A 28-year-old mother has described the worrisome symptoms that led her to visit the doctor several times prior to receiving a stage four stomach cancer diagnosis.

Last summer, Georgia Gardiner, a UK resident, started having stomach pains and feeling ill, which made it difficult for her to eat.

She lost her appetite and “could only eat small amounts”, despite the fact that she’d usually consider herself a “massive foodie.”

Georgia recalled, “My body was just rejecting everything. Then I was experiencing pains in my upper stomach. It was really intense, it was a sharp constant pain.”

After “four weeks of waiting,” the mother finally managed to get an appointment with the doctor. Georgia was only given some anti-acid reflux medicine when she eventually went.

As Georgia’s symptoms worsened, she went back to the doctor and hospital around “six to nine” times to try to figure out what was causing her unexplained illness, but each time she was told it had to do with heartburn or acid reflux. Georgia had an endoscopy a few months later, after a doctor’s referral for additional testing, and the results showed indications of cancer.

The 28-year-old discovered on June 13 that she had linitus plastica, a rare form of adenocarcinoma that begins in the glands lining your organs.

In addition to other internal organs, the disease had spread to her lymph nodes.

Georgia recalled, “After the first appointment, we were full of hope that they could just remove it. Then when they said it was incurable, I went into a complete shock state.”

“Am I going to die?” Georgia recalled asking as her “whole world just crumbled.”

Georgia was tragically informed that she might only have a year or so to live, and that any further medical care would only be intended to enhance her quality of life.

“I feel physically fine,” she said. “I was fit and healthy. It’s just baffling.”

Georgia has been left feeling disappointed at not being ‘taken seriously’ when she spoke to doctors about her symptoms, saying, “The kind of cancer I’ve got goes from stage one to four in a matter of months.”

“I get angry sometimes because I think if I’d been taken seriously and they’d caught it before it had spread, then maybe we could’ve done more to prevent it getting to the stage it’s at now.”

“I never thought I would have cancer, I’m 28, I thought I was invincible.”

Georgia is now resolved to fight as much as she can while still making memories with her young son, Arlo, who is two years old.

“I’m just going to try and fight this in every way possible,” she stated. “I’m organising my wedding; we had planned to tie the knot in a few years, but we’ve moved that date ahead because we’re not sure if I’ll be present.”

“The thing that breaks me is how much I’m going to miss out on in Arlo’s life. He’s everything to me – he gives my life purpose.”

“I’d say to other people, push for answers and don’t stop. If someone else had this type of cancer and they can catch it at an earlier stage by making doctors do the correct tests, then at least I know that I’ve helped somebody then.”

You may contribute to the fundraising, which has been started to help cover the cost of any future treatment, here as Georgia continues to create memories with her family.