He Was Told His Constipation Was Nothing. It Was Colon Cancer.

Josh Vintner-Jackson first felt some discomfort in his decrease left hip in March 2020.

On the time, Vintner-Jackson, who’s from the UK, was 29 and labored at a startup in Austin. He balanced his time between work, hanging out with pals, and his lively hobbies. He beloved working marathons, together with one five-day ultramarathon by means of the desert in Jordan.

Over the following 4 months, he would sometimes really feel a pang of discomfort within the space. By the top of Could, he had began to turn into severely constipated, regardless of consuming what he thought of a healthy diet.

After not pooping for eight days, he went to pressing care in June 2020, the place an X-ray revealed a buildup in his colon.

His physician presumed it was poop, gave Vintner-Jackson some laxatives, and advised him it was “nothing to fret about,” he advised Enterprise Insider.

The remedy helped for a number of days, however shortly after, the constipation got here again. “My abdomen began to swell,” Vintner-Jackson stated. He returned to pressing care in mid-June and was given laxatives a second time.

His constipation persisted, and his stomach grew to become painful, prompting him to go to pressing look after a 3rd time in early July. He was given laxatives and advised to return again the next day if his signs remained.

“I believed my abdomen was going to implode. It had pushed out. I could not sleep, I did not handle to sleep, I feel, for 36 hours,” he stated.

The physician took one take a look at him and despatched him for a CT scan

The following day, he made the 300-meter stroll to the pressing care middle closest to his house, which he stated was “the longest 300 meters I would ever carried out.”

The physician on responsibility took one take a look at him and his infected stomach, and despatched him straight for a CT scan. It confirmed that Vintner-Jackson had a tumor blocking his colon. The physician despatched him straight to the ER, the place oncologists advised him he wanted pressing surgical procedure to remove the tumor.

The following morning at 9 a.m, surgeons eliminated a golf ball-sized tumor from his colon, in addition to 15 inches of his colon and 15 lymph nodes, seven of which had been cancerous. His oncologists confirmed that he had stage 3 colon cancer.

Colon cancer has been rising in individuals beneath 50 for the reason that ’90s and is now the deadliest most cancers on this age group. Round three in 4 young colon cancer patients are recognized with superior levels of the illness. National survey data involving 1,000 nationally consultant US adults discovered that in 2025, 45% of People who had been recognized with colorectal most cancers beneath 45 stated that their abdomen or bowel signs had been dismissed by a health care provider.

“Your age acts as a disguise while you stroll in. You simply assume you are younger and wholesome. It is in all probability a chilly. Effectively, no, it may be one thing far more excessive,” Vintner-Jackson, who’s now 34, stated.

Researchers nonetheless aren’t certain what’s behind the rise, however antibiotic use in childhood, microplastics, weedkiller, and adjustments to the intestine microbiome from high-sugar, low-fiber fashionable diets are all being explored as potential causes.

The common symptoms of early-onset colon most cancers embody blood within the stool, belly ache, weight reduction, lack of urge for food, and constipation. He urges younger individuals to get signs checked by a healthcare skilled, and needs younger most cancers sufferers to know that there’s help on the market for them.

“If you happen to get the prognosis and also you’re younger, we’re all out right here and you will need to attain out,” he stated.

The most cancers unfold to his lungs

Eight weeks after the surgical procedure, Vintner-Jackson began chemotherapy, which he had biweekly for six months.

After 12 rounds of chemo, he was advised there was no proof of illness in his bloodwork. “I believed, ‘OK, that is nice. I can return to residing usually,'” he stated.

However 9 months later, a blood check revealed that there was 0.1% proof of most cancers cells in his physique, and the docs did not know the place they had been positioned.

It took virtually a 12 months of scans and investigation for his medical group to determine that most cancers cells from his colon had unfold to his lungs. In October 2022, he was recognized with stage 4 most cancers.

Adjusting to life with a persistent illness

Vintner-Jackson moved again to the UK, the place he has since been on an virtually fixed cycle of chemotherapy therapies, which have to date saved the most cancers from advancing.

“It’s actually unlikely I will ever do away with it as a result of it is unfold to the lungs, however in the event you can sluggish it down and preserve it persistent quite than terminal, then you possibly can go on and reside as regular with the illness,” he stated.

Generally Vintner-Jackson feels nice, and different occasions the best duties are a battle. This implies he’s now not capable of work full-time. He has freelanced between therapies, however is at present not working.

He has tailored his life-style to work round his new actuality. Final August, he moved from London to Cambridgeshire within the English countryside. His mother and brother reside there, and he thought the tempo of life could be higher for his well being.

Vintner-Jackson has additionally educated as a life coach, specializing in serving to individuals residing with persistent sickness, and began a neighborhood help group for younger individuals recognized with most cancers referred to as Chat Most cancers.

“Now life may be very very like gardening, going for canine walks, taking a really peaceable strategy,” he stated.