Sophie Edwards has revealed the devastating aftermath of her bowel cancer surgery.
The single mum 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 was left suffering incontinence and had to wear an adult nappy following her surgical procedure.
That recently led to an accident when she played in the Super Netball Grand Final in August.
When she tried to use a disabled toilet at the venue, a woman questioned Sophie and accused her of faking her condition.
‘She was questioning what was wrong with me, and it just made me feel so awful’ Sophie tells Adelaide Now.
‘She made me feel so small, like I wasn’t a human being’ she added.
‘So I just left. I got into an Uber and sat in my own filth on the way home, just sobbing.’
Sophie Edwards (pictured) has revealed the devastating aftermath of her bowel cancer surgery
After that hamulating experience, the former reality star had surgery to inset a sacral nerve stimulator, which has helped her manage her symptoms.
‘I’m never going to be 100 per cent like I was before cancer but this has given me some normality,’ she said.
Sophie thought she had a ‘tummy bug’ – but was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer after visiting her doctor in 2022.
She told FEMAIL she noticed a change bowel habits 12 weeks before visiting a doctor, and at first physicians were dismissive of her symptoms.
Since then the young mum has been on an emotional rollercoaster and says this time last year she was a ‘completely different person’.
She 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 was left suffering incontinence and had to wear an adult nappy following her surgical procedure
‘I needed the toilet more and more frequently to the point where I started having accidents – which was very embarrassing – then had severe intense pain,’ she said.
‘I was extremely unwell; It prompted me to go see a doctor because I couldn’t eat or drink anything either.’
Because of the pain her mum took her to the closest local GP who unfortunately dismissed her symptoms.
‘The doctor told me to take gastro tablets, but mum advocated for testing,’ Sophie said and completed a stool sample.
Surprisingly blood tests didn’t detect anything sinister.
When she was able to get in touch with her regular doctor who reviewed the tests, ‘microscopic’ amounts of blood were detected in the stools.
Sophie then met with a gastric entomologist for a CT scan that ‘detected something’ but at the time specialists couldn’t determine what it was.
The single mum from Adelaide starred on The Bachelor in 2016 (pictured)
That recently led to an accident when she played in the Super Netball Grand Final in August. When she tried to use a disabled toilet at the venue, a woman questioned Sophie and accused her of faking her condition
‘It all happened so quickly; it took 10 days from first going to the doctor to being diagnosed,’ she said.
On June 14, 2022, a colonoscopy found the 7cm tumour 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 going to show up before you,’ she said.
‘I felt completely numb and overwhelmed, and immediately I thought of my seven-year-old son Jaxon.
‘Mum was beside me completely shell shocked and wished it was her going through this and not me.’
It was also ‘torturous’ waiting to confirm if it had spread elsewhere – which it hadn’t.
‘She was questioning what was wrong with me, and it just made me feel so awful’ Sophie tells Adelaide Now. ‘She made me feel so small, like I wasn’t a human being’ she added. ‘So I just left. I got into an Uber and sat in my own filth on the way home, just sobbing’
She dived straight into radiation treatments which were ‘intense’.
‘You don’t feel the effects until you’ve finished and I was taking chemotherapy tablets morning and night too,’ Sophie said.
After 25 rounds of radiotherapy it felt as if ‘acid had been tipped into her abdominal’ and was left in ‘so much pain’.
‘The after effects were awful and horrific, but it had to be done,’ she said.
During a three-week break from treatment Sophie was hospitalised for five days after experiencing ‘severe, unbearable pain’ from her body processing the stress of the treatment.
For this type of cancer Sophie didn’t need surgery.
She said she is also extremely grateful for the wonderful doctors we have in Australia, and estimates Medicare has covered roughly $40,000 in medical fees.
‘I’ve paid around $8,000 out of pocket and wouldn’t have been able to afford the whole medical bill if it wasn’t covered by Medicare,’ she said.
