Sophie Edwards has revealed the devastating consequences of her bowel cancer surgery.
The single mother from Adelaide, who starred on The Bachelor in 2016, was diagnosed with rectal adenocarcinoma, a form of bowel cancer, on June 14, 2022 despite having no family history of the disease and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
The 36-year-old manager suffered incontinence and had to wear an adult diaper after her surgery.
That recently led to an accident while playing in the Super Netball Grand Final in August.
When she attempted to use a disabled toilet there, a woman questioned Sophie and accused her of faking her condition.
“I was wondering what was wrong with me and that made me feel really bad,” Sophie says. Adelaide now.
“She made me feel so small, like I wasn’t a human being,” he added.
‘So I just left. “I got in an Uber and sat in my own filth on the way home, sobbing.”
Sophie Edwards (pictured) has revealed the devastating consequences of her bowel cancer surgery.
After that simulation experience, the former reality star underwent surgery to insert a sacral nerve stimulator, which helped her control her symptoms.
“I’m never going to be 100 percent like I was before cancer, but this has given me some normalcy,” he said.
Sophie thought she had a “stomach bug” but was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer after visiting her doctor in 2022.
She told FEMAIL that she noticed a change in her bowel habits 12 weeks before visiting a doctor, and doctors initially ignored her symptoms.
Since then, the young mother has been on an emotional rollercoaster and says that this time last year she was a “completely different person.”
He was diagnosed with rectal adenocarcinoma, a form of bowel cancer, on June 14, 2022 despite having no family history of the disease and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
The 36-year-old manager suffered incontinence and had to wear an adult diaper after her surgery.
“I needed to go to the bathroom more and more frequently to the point where I started having accidents, which was very embarrassing, and then I was in intense, severe pain,” she said.
‘I was feeling very bad; That prompted me to go see a doctor because I couldn’t eat or drink anything either.”
Due to the pain, her mother took her to the nearest local GP who sadly dismissed her symptoms.
“The doctor told me to take gastrointestinal pills, but my mother recommended that I be tested,” Sophie said and completed a stool sample.
Surprisingly, blood tests did not detect anything sinister.
When she was able to contact her GP, who reviewed the tests, “microscopic” amounts of blood were detected in her stool.
Sophie then met with a gastric entomologist for a CT scan which “detected something”, but at the time specialists couldn’t determine what it was.
The single mother from Adelaide starred on The Bachelor in 2016 (pictured)
That recently led to an accident while playing in the Super Netball Grand Final in August. When she attempted to use a disabled toilet there, a woman questioned Sophie and accused her of faking her condition.
‘Everything happened very quickly; “It was 10 days from when I first went to the doctor until I was diagnosed,” he said.
On June 14, 2022, a colonoscopy found the 7cm tumor and confirmed it was cancerous.
‘When you hear the word “cancer,” you automatically think you’re going to die. “You have no idea what path is ahead of you,” he said.
‘I felt completely numb and overwhelmed, and immediately thought of my seven-year-old son Jaxon.
“Mom was next to me in complete shock and I wished she was the one going through this and not me.”
It was also “torture” waiting to confirm if it had spread to other places, which it had not.
“I was wondering what was wrong with me and it made me feel really bad,” Sophie tells Adelaide Now. “She made me feel so small, like I wasn’t a human being,” he added. ‘So I just left. “I got in an Uber and sat in my own filth on the way home, sobbing.”
He dove straight into radiation treatments that were “intense.”
“You don’t feel the effects until you’re done and I was also taking chemotherapy pills in the morning and at night,” Sophie said.
After 25 rounds of radiotherapy, he felt like “acid had been injected into his abdomen” and it left him with “a lot of pain.”
“The aftermath was horrific and gruesome, but it had to be done,” he said.
During a three-week break in treatment, Sophie was hospitalized for five days after experiencing “severe, excruciating pain” as her body processed the stress of treatment.
For this type of cancer, Sophie did not need surgery.
She said she is also very grateful for the wonderful doctors we have in Australia and estimates that Medicare has covered approximately $40,000 in medical fees.
“I’ve paid about $8,000 out of pocket and I wouldn’t have been able to pay the entire medical bill if it wasn’t covered by Medicare,” he said.