Ms Perea was 29 when she first visited her GP after feeling constipated and bloated.
After being referred to hospital for tests, she was given the devastating news in November 2021 that she had stage four bowel cancer, which had spread to all eight segments of her liver.
She said: “I actually didn’t have really bad symptoms at all. I’d noticed a change in my bowel habits and also bloating and a little bit of pain in my stomach.”
Ms Perea was referred to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust’s local treatment centre in Wigan in early December 2021.
There, she had 37 rounds of a targeted drug called panitumumab as well as chemotherapy for two-and-a-half years.
Ms Perea had an excellent response to the treatment, which meant she could have surgery in May 2023 to remove her bowel tumour.
However, scans showed she still had tumours in her liver, which could not be removed.
Because her response to chemotherapy had been so good, and her bowel cancer was seemingly gone, doctors began to consider a liver transplant.
