Shannin Pain is documenting her entire journey (Image: Cover Images)
Shannin Pain’s persistent post-meal nausea and inability to keep food down were initially dismissed by doctors as irritable bowel syndrome. Despite suffering excruciating cramps, her pleas for help were overlooked.
She recounted how multiple doctors ignored her symptoms, testing her for IBS, coeliac disease, Crohn’s and even suggesting hemorrhoids, but failing to recommend a colonoscopy.
This critical lapse has left the 26 year old with a dire outlook: three years of life expectancy with chemotherapy, or a mere three months without it. Shannin, a content creator from Kawartha Lakes, Canada, expressed her frustration, saying her desperate calls for help went unheeded until she was diagnosed with advanced stage four colorectal cancer that had insidiously spread throughout her body.
“I knew something wasn’t right,” Shannin said. “I was told it was IBS or anxiety. But deep down, my gut was literally screaming at me.”
Her ordeal began in October 2023 when she started experiencing severe nausea after meals, an inability to retain food, and a significant change in her bowel movements. “I went from being regular to barely going at all. And when I did, my stool was pencil-thin.
“It might be TMI, but it was a huge red flag.”
The pain soon followed: “I’d get these stabbing cramps in my lower left abdomen-so bad I couldn’t breathe. I would double over, gasping, clutching my stomach. It felt like something was ripping through me.”
Shannin is livid that no one suggested a colonoscopy earlier. “That’s what frustrates me the most,” she expressed.
Shannin Pain (Image: Cover Images)
“Colon cancer is one of the most preventable cancers if caught early, but no one took me seriously because of my age.”
Her life took a dramatic turn in April 2024 when an MRI intended to “rule things out” resulted in her not leaving the hospital.
“The scan showed a complete intestinal blockage, and I was admitted on the spot for emergency surgery,” she recounted. “When I woke up, they told me I had cancer.”
During the operation to remove the tumour from her colon and reconnect it, surgeons found that the cancer had spread to her right ovary, necessitating its removal.
She was diagnosed with a Krukenberg tumour, an uncommon secondary cancer that starts in the gastrointestinal tract and moves to the ovaries. In the same procedure, doctors also excised 13 lymph nodes, finding 11 to be malignant, and removed part of her peritoneum.
To preserve her chance at motherhood, her left ovary was saved, allowing her to undergo egg retrieval in May 2024, during which she successfully froze seven eggs.
“The idea of losing my fertility while fighting for my life was heartbreaking,” she says. “I’m so grateful we were able to get those eggs. It gives me hope for the future.”
Shannin Pain in hospital (Image: Cover Images)
However, the prognosis wasn’t entirely positive. Her liver was so riddled with tumours that surgery wasn’t an option.
She was informed that immediate chemotherapy was essential, or the cancer would become incurable.
“They said without chemo, I had less than three months. With it, maybe up to three years. I just froze.”
A port was inserted into her chest for the chemotherapy, which she started on a three-day cycle every other Monday. As of June 2025, she has undergone 27 rounds and is gearing up for her 28th.
However, in October and November, Shannin faced life-threatening situations when she experienced anaphylactic shock twice due to a reaction to one of the chemotherapy drugs.
She recounted: “My throat closed up. I couldn’t breathe. I honestly thought I was going to die.”
Following these incidents, that particular medication was stopped, and she now continues with two other treatments: immunotherapy and a take-home chemotherapy bottle that she uses for several days post-treatment. Despite the gruelling regimen and frightening experiences, Shannin received a glimmer of hope recently: her latest MRI indicated stable disease, with no new growths in her liver.
“Some deposits have grown slightly, but nothing alarming,” she revealed. “After taking a six-week chemo break, I was terrified the cancer had exploded. This gave me relief.”
In her quest for additional options, Shannin is exploring personalised integrative oncology. She’s collaborating with a naturopathic oncologist in Switzerland who’s performing advanced tests to identify treatments tailored to her specific cancer, including high-dose vitamin C, Ivermectin, and various metabolic therapies.
She explained: “The goal is to test my blood against different therapies and find what actually kills my tumour cells. Then, with those results, I’ll hopefully travel to Sweden and start treatment there.”
However, the costs are steep. From the medical tests and treatments to the travel expenses, everything is self-funded.
Shannin has set up a GoFundMe page in an effort to gather the necessary funds for her treatment and give herself a chance to fight.
She declared: “This is my last hope. I’m not ready to give up. I’ve come this far, and I’m going to keep fighting.”
Now, she’s sharing her journey on TikTok, aiming to spread awareness among other young individuals who might be facing similar health issues: “If I can help even one person get diagnosed sooner, it’ll all be worth it. No one should be told they’re too young for cancer.”