“The support of this programme, it has just been unbelievable. The staff across the Young Onset Programme have been with me every step of the way through my cancer journey”.
Aged just 33, mother of three boys, Susan Collins (White) began to experience severe stomach pain in August 2024.
“As a busy mammy, you don’t really think of yourself sometimes. But this pain stopped me in my tracks. If your child came down with any sort of pain or discomfort, you wouldn’t think twice about going the doctor and that’s what I decided to do.”
Over the next few months, Susan was given medication to manage the pain and underwent a series of tests. “The pain medication wasn’t working. It would keep the pain at bay for a bit, but then it would come back worse again. In October, I was referred to Portlaoise and following scans, they identified what they called ‘an appendiceal mass’. My appendix was very inflamed and before they could operate to remove them, they needed to get the inflammation down. Around this time, they also carried out a CT scan, a colonoscopy and an MRI – but nothing showed up, so they just suspected it was an appendix issue.”
Over the Christmas period, despite being on medication to address the inflammation, the pain persisted. “I just said, I can’t go on like this. I had my three boys, life needed to go on and this pain needed to be dealt with."
“I woke up from the surgery with a stoma bag and within hours of me waking, I was told they had found bowel cancer."
In early 2025, Portlaoise referred me to St. James’s. I had an appointment for February and then I remember it vividly, it was over the February Bank Holiday weekend, we celebrated by husband’s 40th birthday and the next day, I was in agony. The pain was unbearable. We said at that point, given we had the referral for James’s, we should just go straight there. We went up to the ED that weekend and that was the beginning of it all then.”
“James’s told me the exact same thing Portlaoise did – they wanted to do surgery, but the inflammation would need to be brought under control first. My appendix had attached to my bowel so I would need a hemicolectomy, which meant they would have to remove some of my bowel as part of the appendix removal. The date was set. 13th of February. Because it was bowel surgery, I discussed whether or not a stoma bag would be necessary, but they said there was a very small chance of that being required, so much so that they didn’t even measure me up for one.”
“I woke up from the surgery with a stoma bag and within hours of me waking, I was told they had found bowel cancer. I was devastated and in complete shock. I genuinely thought they made a mistake. I thought they had the wrong patient. I can’t really describe what it was like to get the news because it just came so out of nowhere.”
Susan explains that it was only through the surgery that her bowel cancer could have been detected. “I had all the scans I was supposed to have in Portlaoise and the same scans again in St. James’s and unfortunately for me, the cancer just wasn’t visible because the inflammation around my appendix and the mass. It was only through opening me up that the surgeons and my medical team were able to see the tumour.”
From the beginning of her diagnosis, Susan has been supported by the Young Onset Programme at the Trinity St. James Cancer Institute, funded by the Irish Cancer Society. “From the beginning, when I say the Young Onset Programme was on the ball, I mean they were unbelievable. The whole team was incredible. The Medical Social Worker was straight in to help me apply for an emergency medical card and the Sexual Health, Menopause and Fertility Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP), who I can’t praise enough, helped me go through the process of IVF egg retrieval in the event that I ever wanted to have more children post my treatment. This was something I would never have even thought about after receiving the news of my diagnosis. I have my three boys, but I just remember the nurse saying to me ‘cancer takes so much from you, don’t let it take the possibility of having another child away as well.’ That stuck with me, and I decided to go for it. It’s a free service through the HSE, and I was helped every step of the way through the process.”
For her treatment, Susan underwent chemotherapy and then required extensive surgery. “Thankfully, I found chemotherapy okay. Everyone’s experience is different. I did have some side effects, but we managed them okay. I was more concerned about losing my hair and how my children would react – my boys were four, seven and ten when I was going through all this. I went to the Irish Cancer Society Daffodil Centre and did their ‘Chemo Education Course’ which was hugely helpful. It just gave very practical advice as to what lay ahead and how to cope with different side effects as they came up.”
“My chemo finished in August 2025 and then in September, I was in for extensive and quite complex surgery which lasted 13 hours. This included the removal of cancer in my bowel, one of my ovaries, my pelvis area and my abdomen as well as the removal of my fallopian tubes and bladder reconstruction. After a period of recovery, my surgeon was able to confirm we achieved clear margins, meaning all visible cancer had been removed.
With one income coming into the house, Susan’s family has also been impacted by the financial cost of cancer. “After initially getting the emergency medical card, this was taken off me once they assessed my husband’s income. It’s been very challenging because life goes on. Mortgage, credit union loans, car loans, they all need to be paid, and food needs to go in the fridge. We are incredibly grateful for the support of family, friends and the wider community, but is very debilitating to have to rely on people’s generosity. The soccer club wouldn’t take membership fees for the boys when they heard about my diagnosis. We have to cover our fuel costs up and down to St. James’s. We applied for the Travel2Care grant, but were rejected. If we lived 5km further away, we’d be eligible for that grant. There is a concession for carparking charges in James’s but it still racks up. We can’t thank people enough for their help, but people going through cancer deserve more support from the State.”
Unfortunately, in January 2026, Susan received an update on her cancer. “I was back in for scans with a view to have stoma reversal surgery, but they spotted that my cancer had spread further and was now present in two new spots in my pelvis. Unfortunately, I have now been told my cancer is Stage 4 recurrence, but we are still hopeful my treatment can get rid of it. While this has, of course, been devastating news to receive, I began more treatment in early February. This latest development in my cancer journey has only made me even more determined to raise as much awareness as I can. I want anybody who notices anything out of the ordinary in their body to go to your GP and keep pushing until you find out what is wrong. In my case, I had severe stomach pain, and no other bowel cancer symptoms but I knew that pain wasn’t right. I would just really urge anybody out there to act without delay and raise any issues of concern with your GP to get to the bottom of what the issue is. If even one person reading this decides to act, then sharing my story will be worth it.”
Through a five-year partnership, the Irish Cancer Society has funded the establishment of the Young Onset Programme at the Trinity St. James Cancer Institute. In recognition of the unique challenges cancer can present to those diagnosed under 50 years old, the programme supports the holistic needs of these patients focusing on social work, sexual health and fertility supports, and survivorship with a team of healthcare professionals employed to work directly with patients to support them and their families across these areas.
Susan is also hosting a local fundraiser this Daffodil Day, Friday 20 March. You can support her funraiser via the link below.
Want to get involved in Daffodil Day this year? Join us on March 20, and go all in against cancer! Click the button below to find out all the ways you can take part in Daffodil Day this year!
