A Colorado woman was diagnosed with colorectal cancer after thinking her foul-smelling gas was from her probiotics. Jelena Tompkins was just 34 years old in 2016 when she noticed that her gas smelled more foul than it used to. The mother-of-one had just run a half marathon and kept a healthy diet, though she thought it could have been from something she ate. Ms Tompkins started taking probiotics to balance her gut bacteria, but the smell did not improve. Soon after, she noticed blood in her stool. She attributed the symptoms to the probiotics, and at her annual physical a few months later, her doctor said the bleeding was just from dietary changes. However, three months later, when Ms Tompkins wasn't taking the probiotics, doctors ran allergy tests to see if food intolerances had upset her digestive system. Finally, she underwent a colonoscopy, which revealed stage three rectal cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes. 'I was in some of the best shape of my life,' Ms Tompkins told The Patient Story. 'I ate healthy and didn't ever think that cancer would strike me at such a young age.'
