Shawn Beilfuss was driving home from the airport, having just put his wife and daughters on a plane to Europe, when his stomach started to feel ill.
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He thought it was gastro and he'd be right in a couple of days.
But when it dragged on for days, felt blocked and developed into severe stomach pains that hit in waves every few minutes, he realised it was probably something needing medical attention.
He headed to the pharmacy, got medication for constipation, but nothing changed.
So he headed to hospital and within hours his life had changed.
"They took my bloods while they found a bed, they did some tests and got me in for a CT scan ... then the doctor came in to me and said you have a complete bowel blockage and it might be cancer," he said.
That night, surgeons removed a large bowel cancer and about 25 lymph nodes, including six that turned out to be cancerous.
A follow-up MRI revealed three cancer spots on his liver and three other lymph nodes that might have some cancerous activity resulting in a diagnosis of stage four bowel cancer.
The surgery left him with a stoma, a surgical opening in the abdomen for waste to come out. It is hopefully only temporary but even if he has to live with it, he says it's a small price to pay for saving his life.
The irony was, having just turned 50, Mr Beilfuss had received a bowel screening kit that he had put aside and planned to do when his wife and daughters were away.
Colorectal surgeon Dr Carolyn Vasey said bowel cancer could show few symptoms until it blocked the bowel, highlighting the importance of screening programs or seeing a doctor if something was not quite right.
"The earlier you present, the easier my job is," she said. "A small bowel cancer is much easier for me to manage, much easier for me to resect, with less chance of needing chemotherapy, radiotherapy, stoma bags, open surgery, etc. So the earlier we can get you a diagnosis and treatment, the easier my job is, and therefore the better your outcome will be."
She said embarrassment held some people back from seeking treatment, but it should not.
"Whilst it can have a lot of embarrassment associated with it, it's really very much business as usual for our unit. For anyone looking after you in the health sector who works in the colorectal space, they will not be embarrassed, and they will do their best to reassure you that you shouldn't be embarrassed either.
"Live a healthy lifestyle with a healthy diet, do the screening, and seek help early if you're concerned. It is a very treatable disease if picked up in the early stages."
Mr Beilfuss began chemotherapy in February and is participating in a clinical trial where the chemotherapy drugs are alternated every four weeks. He is on his 11th of 12 cycles of chemotherapy.
A scan halfway through his treatment delivered great news - there was no detectable active cancer.
He's staying positive that scans at the end of treatment will deliver the same result.
Before his diagnosis, Mr Beilfuss had no real risk factors for bowel cancer and no family history.
He decided to be open about his cancer fight, and tell his story during Bowel Cancer Awareness Month in June, to help others.
"The biggest revelation for me is just how varied each individual can be within one type of cancer," he said.
"I joined a few Facebook groups to help learn from others ... and then obviously shared my experience to help anyone else.
"I made a conscious decision to be open about my situation with friends, family, and online. Don't be afraid to be open about your situation, because the support that you get can be very powerful. And don't be afraid to lean on that support when you need it. It helps also to keep a more positive mindset."
