Woman’s Excessive Burping Symptom Led to Shock Cancer Diagnosis at 24

Everyone hopes for a memorable vacation, but Bailey McBreen, now 25, will always look back on her 2021 trip to Nashville as the time when her early cancer symptoms began.

McBreen, from Florida, was enjoying a trip to Tennessee with her fiancé, Caden, in October 2021, when she started burping uncontrollably. That might not sound unusual to some, but McBreen told Newsweek that she “never used to burp,” so her sudden need to do it 10 times a day was peculiar.

At the time she never could have imagined it would be anything sinister, and cancer certainly didn’t cross her mind.

“While we were on vacation, I started burping excessively, five to 10 times a day,” she said. “We were joking that it was the increase in elevation that caused it. I never in a million years thought that it was a symptom of cancer. I didn’t think too much of it, and it improved significantly. After that, I was just burping like a regular person, so I thought it was normal.”

Three months after the burping started, the registered nurse started experiencing terrible acid reflux, so she decided to check in with her doctor for a second opinion.

“My symptoms were very vague and burping is not an alarming symptom that makes any physician think ‘colon cancer.’ I had struggled with severe anxiety my whole life and its prominent in my family, [so] at the time, it was thought to be related to anxiety,” she said.

At the start of 2023, she added abdominal pain to her growing list of symptoms. But as they were all manageable and didn’t seem gravely concerning, McBreen told Newsweek she thought it was IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). She continued to look after her body by eating healthily and working out five times a week, hoping her body would heal itself in time.

However as her stomach pain intensified, she started to feel as though she had a bowel obstruction, but her test results continued to come back normal.

“A week before my diagnosis, the stomach discomfort worsened to an extreme level, and I knew something was wrong. I had all the labs and imaging tests done but everything came back normal,” McBreen said.

“When the scans came back clear I felt relieved, but also very confused because my symptoms kept getting worse. The pain was elevating to a point where I could barely breathe. I started projectile vomiting, and I couldn’t keep any food or water down for days.

“Once my symptoms progressed to this level over that week, I knew I needed to go to the hospital despite the clean scans. At the hospital, they did routine labs, and everything came back normal, but at the last minute the ER doctor ordered another CT scan just to be safe.”

Mere moments after having the CT scan, a doctor delivered the devastating news that they’d discovered a tumor in McBreen’s colon, and it was likely cancer. The next morning, she had emergency surgery to take a biopsy of the tumor and to relieve some of the obstruction.

“I ended up having an exploratory laparotomy with an appendectomy, a colectomy, and lymph node removal. Two days later, when the biopsy came back, I was officially diagnosed with stage 3C colon cancer,” she said.

How Common Is Colon Cancer?

Colorectal cancer may not cause symptoms straight away, but the American Cancer Society shares possible signs that people should look out for. The symptoms include a change in bowel habits, rectal bleeding, blood in stool, cramping or abdominal pain, fatigue, and losing weight without trying.

However, many of these symptoms can be a result of a number of other health problems, making colon cancer hard to diagnose. If there is concern over possible colorectal cancer, individuals may undergo a colonoscopy, CT scan, biopsy, ultrasound or protein tests.

In 2020 there were 126,000 new colorectal cancers reported in the United States, and 51,000 deaths, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

While the CDC notes that it’s the fourth most common form of cancer in the U.S., it has a 64 percent overall survival rate. This improves significantly when it’s discovered at a localized stage, resulting in an 88 percent survival rate.

‘If Burping Is Unexplained and Persistent, It Can Be a Worrisome Sign’

Oncologist and hematologist with The Mesothelioma Center, Dr. Daniel Landau told Newsweek about the varied symptoms which colon cancer can cause, ranging from weight loss to nothing at all.

“A tumor developing in these areas often has no symptoms and they can start as small growths that the products of digestion can pass by without obstruction,” Landau said. “However, if the tumor grows, various things can occur. The tumor can bleed, and sometimes patients will notice blood, other times the bleeding is slow enough that one won’t see it.

“Sometimes the growths can also cause pain. Unexplained belly pain over time can be a red flag. If there are issues with digestion and absorption of food, people can lose weight, become tired, and become anemic.”

Landau, who is board-certified in medical oncology, internal medicine and hematology, highlighted the importance of early colonoscopies, “even if someone has absolutely no symptoms.” Regular checks can find growths before they become aggressive.

When it comes to McBreen’s obscure symptoms, Landau noted that excessive burping can be caused by a number of things, and not necessarily cancer. But if someone notices a persistent change, they should address it.

“Burping can occur for many non-cancerous reasons. If someone has a large growth and gas cannot pass through the colon, it can come right back up and out of the mouth as a burp. So, while most of the time someone burping isn’t a cancerous sign, if it’s unexplained and persistent, it can be a worrisome sign.”

Sharing Her Cancer Journey on TikTok

Since the diagnosis, McBreen had surgery to remove the three-centimeter tumor and part of her colon, IVF therapy to freeze her eggs, and 12 rounds of chemotherapy. When she looks back at the early symptoms from October 2021, it’s been an unexpectedly long journey, but she’s thankful that her scans are now clear.

“My health was the best it had ever been before my diagnosis, and I was very in tune with my health,” she told Newsweek. “The weird symptoms began around 18 months before I got diagnosed. But they were vague and not excessive, so it wasn’t obvious until the disease progressed. My true and obvious symptoms presented one week before getting diagnosed.

“It’s a miracle that I wasn’t stage four because my cancer was very progressive. I am thankful my tumor caused a bowel obstruction because I truly believe that I would have never known until it was too late otherwise.”

McBreen has continuously been open about her diagnosis on social media, as she documents her journey on TikTok (@baileysfight). She’s shared everything from how her symptoms started, chemotherapy experiences, and even a clip of her ringing the end-of-treatment bell.

When she shared a video in March, outlining how she believes that burping was one of the earliest symptoms of her cancer, the video was viewed over 819,000 times. By speaking publicly about her symptoms, McBreen hopes to raise awareness and encourage others to listen to their bodies.

She told Newsweek: “It’s easy for people to think that it’s a sad story and it would never happen to them, but trust me, I used to feel the same. Never in a million years did I think that I would get diagnosed with cancer at 24.

“I continue to advocate for people to be in tune with their body and be aware of any changes. Cancer symptoms are obscure, so any weird signs should be addressed until you know the root cause.

“The support I have received continues to blow me away. I have people telling me that their perspective on health has changed because of my story, and knowing that I could save someone’s life by encouraging them to get a colonoscopy is what keeps me going.

“I always thought of myself as weak, and I had very low confidence. Now, I know that I’m strong and resilient. I’m proud of how I’ve handled this nightmare situation head-on.”

Is there a health issue that’s worrying you? Let us know via [email protected]. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.