A 32-year-old woman suffering from intense nausea was told she was “too young” for colon cancer. She was diagnosed at stage 3.

• Azucena “Suzy” Reyes went to the emergency room several times for nausea and stomach pain.

• After months of back and forth, she finally learned she had a mass in her large intestine.

• Although she was initially told she was “too young” for colon cancer, she was diagnosed at stage 3B.

No matter how hard she tried to eat healthy or how many times she ran 4 miles at her community college, Azucena “Suzy” Reyes felt bloated in her stomach.

“I looked like I was pregnant,” Reyes, 43 and based in Alvin, Texas, told Business Insider. At age 32, she was studying to become a certified nursing assistant while running a construction company with her husband and raising their four children together.

Then his symptoms got worse. She was often exhausted, which she attributed to working out and being busy. She started having a fever and felt intense nausea. There was also his severe stomach pain.

“I really thought it was a burst ovary because it was so painful,” she said.

Between August and October 2015, Reyes went to the emergency room four times, initially diagnosed with inflammation of the intestines. When she finally saw a gastroenterologist in October, she was sent to the emergency room a fifth time, where she underwent emergency surgery and learned she had stage 3 colon cancer.

“I was scared because I didn’t know anything about colon cancer,” Reyes said. “It was very, very dramatic for me because I didn’t want my children to be afraid of thinking I was going to die.”

She was told she probably didn’t have cancer due to her age and race.

After emergency room staff examined his vital signs, Reyes was initially diagnosed with colitis and enteritis, inflammation of the small and large intestines, and a microperforation. She was sent home with antibiotics. When the pain did not go away, she returned to the emergency room and was placed on a PICC line to administer medication and kept in the hospital for three weeks. Around the same time, Reyes tried to make an appointment with a GI and was put on a waiting list until early October.

When the PICC line was removed, the nausea returned. The next two visits to the emergency room yielded no more answers. By the time she finally saw her gastro, she couldn’t stay still long enough because she kept throwing up.

Within hours, Reyes and her husband went to the emergency room a fifth time, where an ultrasound revealed a tumor. which had completely obstructed his transverse colon, the longest part of his large intestine, and made it difficult to keep food down. The next morning, she underwent emergency surgery to remove it.

First of all, Reyes said, the surgeon told him not to worry about the tumor. He told her that she was very young and that colon cancer was not as common in Hispanic populations and in people under 60.

But a week later, she learned she had stage 3B colon cancer. “I was scared, but I was relieved at the same time,” Reyes said. “For three months I suffered and I didn’t know why.”

Worried about worrying his family

The initial plan was to hide his diagnosis and treatment from his family, particularly his four children, then aged 4 to 16. The doctor said she would probably only need two or three rounds of chemotherapy. Reyes and her husband wanted to leave their children with her mother and said they were going on a long couples trip for about a month.

Once she met with her oncologist and learned that the cancer had spread through her muscle wall and into her lymph nodes, she learned that she would need 12 cycles of chemotherapy, or about six months of treatment. It would be impossible to keep a secret. “I just didn’t want anyone to suffer, like my kids and my parents,” Reyes said.

Reyes experienced side effects from chemotherapy, such as nausea, fatigue and weight gain. “I was literally swollen,” she said. “It’s like they’re pumping air into me.”

All the while, she avoided researching colon cancer or trying to look up her prognosis online — which she said helped her maintain “peace of mind” throughout treatment.

She now advocates for cancer awareness in Spanish-speaking communities

As of October 2026, Reyes has been cancer-free for over a decade. She says she continues to get annual follow-ups, including colonoscopies, blood tests and CT scans.

Some of the side effects of his treatment have not gone away. “The neuropathy in my feet, my arms, my fingers, it’s like needles poking them,” she said.

After the diagnosis, she urged her brother, who was 42 and a few years below the recommended screening age of 45, to have a colonoscopy. After some resistance, he agreed – and learned that he also had colon cancer. After surgery to remove his tumor, he has been cancer-free for 4 years, she said.

Looking back, Reyes said she had wanted more advice from other people with colon cancer. She remembers posting about her experience on social media, but “no one ever contacted me and said, ‘Hey, I’m an advocate for colon cancer. I’m here,'” she said. “I wish I had that.”

Reyes is now involved with the Colorectal Cancer Alliance’s Never Too Young Task Force, as well as a few other groups. She also tries to focus on helping the Spanish-speaking community. “There are so many people who come up to me and my husband and they say, ‘Thank you everyone for doing this,'” she said.

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