‘Very Healthy and Fit’ Mom, 39, Ignored Multiple Bowel Cancer Symptoms For Months

Krystal Maeyke believed the sharp stabbing pains in her stomach were a food allergy.

Maeyke, 39, tried to ignore the uncomfortable sensations in her lower abdomen for three months until the pain became unbearable.

The mom of one has been documenting her battle with cancer on her TikTok account. In a video, she describes her diagnosis and shares that “three months” before she got the news, “I was having sharp stabbing pains, very tired, unexplained night sweats, loss of appetite, irregular bowel movements, and feeling like s—.”

She thought she was just “overworked, and being a busy mum.” She said that she was “very healthy and fit.”

After her symptoms became unbearable, she was airlifted by the Royal Flying Doctors Service to the nearest hospital, which was 280 miles away.

At Alice Springs Hospital, she was given a series of tests. On May 30, 2023, Krystal Maeyke was diagnosed with metastatic bowel cancer.

In the same video, Maeyke shared, “I underwent a series of tests. That’s when I knew it was something serious. I was woken up later that night by a doctor whose words I will never forget.”

” ‘Krystal, I’ve got bad news…. You have cancer,’ ” she recalled the doctor telling her. “The weight of those words, accompanied by my question of ‘How do you know?’ and the doctor’s response, ‘It’s everywhere,’ shook me to my core.”

According to the Cleveland Clinic, stage 4 is characterized by the cancer having spread to other “distant” parts of the body than where it originated. In this stage, it is considered metastatic or advanced cancer.

Maeyke also said that before her diagnosis, she had months of night sweats, which she “ignored.”

“I was experiencing persistent night sweats a few months before I was diagnosed. I would wake up during the night drenched in sweat, enough so I had to change clothes and sheets.” She described that “some nights it would happen a few times.”

“It was summertime, and I slept with the air [conditioner] on and a fan, so I just thought it was my air [conditioner] not keeping up with the summer heat. So I ignored this sign,” the mom shared.

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Maeyke continues to share her ongoing battle against cancer on her TikTok account, sharing with almost 50,000 people the key signs of bowel cancer and the treatment that she is undergoing, including multiple rounds of chemotherapy.

Maeyke has been transparent in her struggle with cancer and candidly shared that one of the most complex parts is planning for the future of her son, Maison.

Maeyke set up a GoFundMe to develop a financial cushion for her family during her illness. In the post, she wrote, “The true weight of my struggle lies not in my own pain, but the potential loss for my 12-year-old son, Maison.”

According to Cancer Research UK, some symptoms of bowel cancer can be bleeding from the rectum or blood in your poop, a change in bowel habits, a lump in your abdomen, tiredness and breathlessness. It can also feel like cramping pains in the abdomen, feeling bloated, constipation and being sick.