Azucena (Suzy) Reyes, now 43, was diagnosed with stage 3B colon cancer in her early 30s. Suzy Reyes

No matter how healthy she tried to eat or how often she ran 4 miles at her community college, Azucena "Suzy" Reyes felt bloated in her stomach .

"I looked like I was pregnant," Reyes, who's 43 and based in Alvin, Texas, told Business Insider. At 32, she was studying to be a certified nurse assistant while running a construction company with her husband and raising their four children together.

Then, her symptoms got worse. She was frequently exhausted, which she attributed to working out and being busy. She started getting fevers and feeling intense nausea. There was also her severe stomach pain .

"I really thought it was an ovary that had burst because it was that painful," she said.

Between August and October in 2015, Reyes went to the ER four times, originally diagnosed with inflammation in her intestines.…