A 14-year-old dancer has been diagnosed with terminal colon cancer after suffering years of pain and being fired by her doctors.
Liberty “Libbie” Ashworth of Panora, Iowa, began complaining of feeling sick, suffering from back pain and losing her appetite when she was in sixth grade.
She suffered from extreme constipation and her family took her to Several doctors tried to get to the root of her symptoms, but she was repeatedly assured that she was fine.
Even when Libbie experienced blood in her stool during her freshman year of high school in 2020, doctors told her that was normal for teenage girls.
Liberty ‘Libbie’ Ashworth was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer aged just 14 after a visit to hospital with severe abdominal pain.
Liberty ‘Libbie’ Ashworth was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer aged just 14 after a visit to hospital with severe abdominal pain.
But her family did not give up: “My mother was not very happy and we changed doctors,” she says. said TODAY.
And when Libbie, now 18, experienced severe abdominal pain, she was rushed to hospital where doctors discovered a “tumor the size of a grapefruit” and gave her a diagnosis of stage 4 colon cancer at just 14 years old.
Libbie’s father Tim Ashworth added: “It was very frustrating. They thought we were taking her to the doctor too much. We kept saying there was something wrong with her.”
When her first symptoms appeared as back pain, Libbie thought it was a result of her intense dance practices and routines, but her lack of appetite prompted her to consult a doctor.
She said: “I wasn’t feeling well. I actually went and had an allergy test because I had no appetite.”
Tests didn’t reveal a cause and doctors told Libbie she was fine, but in 2020, Libbie said “it all went downhill.”
She told TODAY that she began to suffer from stomach upset and high fever on a regular basis. Doctors tested her for Covid repeatedly, but she always tested negative.
Concerns for her health quickly escalated when Libbie noticed blood in her stool, but doctors still ruled it out, telling the family that “it’s normal for teenage girls to have episodes of blood in their stool.”
Libbie, a long-time dancer, first thought her back pain was due to her rigorous practice and advanced routines.
Doctors found a “grapefruit-sized tumor” pressing on Libbie’s spine, which explained her back pain.
One doctor even said her symptoms were psychosomatic, an illness caused by stress or anxiety.
She said: ‘It almost broke me because it really hurt that a medical professional who I’m supposed to trust with my life told me it was all in my head.
“In fact, they put me in touch with a psychiatrist.”
But her parents demanded that doctors write her a referral for a colonoscopy, the standard screening test for colon cancer.
Finally a new doctor agreed and ordered the test.
Before she was able to undergo the procedure, the teenager was suffering from severe abdominal cramps. While she initially attributed the problem to her menstrual period, “it became increasingly worse.”
“I was screaming and crying, I couldn’t walk or stand,” Libbie said. “It was horrible.”
Her parents took her to the emergency room and performed a CT scan.
In December 2020, the teenager underwent surgery to remove the tumor and half of her colon.
Libbie later tested positive for Lynch syndrome, a genetic disorder that increases the risk of developing certain types of cancer at an early age.
She said: ‘(The doctors) were like, ‘Oh, there’s actually something in your stomach,’ and they didn’t know what it was.
“We did an MRI and found a tumor the size of a grapefruit.”
Her back pain was a result of the large tumor pressing against her back, causing two discs to bulge.
Doctors sent Libbie to a more advanced hospital in Des Moines, Iowa, and in November 2020, the family got a definitive explanation for her symptoms.
Stage 4 colon cancer has a five-year survival rate of about 14 percent.
“I was so scared,” Libbie said.
A month later, she had surgery to remove the tumor and half of her colon. She also had to have one ovary removed.
Shortly after starting chemotherapy at UnityPoint Health – Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines.
Recent statistics suggest that colon cancers have increased by 500 percent in children aged 10 to 14 years and by 333 percent in adolescents aged 15 to 19 years.
The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be 106,590 cases of colon cancer and 46,220 cases of rectal cancer this year, along with 53,010 deaths.
And deaths from colon cancer among young people are expected to double by 2030, experts warn.
After her surgery, Libbie began chemotherapy at UnityPoint Health, Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa.
Libbie’s parents became fervent advocates for their daughter, pushing for procedures and tests and for more to be learned about cancer in teens and young adults.
Cancer, which is especially difficult to treat because of its late diagnosis and broad symptoms, is also expected to become the leading cause of cancer death in people under age 50 by the end of the decade.
It is now the fourth most common cancer in the U.S., behind lung, prostate and breast cancer. And nearly one in four patients is diagnosed after the disease has already spread to other organs.
Doctors are still trying to determine what is behind this unprecedented rise, and theories include modern diets, antibiotic use and fungi, as well as late detection in young people.
Libbie’s mother, Jennifer Jensen, pushed doctors once again to test her daughter for Lynch syndrome, a genetic disorder that increases a person’s chances of developing several types of cancer, including in the colon.
Even though her parents tested negative, Libbie tested positive. While genetic mutations are usually passed down through families, they can sometimes occur randomly without a family history.
Approximately one in 300 people in the U.S. has Lynch syndrome and faces a hereditary cancer. Dear All.
People with this condition are more likely to have colon cancer before age 50, have cancer within the lining of the uterus before age 50, as well as have a family history of multiple types of cancer before age 50.
According The Jackson LaboratoryBetween two and four percent of colorectal cancers can be attributed to this condition.
The table above shows the most common signs of colorectal cancer in young people, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open
Although doctors removed Libbie’s large tumor, in February 2021 they discovered several smaller tumors that were causing a small bowel obstruction, a life-threatening complication.
She was quickly transferred to the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
The rest of her colon was removed and she had to have an ileostomy, an opening in the abdomen that allows stool to pass out of the body through the small intestine.
Libbie then underwent immunotherapy treatment for two years, which she says “worked incredibly.”
The high school student lived without evidence of her disease for two years, but when she was 17 in 2023, the disease returned and she restarted chemotherapy, leaving her extremely sick and unable to walk.
Once again, Libbie’s mother pushed for her daughter to be tested for another condition called dihydropyridine dehydrogenase deficiency (DPD).
DPD is an enzyme that helps the body process chemotherapy; without it, chemotherapy builds up to dangerous levels in the body.
Libbie’s doctors cut her chemotherapy doses in half and her symptoms subsided.
Doctors have recommended Libbie for a clinical trial at the University of Minnesota that will use CRISPR technology to personalize treatment for Libbie.
If successful, you may not need further treatment for your condition.
However, she will need to be closely monitored due to her predisposition to cancer.
Libbie told TODAY: “I always find the silver lining. It’s really, really hard sometimes.”
But she said the support she has received from her family, friends and community is comforting.
She added: “It’s good to know that you’re not struggling alone. No matter what happens, God has a plan for me. I can help someone else in the future.”
“Without cancer, I don’t think I would be who I am today. I live every day as if it were my last and you never know what can happen. I have to look on the bright side.”
