Kellie Finlayson was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer at 25. She told us what's happened since.

At just 25, Kellie Finlayson's life was turned upside down.

After experiencing symptoms of discomfort in her stomach from age 23, she sought the help of a naturopath and a GP who sent her for further testing.

While a discrepancy was found in her stool sample, she was so young that doctors weren't overly concerned and booked her in for an appointment eight months later to further investigate her results.

However, by that time she was pregnant and couldn't proceed. Instead, she focused on the arrival of her beautiful baby daughter, Sophie.

Watch: Here's Lea's incredible cancer story. Post continues below.

But after Sophie was born, Finlayson found she was still experiencing similar symptoms as before.

After returning to the GP, they found blood in her stool. Within three days, she was finally having a colonoscopy.

It was here the doctor delivered a devastating blow.

Finlayson was diagnosed with Stage 4 bowel cancer. She was 25 years old, a new mum and had a loving partner, Jeremy, whom she hoped to marry.

While she wasn't given a prognosis, Stage 4 is considered terminal. Detected at Stage 1, bowel cancer patients have a 99 per cent chance of survival — at Stage 4, that drops to just 14 per cent.

"I was so angry at the world. I didn't ask questions, and I didn't understand what it meant at all," she previously told Mamamia.

After a year of treatment and surgeries, Finlayson's cancer was in remission. However, at the end of 2022, the cancer had returned, and she was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

Following her diagnosis, the couple married at Tennyson Beach in South Australia.

Image: @kelliefinlayson_

In July last year, scans revealed the tumour was no longer stable and Finlayson confirmed she would most likely have to undergo another round of chemo after her surgeon suggested acting fast.

Now, almost a year since we spoke to her last, the 28-year-old has shared an update on her health.

"I don't look unwell, but I am actually currently on chemotherapy," Kellie told Mamamia. 

"It's quite a shock to people, when they meet me in person. It's like, 'how can this woman be, quite literally, terminally unwell?'"

Because the fact is — cancer doesn't look the same on everyone. And as Finlayson also shared, living with cancer as a chronic illness doesn't have to become your identity.

"It's taken me a long time to realise this. I do illuminate most rooms in terms of the way I open up to people, the conversations I can hold, the conversations I can create — and I'm pretty proud of it now," she shared.

"Obviously, I'm still a very unwell girl, but at the same time, I am managing my treatment in a way that I know benefits me, in terms of being able to have a quality of life and still being able to be a human behind the disease, rather than just a disease that's affecting a human."

Finlayson also undergoes alternate therapies as well, which she said helps her cope with the effects of chemotherapy. Though, as she shared, her treatment has become something of a full-time job, only she joked "it costs a full-time wage rather than being paid a full-time wage."

"Obviously, I'm lucky that chemotherapy does work very well for me, but to be able to still live, I have to do a lot of other things to make those side effects less. I've kind of made a little bit of a sanctuary in my own home and spend a lot of time doing different treatments. My friends that do have cancer — which, funnily enough, I have a lot of them now — joke about my house being like 'Kellie's Holistic Wellness Centre', because I've invested, over time, in a fair few pieces of equipment that I would normally go into clinics or have to book appointments to be able to use."

For Finlayson, this has allowed her some kind of balance between motherhood and looking after her health.

"Now I can spend those hours with my daughter and being invested in her, and then spend the hours that I would normally be sitting in front of the TV or on TikTok doing things that are benefiting me. I'm only having to go into the clinic maybe three to four times a week now — sometimes a lot less."

Using a combination of medical treatments and holistic treatments, Finlayson said it's become easier to listen to her body and know what it needs.

"You definitely find holistic ways to heal the whole body, rather than just treating the one infection, essentially the disease that's in your body. (Before) I was getting chemo and for the next week, I was virtually a shell of myself before coming out and having a good week."

Speaking about her three-year-old daughter, Sophie, and her understanding of her illness, Finlayson shared, "In terms of what she knows and understands, she knows that mummy's not well."

Image: @kelliefinlayson_

"I was going to the clinic the other day to have some treatment, and she turned to her dad and said, 'Mummy's just getting more treatment. She always has treatment. She's just getting better.' All I had told her was that I was going to the doctor, but she just understands so much more than I know."

Multiple relapses were something Finlayson said she'd never expected. For most young people, including herself, she said knowledge of this type of cancer is limited, despite it being the leading cancer killer for people aged between 25 and 35.

"I think initially, I didn't expect that it would come back. I didn't know that was a thing when I was first diagnosed. So that's just me being a naive 20-year-old," she shared.

"And when it comes back, it comes back worse as well. I'm learning now that a lot of people also don't know that, unless they know someone who's been through it before. You hear the surgery, the chemo, the radiotherapy, they have a year with no hair, and then they're better."

Finlayson also touched on her involvement as an ambassador for La Roche Posay's 'Fight With Care' initiative, designed to raise awareness for the skin side effects that can come along with cancer treatments.

"Another thing I didn't realise was the effects of skin sensitivity with cancer. It's actually highlighted by the oncology nurses, who are normally the ones that do the education side of things when you're being given a diagnosis," she said.

"They do mention, especially with radiotherapy, that you have sensitive skin in that area. But we actually get quite sensitive skin all over and in places you wouldn't expect — particularly dry places on your heels or your elbows and all your joints. Obviously, La Roche-Posay products are so simple, which is the best part. They are formulated in such a technical way, but the ingredients are actually so simple that it just makes it so easy for someone with sensitive skin."

Image: @kelliefinlayson_

In recent years, Finlayson has become pivotal in helping raise awareness of bowel cancer, especially for young people in Australia. Encouraging others to look for symptoms and the importance of early detection, she's become a powerful voice in cancer awareness.

"I'm the poster girl for bowel cancer, which is such a bizarre thing," she said.

"I'm a 20-something-year-old female that talks about poo — which is not something you hear about from most people. Women don't poo, right? Well, I can definitely tell them that's wrong."

On the public response to her journey, she shared, "99 per cent of the feedback has been amazing, and obviously that's the reason I keep sharing because I have so many people coming up to me and telling me that because of me, they got something checked out. And obviously, that's ammunition to continue."

"But then there's the two per cent that call me Belle Gibson, or tell me that I'm 'privileged sick', because I have a platform that I'm able to share on, or because I get to attend events and use my sickness to my 'advantage'. But you can take my entire lifestyle if you want to — you just have to take the cancer, too."

"It's worth a reminder that a person that has got cancer — of any type or a chronic illness of any type — is still a person behind that disease. A disease might be affecting their life, but it's not their entire life."

To check your symptoms, visit https://www.trustyourgut.org.au/

Feature image: Instagram/@kelliefinlayson_