A MUM died just two weeks after being diagnosed with a common cancer after feeling too embarrassed to talk about her symptoms. Kasia Pietrzak, 43, admits that she is, to this day, still "trying to come to terms" with her mum Krystyna's sudden death from bowel cancer. 2 Kasia (pictured) lost her mum to bowel cancer in 2022 - just two weeks after she was diagnosed Credit: Bowel Cancer UK 2 The 43-year-old is taking part in Bowel Cancer UK’s annual Swim15 challenge to help raise awareness of the disease and its symptoms Credit: Bowel Cancer UK Krystyna was diagnosed with the disease back in 2022 - by which time it was too late to undergo lifesaving treatment .
“I’m still trying to come to terms with what happened, and the fact she didn’t want to talk about her symptoms before it was too late for us to react and help,” Kasia told the Glasgow Times . Bowel cancer is now the third most common cancer in Britain , with 41,596 Brits diagnosed in 2021. It is the UK’s second deadliest cancer, claiming 16,000 lives each year.
Read more on bowel cancer NEW ANSWERS Diet is ‘main driver’ of bowel cancer risk, as study identifies worst foods It is very treatable and curable if diagnosed early, with research showing that more than nine in 10 people survive when it is diagnosed at the earliest stage. However, this drops significantly when diagnosed at the latest stage. Two years after her mum's death, Kasia is channelling her grief by taking part in Bowel Cancer UK’s annual S.