A woman's colon cancer symptom was dismissed as pregnancy-related. Years later, at 32, the military spouse was diagnosed with stage 3.

• A military spouse had a common symptom of colon cancer for years, but doctors dismissed it as pregnancy-related.
• She eventually had a colonoscopy that found a golf-ball-sized tumor, and was diagnosed with stage 3c colon cancer at 32.
• Now five years cancer-free after treatment, she said a big challenge was learning to ask for help.

“Now I’ll meet a stranger, and I’m like, ‘Hey, how are your bowel movements?'” she said.