Colorectal Cancer: 402 Real Stories
402 stories match colorectal cancer. 338 of them mention surgery.
Stage IV Colorectal Cancer: Amber’s Survivor Story
Amber Madden was 42 when persistent stomach pain led to a Stage III colon cancer diagnosis that was soon upstaged to Stage IV. In late July 2024, she thought the discomfort might be constipation, but over-the-counter medicines did not help. At the emergency…
Read this storyStage II Colorectal Cancer: Deondre’s Survivor Story
Deondre Williams was diagnosed with Stage II colon cancer in 2017 after blood in his stool kept returning. He first thought the bleeding was hemorrhoids and tried to manage it himself, but his wife encouraged him to see a doctor. Colonoscopy found multiple…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Kaitlin’s Patient Story
Kaitlin Van Saders first noticed bowel changes after the birth of her second son. She was going to the bathroom more often and asked a GI doctor for a colonoscopy, but at age 32, with no family history, she was denied and told to decrease stress. During…
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: Pete’s Survivor Story
Pete Di Stefano had a recommended screening colonoscopy at age 45 and learned he had a 3 cm mass in his transverse colon. Looking back, he realized he had missed anemia as a possible warning sign. His treatment plan began with surgery. After pathology came…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Gabriel’s Survivor Story
Gabriel Leblanc was 36 when worsening health problems finally led to a Stage III colon cancer diagnosis. His symptoms began with trouble breathing and becoming winded during simple activity, but early concerns were dismissed as asthma. Two years later, he was…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Jessica’s Patient Story
Jessica Engle’s only early symptom was that she could not pass stool for a week. On day 7, she developed stabbing pain on the right side of her abdomen, and her daughter took her to the hospital. Doctors attempted a colonoscopy, and Jessica woke up hearing…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Danny’s Survivor Story
Danny Soto was used to danger as a firefighter, but colon cancer felt different because the disease had taken his father’s life. His case was aggressive and complex. Before he came to Memorial Sloan Kettering, treatment at another hospital left him weak, sick…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Elizabeth’s Survivor Story
Elizabeth had put off her first colonoscopy for 5 years because she dreaded the preparation. When her sister needed one in 2014, Elizabeth finally scheduled her own. The procedure itself was easier than she expected, but the result was not: she was told she…
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 III MSI-High Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Briana’s Survivor Story
Briana Ghbein was 34 when genetic testing in 2021 identified MSH2, associated with Lynch syndrome, and a CHEK2 mutation. Because of those findings, she underwent a colonoscopy that found an early rectal adenocarcinoma. She had surgery to remove the cancer and…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Monica’s Patient Story
Monica Mendoza was 44 when an unexpected episode of back and flank pain led her doctor to order a CT scan. The scan revealed Stage IV colorectal cancer with liver metastases, turning what began as one painful night into a life-changing diagnosis. Treatment…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Michael’s Survivor Story
Michael Ettinger was 18 when months of abdominal pain and extreme fatigue eventually led to a diagnosis of Stage III colon cancer in May 2021. Because he was young and otherwise healthy, Michael and his parents spent months advocating for additional testing…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Jacob’s Patient Story
Jacob was 43 when he was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer in October 2025. At the time, he and his wife were raising three children, including a baby who was less than a month old. Before the diagnosis, Jacob had experienced symptoms but attributed them…
Read this storyStage I Colorectal Cancer: Kristen’s Survivor Story
Kristen Price was 38, running half marathons, working nights in an emergency department, raising two young boys, and completing a master’s program when her family’s experience with colorectal cancer changed everything. Her 41-year-old sister developed…
Read this storyKristen Price
Kristen Price’s sister was 41 when shoulder pain brought her to the emergency department and led to an unexpected diagnosis of Stage IV colon cancer. The diagnosis was devastating for the family and became the event that triggered broader evaluation of…
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: Paul’s Patient Story
Paul Weigel was 43 when he was diagnosed with Stage III colorectal cancer in 2013. His tumor, located at the junction of the rectum and colon, was about the size of a lemon. Imaging also showed suspicious lesions in his liver and lungs, but his story did not…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Janine’s Patient Story
Janine Stellacci had been an athlete since her teenage years. Around age 40, she began experiencing severe fatigue and changing gastrointestinal symptoms, which she initially attributed to stress, hormones, and being a woman. After several years, occasional…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Monica’s Survivor Story
Monica Diaz first noticed blood in her stool, followed by weight loss and abdominal pain. A colonoscopy led to a cancer diagnosis, and subsequent scans also found a tumor in her liver. She remembers the fear of potentially leaving her children while they were…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Zed’s Survivor Story
Zed was 35 when blood in his stool continued for about 1.5 months and fatigue began affecting sports he usually handled well. A FIT test confirmed blood in the stool, and colonoscopy found a large bleeding tumor blocking the colon so completely that the scope…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Adrienne’s Patient Story
Adrienne first blamed her severe fatigue on stress after a major breakup. She was sleeping 9 or 10 hours but still waking exhausted, and an annual physical showed normal bloodwork except for low vitamin D. Later, she noticed localized indigestion and felt a…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Laura’s Survivor Story
Laura Behnke noticed blood in her stool a few days before embryo implantation, but the bleeding stopped and she focused on pregnancy after IVF. It returned in her 2nd trimester, and she assumed it was hemorrhoids because pregnancy and postpartum hemorrhoids…
Read this storyStage II Colorectal Cancer: Amanda’s Survivor Story
Amanda was 30 when almost a year of gastrointestinal symptoms finally led to a colonoscopy. Her symptoms began with daily stomach gurgling and then progressed to blood in her stool, worsening constipation, and the feeling that something was blocking bowel…
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