Susan Schmidt was living a full and active life as a 47-year-old physiotherapist and mother of two in Australia when her world suddenly shifted. In 2023, she received a diagnosis that would change everything: stage 4 bowel cancer. The disease was already advanced, having spread to other parts of her body. While her own diagnosis is incurable, Susan has channeled her energy into a new, urgent purpose: ensuring others do not overlook the subtle warning signs she initially dismissed. Her story is a powerful call to listen to our bodies, even when the symptoms seem minor or easy to explain away.
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The first signals of something being wrong were easy to rationalize. Susan began experiencing a profound and relentless fatigue that she attributed to the early stages of menopause. She recalls a specific instance where she would drive her daughter to rowing practice and then have to pull over to nap for forty minutes before she could continue the journey home. This level of exhaustion was far from normal, but like many busy parents, she brushed it off. It was only in hindsight that she recognized this as a crucial red flag that her body was sending her.
Further symptoms emerged during a trip to France, where Susan experienced constipation for the first time in her life. She blamed the rich food, the cheese, and the indulgence of travel, assuming it was a temporary discomfort. Upon returning home to Brisbane, however, her condition escalated dramatically. She ended up on her bathroom floor in unbearable agony for eight hours, experiencing vomiting, diarrhea, and pain she describes as worse than childbirth. Even then, she wondered if she had contracted an infection from her horse, not yet suspecting the grave truth.
Susan’s journey to a diagnosis was not straightforward. When she sought medical help, her initial blood and stool tests showed no unusual results, and doctors told her she was fine. It was only after a colonoscopy that the truth was revealed. She woke from the procedure to the news that a tumor had been found. Subsequent scans showed the cancer had already metastasized. Her experience underscores a critical message: even if initial tests are clear, you must be your own advocate and push for further investigation if your instincts tell you something is wrong.
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Driven by her experience, Susan has launched The Floozie Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting cancer patients and their families. She is determined to break the taboo around discussing bowel health, pointing out that people often don’t raise the alarm early enough because they don’t talk about their bodily functions. Susan continues to fight her own battle with chemotherapy, but she is also fighting for others, turning her personal tragedy into a public mission to save lives through awareness and early detection.
