A 37-year-old woman's colon cancer symptom was dismissed as part of pregnancy. Months later, she was diagnosed with stage 4.

• Gabby Zappia, 37, started experiencing blood in her stool when she was pregnant.
• Her rectal bleeding was dismissed by her doctor as pregnancy-related hemorrhoids.
• When she got screened months later, she was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.

Bumps in treatment

“Sure, it might be hemorrhoids, and that would be awesome, but confirm that,” Zappia said. “Don’t just take the possibility that that’s what it is.”