Colorectal Cancer: 402 Real Stories
402 stories match colorectal cancer. 338 of them mention surgery.
Stage IV Colorectal Cancer: Jim’s Patient Story
Jim Bromwich was 36 when mild abdominal cramps and a small amount of blood in his stool pushed him to ask for a colonoscopy. He had been active and healthy, and an initial doctor reassured him that colon cancer was unlikely at his age. His GP still offered a…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Bridget’s Survivor Story
Bridget noticed blood in the stool and other symptoms in April 2024 but waited a few months before seeking medical care. The diagnosis of colorectal cancer was further delayed after early concerns were not taken seriously, leaving Bridget angry about the time…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Agnes’s Patient Story
Agnes, a social worker from Ireland, was diagnosed with Stage IV colorectal cancer in May 2024 after abdominal pain led to a hospital admission. She had also experienced weight loss and fatigue. Doctors told her that surgery was not currently suitable…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Anna’s Patient Story
Anna sought medical care after changes in bowel habits, blood in the stool and persistent abdominal symptoms. The problem was initially treated as a suspected perianal abscess, but an MRI later found a tumor. Further scans showed cancer involving 2 lymph…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Debra’s Patient Story
Debra was diagnosed with Stage III colorectal cancer in June 2024 after symptoms that included blood in her stool, incomplete bowel movements, weight loss, fatigue, fecal incontinence, and increasing groin pain. Her diagnosis came during an emergency visit…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Elaine’s Survivor Story
Elaine’s colorectal cancer was discovered after a fecal immunochemical test led to a colonoscopy in November 2024. The colonoscopy showed Stage III colon adenocarcinoma. Elaine approached the diagnosis with optimism and felt encouraged by the confidence of…
Read this storyStage I Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Ger’s Survivor Story
Ger, a part-time retail assistant in Ireland, was diagnosed with Stage I colon adenocarcinoma through a bowel screening program in May 2024. There had been no symptoms, so the diagnosis came as a surprise. Ger also felt sadness and fear because 3 workmates…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Amanda’s Patient Story
Amanda was 29 when she was diagnosed with sigmoid colon cancer after nearly a year of symptoms. Around August or September 2019, she developed daily IBS-like stomach gurgling. About 1 month later, she began seeing blood in her stool. Urgent care told her it…
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 Colorectal Cancer: Dania’s Patient Story
Dania Martinez was 35, married, and a mother of 3 when a week of unusual abdominal pain and bloating led her to the emergency room in September 2022. She had long dealt with food-related bloating and constipation, so at first she thought the pain might be…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Allison’s Patient Story
Allison Rosen was 32 when concerning symptoms led her doctor to refer her to a gastroenterologist. An X-ray showed a blockage, and a colonoscopy confirmed that a 13-centimeter tumor in her colon was causing it. She was diagnosed with early-onset colorectal…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Stephanie’s Survivor Story
Stephanie was 32 when years of stomach pain, bloating, feeling run down, and low iron finally led to a Stage III colon cancer diagnosis. She did not have blood in her stool, which made colon cancer feel unlikely to her at first. Doctors initially attributed…
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 III Colorectal Cancer: Barbara’s Survivor Story
Barbara was an active, health-conscious woman who did not fit the stereotype many people imagine for colon cancer. Her first symptoms were digestive: food felt like it was just sitting in her gut, she had trouble processing meals, and she became extremely…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Jessica’s Patient Story
Jessica Bishop spent 2 years dealing with severe intermittent abdominal pain and blood in her stool. Repeated tests had been normal, and she had been told that irritable bowel syndrome was the likely explanation. On June 26, 2023, worsening symptoms led her…
Read this storyStage II MSI-High Colorectal Cancer: Shannon’s Survivor Story
Shannon was 29 when severe pain after eating eventually led to a Stage IIA colon cancer diagnosis. The pain began in late 2014 and was first treated as an ulcer, then linked to gallbladder problems. Her gallbladder was removed in January 2015, but the pain…
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 III Colorectal Cancer: Amanda’s Survivor Story
Amanda Peters first noticed rectal bleeding after the birth of her son in 2014. She was told it was a fissure, then later that bleeding after childbirth was likely hemorrhoids. Over the next several years, the bleeding kept returning and eventually worsened…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer Patient Story
Krystal Gurnell was in her senior year at an out-of-state college when her mother was diagnosed with colon cancer at age 50. Her mother initially kept the news from her. Before diagnosis, she had ongoing changes in bowel habits, cramping, bloating, fullness…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Keith’s Patient Story
Keith was 41 when abdominal pain after gallbladder removal led to an emergency room visit in May 2021. A CT scan showed a mass or blockage in his colon. Further evaluation also found affected lymph nodes and 4 lesions in his liver. He had emergency surgery…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer Survivor Story
J. Mark Brown was working as a research scientist when a colonoscopy in 2013 found a large, fast-growing tumor in his colon. He also had ulcerative colitis. Surgery removed his colon and the tumor, and pathology established Stage III colorectal cancer. Mark…
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 IV Colorectal Cancer: Danielle’s Patient Story
Danielle Archer was 40 when worsening constipation, abdominal pain, and a feeling that something was off led to a colonoscopy and endoscopy on December 31, 2018. During the colonoscopy, doctors found a bleeding 7-centimeter mass in the upper sigmoid area…
Read this story