancer you need to know

Experts at the Royal Marsden said the main symptoms to look out for are a change in bowel habits:

• increased constipation
• alternating periods of constipation
• alternating periods of diarrhoea
• blood or mucus in the stool
• feeling like you haven't emptied your bowel
• constant feeling that you need the toilet
• pain in your abdomen
• feeling tired.

They say that if your symptoms have lasted six or more weeks, including bleeding from the rectum, you need to see a specialist.

Source: The Royal Marsden

She also said there had been no family history of cancer, so she hadn't heard alarm bells when the signs of cancer first started to rear.

"That’s why it took me way too long to go to the doctor. It took getting to the point where I was bleeding every time I had a bowel movement for me to just be tired of it", she said.

After mentioning the symptoms to her Obstetrician-Gynecologist in May 2016, she was told to go and get a check up.

But Andria waited until January 2017 before having a rectal exam.

She then had a colonoscopy where doctors said they had found 'ugly tissue' in her rectum.

The doctor called Andria next day and told her it was cancerous and had been blocking 80 to 85 per cent of her rectum.

Further tests revealed she had stage four colorectal cancer which had spread to her rectum and lungs, but luckily, Andria was in chemotherapy within two weeks of her diagnosis.

It’s pretty miraculous that someone with stage 4 colorectal cancer can say that at five years. I am still having clear scans right now

The chemo shrunk most of the cancer and in August 2017 she had a rectal resection.

But some of the cancer in Andria's lungs failed to get smaller and continued to grow.

She had to have stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) in February 2018, which is a laser which 'zaps' where the cancer is.

Andria went back for another scan in January 2020 which revealed another spot on her right lung, which meant another round of (SBRT).

Now Andria says she is just celebrating being alive.

"It’s pretty miraculous that someone with stage 4 colorectal cancer can say that at five years. I am still having clear scans right now.

"Cancer had already impacted our family and when that happens, there is a shift because life is precious and you don’t really recognize that until you have a life-altering diagnosis", she said.

Andria said that she hopes by talking about her experience, people will visit their doctor faster.

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