Aimee Beaufait

Aimee's story

I was 34 years old and had had my third child only 10 months prior. My stools were thin and bloody, and I chalked it up to post-pregnancy hemorrhoids and stress (my baby had medical problems and one of my other children had just received an autism diagnosis).

I finally went and got a colonoscopy, only because my parents were in town, and so I had another driver while my husband was with our kids. My dad picked me up and knew it was bad news when they asked him to come in.

After treatment I had a temporary ileostomy and reversal to which I’m still adjusting.

Signs and symptoms

Signs and symptoms included rectal bleeding or blood in stool, and narrow stools.

Side effects

Side effects included fatigue, bowel irregularities, chemo induced nausea and vomiting (CINV), pain, chemo brain, distress or mental health issues/illness.

Aimee's advice

The faster you can understand what’s going on, the easier it is to treat. As a mom, I put myself on the back burner for much longer than I should have.

You can do this! It won’t be easy. Steps will likely seem gross, but you can tackle this! Use every support offered to you and focus on you as much as possible.