I’ll likely go back on chemo after my next trip overseas.”

The 47-year-old now wants to dismantle barriers by encouraging people to be open about the symptoms they’re having, particularly those related to bowel movements, which are somewhat of a taboo topic in contemporary society.

The Australian continued, “I didn’t talk about my bowel habits. Who does?”

“That’s the problem with bowel cancer – people don’t raise the alarm.”

“I had health literacy. I was a physiotherapist. But it never occurred to me to consider bowel cancer.”

“I didn’t have blood in my stool, no dramatic symptoms – just fatigue, constipation, and two extreme episodes of pain.”

Extreme fatigue was the minor symptom she had initially encountered, which she attributed to early menopause.

Schmidt clarified that she was so exhausted in May 2023 that she was “having to pull the car