Teenager diagnosed with colon cancer after doctors dismissed symptoms

A 14-year-old dancer has been diagnosed with terminal colon cancer after suffering for years and being rejected by her doctors.

Liberty “Libbie” Ashworth, of Panora, Iowa, began complaining of nausea, back pain and loss of appetite when she was in sixth grade.

She became extremely constipated and her family took her to Several doctors tried to determine the cause of her symptoms, but were repeatedly assured that she was fine.

Even when Libbie had blood in her stool during her freshman year of high school in 2020, doctors told her it was normal for teenage girls.

But her family refused to give up: “My mother was not very happy and we changed doctors,” she told TODAY.

And when Libbie, now 18, experienced severe abdominal pain, she was rushed to hospital where doctors discovered a “grapefruit-sized tumour” and she was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at just 14.

Libbie’s father Tim Ashworth added: “It was very frustrating. They thought we were taking her to the doctor too often. We kept saying there was something wrong with her.”

When her first symptoms appeared in the form of back pain, Libbie thought it was due to her intense workouts and dance routines, but her lack of appetite prompted her to see a doctor.

She said: “I didn’t feel well. I even had allergy tests because I had no appetite.”

Tests didn’t reveal a cause and doctors told Libbie she was fine, but in 2020, Libbie said “everything went downhill.”

She told TODAY that she started suffering from stomach aches and high fever regularly. Doctors ran several tests for Covid on her, but they always came back negative.

Concerns about her health quickly grew when Libbie noticed blood in her stool, but doctors still dismissed it, telling the family that it was “normal for teenage girls to have bouts of blood in their stools.”

One doctor even said his symptoms were psychosomatic, an illness caused by stress or anxiety.

She said: “It almost broke me because it really hurt to have a medical professional that I’m supposed to trust with my life telling me it’s all in my head.

“They actually put me in touch with a psychiatrist.”

But his parents demanded that doctors order a colonoscopy, the gold standard screening test for colon cancer.

A new doctor finally agreed and ordered the test.

Before she could undergo the procedure, the teenager suffered severe abdominal cramps. Although she initially blamed them on her period, the situation “continually got worse.”

“I was screaming and crying, I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t stand,” Libbie said. “It was horrible.”

Her parents took her to the emergency room and she had a CT scan.

She said: “(The doctors) were saying, ‘Oh, there’s actually something in your stomach’ and they didn’t know what it was.

“We did an MRI and they found a tumor the size of a grapefruit.”

His back pain was due to the large tumor pushing against his pain, causing two discs to bulge.

Doctors sent Libbie to a more advanced hospital in Des Moines, Iowa, and in November 2020, the family got a definitive explanation for her symptoms.

Stage 4 colon cancer has a five-year survival rate of about 14 percent.

“I was really scared,” Libbie said.

A month later, she underwent surgery to remove the tumor and half of her colon. Doctors also had to remove an ovary.

Shortly after, she began chemotherapy at UnityPoint Health – Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines.

Recent statistics suggest that colon cancers have increased by 500 percent in children aged 10 to 14 and by 333 percent in adolescents aged 15 to 19.

The American Cancer Society estimates there will be 106,590 cases of colon cancer and 46,220 cases of rectal cancer this year, as well as 53,010 deaths.

Colon cancer deaths among young people are expected to double by 2030, experts warn.

This cancer, which is particularly difficult to treat due to late diagnosis and general symptoms, is also expected to become the leading cause of cancer death among those under 50 by the end of the decade.

It is currently the fourth most common cancer in the United States, behind lung, prostate and breast cancers. Nearly one in four patients is diagnosed after the disease has already spread to other organs.

Doctors are still trying to determine what is behind this unprecedented increase, and theories include modern diets, antibiotic use and fungi, as well as late detection in young people.

Libbie’s mother, Jennifer Jensen, has once again pressured doctors to test her daughter for Lynch syndrome, a genetic condition that increases the risk of developing several cancers, including colon cancer.

Despite her parents testing negative, Libbie tested positive. While genetic mutations are often passed down from parents, they can sometimes occur randomly without a family history.

According to estimates from Face Hereditary Cancer, approximately one in 300 people in the United States have Lynch syndrome.

People with this disease are more likely to have colon cancer before age 50, to have cancer of the lining of the uterus before age 50, and to have a family history of several types of cancer before age 50.

According to the Jackson Laboratory, two to four percent of colorectal cancers can be attributed to this disease.

Despite removing Libbie’s large tumor, doctors discovered several smaller tumors in February 2021 that were causing a blockage in her small intestine, a life-threatening complication.

She was quickly transferred to the Mayo Clinic, a leading institution in Minnesota.

The rest of her colon was removed and she had to have an ileostomy, an opening in the abdomen that allows stool to pass out of the body through the small intestine.

Libbie then underwent immunotherapy treatment for two years, which she says “worked like a charm.”

The high school student lived without signs of her illness for two years, but when she was 17 in 2023, it returned and she began chemotherapy again, which left her extremely ill and unable to walk.

Once again, Libbie’s mother insisted that her daughter be tested for another condition called dihydropyridine dehydrogenase (DPD) deficiency.

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DPD is an enzyme that helps the body process chemotherapy. Without it, chemotherapy builds up to dangerous levels in the body.

Libbie’s doctors cut her chemotherapy doses in half and her symptoms improved.

Doctors recommended Libbie for a clinical trial at the University of Minnesota using CRISPR technology that will allow treatment to be personalized for Libbie.

If treatment is successful, she may not need further treatment for her illness.

However, she will need to be closely monitored because of her predisposition to cancer.

Libbie told TODAY: “I always look on the bright side. Sometimes it’s really, really hard.”

But she said the support she has received from family, friends and her community has been heartwarming.

She added: “It’s nice to know you’re not fighting alone. No matter what happens, God has a plan for me. I can help someone else in the future.”

“Without cancer, I don’t think I would be who I am today. I live every day like it’s my last, and you never know what can happen. I’ve been able to look on the bright side of things.”