Sydney Stoner was just 27 when she made the decision to lie to her doctors to get a colonoscopy; a lie that may have saved her life.
The Little Rock, Arkansas native was newly married and in her 20s when she began experiencing severe abdominal pain, alternating between bouts of diarrhea and constipation. Despite suffering for months, Stoner said her symptoms were repeatedly brushed off by doctors. They assured her she was “too young” to be dealing with serious health concerns.
“People would say it was just that time of the month or that it was just ‘female stuff’ but I thought, no — it can’t be that painful,” she told Kennedy News and Media via The Daily Mail. “When I finally spoke to a doctor, he told me I was too young for it to be anything serious.”
Doctors initially suspected irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but provided little in the way of answers. “At that point, I wasn’t really given any other explanation, but I do remember one doctor saying it was probably IBS,” she recalled.
As the pain worsened, Stoner described it as feeling like her “insides were being twisted.” Desperate for answers and fed up with being dismissed, she took a drastic step. She told her doctor she had blood in her stool in order to secure a colonoscopy referral.
“I had to lie to get my colonoscopy,” she admitted. “I told them there was blood in my stool because they kept saying I needed a referral first.”
That lie led to a colonoscopy in September 2020. During the procedure, doctors discovered a five-millimeter tumor that was blocking access to her colon. It was cancer and not just any cancer, but stage 4. The tumor had already spread to her liver and lungs.
Finding on colonoscopy. What’s the diagnosis? pic.twitter.com/yeHRqUkVh2
— Keith Siau (@drkeithsiau) April 4, 2025
“When the doctors told me it was cancer, my whole world stopped spinning,” she said. “We were newlyweds, excited for this new chapter, and it all just came to a halt. I was terrified, but I was also really frustrated.”
“Doctors said I was too young but I probably would have died before I made it to the screening age of 45,” she told the outlet. “It was very frustrating.”
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer globally, following lung and breast cancer. While it’s usually associated with older age, recent studies show an increase in diagnoses among younger adults.
Following her diagnosis, Stoner underwent surgery to remove the tumor in her colon just weeks later, and another procedure in January 2023 to remove a tumor in her liver. She also began chemotherapy for cancer that had spread to her lungs.
Now 31 and considered “stable,” Stoner has undergone 24 rounds of chemotherapy. She’s using her story to encourage others to trust their instincts, no matter their age.
“I know it’s difficult but keep advocating for yourself because no one else is going to get that done for you,” she urged. “Find a new doctor, or whatever that may be. Find someone to listen to you because I know people that were diagnosed at 18 years old.”
She also talked about the importance of reevaluating current screening guidelines. “The screening age needs to be lower or there shouldn’t be one at all,” Stoner said.
