Cecilia Capolupo felt bloated after coming back from a trip to Devon
Cecilia Capolupo(Image: Cecilia Capolupo/SWNS)
A “fit and healthy” mum’s bloating and stomach cramps turned out to be signs she had terminal bowel cancer. Cecilia Capolupo, 46, went to her GP after coming back “bloated” from a trip to Devon in which she and her children devoured pasties and fish and chips.
The mum-of-two was told she was likely suffering from an infection, but a colonoscopy revealed she had stage-four bowel cancer in September 2025. Doctors explained an eight-centimetre tumour had spread to the finance worker’s abdominal wall, liver and lungs – leaving her with two years to live.
Cecilia, originally from Argentina but now living in Clapham, London, said: “I came back bloated from holiday, then had stomach cramps and went to get checked out. Then I went to a routine colonoscopy and they gave me a death sentence on the same day.
“I had a panic attack, which I’ve never had in my life. I woke up at 2am crying. I don’t wish this for anybody. On the weekends, I call my friends and family to tell them I’m dying and say goodbye.”
In August last year, Cecilia had a week’s getaway in Devon with her Scottish husband Mark, 45, and two boys Máximo, six and Rocco, four. Before the trip, the “always slim” Pilates loving mum “felt so healthy and never thought about having stomach checks”.
Cecilia Capolupo in hospital(Image: Cecilia Capolupo/SWNS)
Five days after returning home with bloating and stomach cramps, she clocked “a tiny bit of red” in her poo. Having gone to her GP to be checked “straight away”, Cecilia was assured it was probably an infection, but booked in for a “routine” colonoscopy at Lister Hospital on September 26. On the day, she “knew it was bad news” when Mark was called in from the waiting room to listen to medics.
“They said we have something that looks like a tumour,” she said. “It was a massive shock. I never had the typical symptoms.
“Never constipated or had diarrhoea. I go to the loo perfectly fine.
“The same day, the consultant called me and said it was incurable. He said you have it everywhere – all my abdominal wall, liver and lungs.
Cecilia Capolupo with her husband Mark and two boys Máximo and Rocco(Image: Cecilia Capolupo/SWNS)
“I thought ‘how can it be my lungs? I do bike class, I go dancing with my friends until two o’clock in the morning’.”
Cecilia now has fortnightly chemotherapy sessions as well as receiving treatment at home. After four rounds of chemo, she feels “like a 90-year-old lady” with the “worst hangover of all time”.
She said: “I’m not planning to die any time soon. The doctors told me I probably have two years.
“In five years with stage-four cancer, there is a 13 per cent survival rate. I’m going for it and more if I can.
“I’m planning on going back to work. I have to get on with my life. I’ve started going back to my Pilates class.”
Cecilia Capolupo with her family(Image: Cecilia Capolupo/SWNS)
Bowel cancer is the UK’s third most common cancer, affecting one in 20 women and one in 15 men. While Australia has rolled out universal bowel screenings for people aged 45 and up, patients in England, Scotland and Wales are only sent test kits from age 50.
Cecilia said: “I rushed when I had my first symptom and it was too late. If I had had the check at 45, I’d be in a much better situation.”