In February 2017, Zepeda starting passing blood in her stool which worried her. He Googled her symptoms and found that diarrhea was common to many things including ulcers, hemorrhoids, or an allergy. Cancer was not the least on her mind.
Once her holidays were over, she started cutting out items from her diet which she suspected could be the cause of her problems. She stopped sugar and dairy as well as grains. However, her symptoms only got worse.
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Just like every other millennial, Zepeda avoided consulting the doctor unless necessary and neither did she know a primary care physician. He felt bathroom issues to be embarrassing and did not went to risk going for GI tests as the very thought mortified her.
Ultimately she confronted her fears and visited a female gastroenterologist Doctor Jessica Korman who was recommended to her. Doctor Korman has a two-month waitlist for patients and so Zepeda booked one and waited till it was her time.
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Zepeda’s tests confirmed what the doctor had suspected, an E-coli infection which could be easily treated with antibiotics. Korman reassured her she would be okay in five days but the treatment started making her sick and the doctor finally asked her to get a colonoscopy done.
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When you do not have a family history of colorectal cancer, it is advisable to get a colonoscopy done after you hit 50 and if someone in the family does have it, then it should be done before aged 60. The American Cancer Society advises people to get this unpleasant test done earlier. Zepeda prepared herself for one even though there was no family history of colorectal cancer.
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Zepeda revealed 'I was scared, I was embarrassed, and I was dreading it. I didn't know what to expect because that's not on my radar at this age, so it sounded a bit overboard,’ She drank 64 ounces of a liquid that was meant to purge everything out of her GI system. She recalls how the laxative did not have any effect even though her body reacted strongly to it with intense abdominal pain and vomiting.
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