Clinical Trial for Colorectal Cancer: 27 Real Stories
27 stories match colorectal cancer and clinical trial. 23 of them mention chemotherapy.
Colorectal Cancer: Leon’s Patient Story
Leon Gerspacher was 20 when fatigue and digestive problems led to colonoscopy and CT scans that found rectal cancer. He was a science student and living with his girlfriend, and the diagnosis quickly changed his plans. Initial treatment used radiation therapy…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Kevin’s Survivor Story
Kevin was 54 when his second colonoscopy led to a colorectal cancer diagnosis. Doctors had tried to complete an earlier colonoscopy, but coughing interrupted the procedure and he was asked to return in 1 year. Because 2020 disrupted care and he had no…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Nick’s Survivor Story
Nick Cleworth, a 48-year-old train driver and father, went to his GP in late 2024 after seeing significant blood in his stool. Colonoscopy, CT, and MRI found a 4 cm rectal tumor, and the cancer had spread to nearby lymph nodes. His father had died from bowel…
Read this storyStage IV MSI-High Colorectal Cancer: Cindy’s Patient Story
Cindy Mette noticed declining energy in early 2022, and a colonoscopy found a colon tumor that doctors removed. Less than a year later, the cancer returned and spread. In 2023, she was told she had Stage IV colorectal cancer and might have only months to…
Read this storyStage IV MSI-High Colorectal Cancer: JJ’s Patient Story
JJ was 27 when months of abdominal pain, bowel problems, vomiting and rapid weight loss led to an emergency CT scan and colonoscopy. Surgery removed about 80% of his colon and 36 inches of small intestine. He needed a second operation during a 16-day hospital…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Haley’s Survivor Story
Haley Pollack had recently returned from parental leave when extreme fatigue became impossible to ignore. She initially blamed postpartum exhaustion, work, and parenting, but doctors were concerned about anemia. Colonoscopy found what looked like a bleeding…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Jeffrey’s Survivor Story
Jeffrey had completed prostate cancer treatment in July 2022 and was already committed to routine screening when he went for a scheduled colonoscopy in August 2023. He felt well and expected a normal result, but the doctor found polyps and a significant mass…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: David’s Patient Story
David spent months trying to get answers for worsening digestive symptoms, severe fatigue, ribbony stool, blood in his stool, and about 70 pounds of weight loss. His symptoms were repeatedly attributed to stress, depression, anxiety, medication effects, or…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Joe’s Patient Story
Joe never had blood in his stool. His warning signs were fatigue, loss of appetite, feeling generally off, and then severe shoulder, back, stomach, and liver-area pain. Because he worked long hours in the restaurant industry, the fatigue was easy to explain…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Cora’s Patient Story
Cora was preparing to start private practice as a therapist when colorectal cancer changed her life. Before diagnosis, fatigue was the first major clue. She was sleeping instead of eating, losing weight unintentionally, and repeatedly being evaluated for…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Kina’s Survivor Story
Kina had lived with on-and-off IBS-like symptoms for years, so when bowel symptoms returned she first tried cutting dairy and coffee. Blood in her stool and feeling constantly unwell finally pushed her to seek answers. Colonoscopy found a 4 cm mass, and at…
Read this storyStage I Colorectal Cancer: Jessica’s Survivor Story
Jessica was diagnosed with Lynch syndrome in February 2023 after genetic testing connected to family-planning discussions and a strong family cancer history. That result became crucial when bowel symptoms worsened. She had constipation, abdominal pain, blood…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Colorectal Cancer: Emily’s Patient Story
Emily King was 27 when stomach pain and blood in her stool led to an ER visit. A CT scan showed a large tumor in her transverse colon. Surgeons removed about 1 foot of colon and 23 lymph nodes; 13 nodes contained cancer. Her early recovery was complicated by…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Amy’s Patient Story
Amy Nicole was diagnosed with colon cancer after noticing only a small change in her stool. Initial blood work and other tests were normal, and her planned colonoscopy was delayed for about 1 year during COVID restrictions. When she finally had the…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Jessica’s Survivor Story
Jessica Dazzler was diagnosed with Stage IV colorectal cancer in January 2021, soon after her 37th birthday. For about 1 year before diagnosis, she had pelvic and tailbone pain, changing bowel habits, blood in the stool, low iron, and fertility-related…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer Patient Story
Elsa Lankford became a caregiver when her wife was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer at age 49. The recommended screening age had been lowered from 50 to 45 only 2 months earlier. They already feared cancer, and the diagnosis was confirmed while Elsa’s…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Jeff’s Patient Story
Jeff Williams was 50 when his first routine colonoscopy found a tumor in his sigmoid colon. Scans the next day confirmed Stage IV colorectal cancer that had spread to his liver and lungs, with 4 liver lesions and 3 lung lesions. He first had surgery to remove…
Read this storyStage IV BRAF Colorectal Cancer: Loralee’s Patient Story
Loralee Lovell had lived with irritable bowel symptoms for years, so blood in her stool did not initially seem unusual. After moving from North Dakota to Texas at the end of 2020, she was exhausted from the move, caring for 5 children, and a new litter of…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Julie’s Patient Story
Julie Flower was diagnosed with Stage IV colorectal cancer in March 2018, initially with liver metastases. Over the next 5 years, the cancer involved multiple sites, including the lung, liver, lymph nodes, and bone. Her treatment history was long and…
Read this storyStage III MSI-High Colorectal Cancer: Kelly’s Survivor Story
Kelly was 28 when she was diagnosed with Stage III rectal cancer. She had a 5 cm ulcerated tumor, and the standard path discussed at first would have included chemotherapy, chemoradiation, and surgery. That plan carried major concerns for her, including…
Read this storyStage IV HER2-Positive Colorectal Cancer: Brian’s Patient Story
Brian Beck was 54 when a positive at-home stool screening test led to colonoscopy and the discovery of a tumor in his sigmoid colon. Follow-up scans showed that the cancer had spread to his liver, making it Stage IV. Brian first had colon surgery to remove…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Kelly’s Survivor Story
Kelly Spill’s symptoms began when she was 8 months pregnant: constipation, blood in her stool, appetite changes, fatigue, weight loss, cramping, and a strong feeling that something was wrong. For months, she was repeatedly told the symptoms were likely…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Gene’s Survivor Story
Gene Jones was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer in 1993, early in the year he turned 51. He had stomach problems and could not go to the bathroom, and colonoscopy could not get past a large tumor that was almost completely blocking his large intestine…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Haley’s Survivor Story
Haley P. was 37, recently postpartum, and raising a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old when symptoms she kept explaining away led to a Stage IIIC colon cancer diagnosis. During pregnancy and after delivery, she had constipation, stomach pain, shortness of breath…
Read this story