Colorectal Cancer: 402 Real Stories
402 stories match colorectal cancer. 338 of them mention surgery.
Stage 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 II Colorectal Cancer: Allison’s Survivor Story
Allison was 32 and living with Crohn’s disease in remission when new symptoms felt different from anything she had experienced before. About 1.5 years earlier, she had the cleanest colonoscopy of her life. Then she began losing weight, feeling severely…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Shelley’s Survivor Story
Shelley was 49 when a planned endoscopy and colonoscopy unexpectedly found colon cancer. She had not gone in expecting cancer, but her gastroenterologist quickly arranged blood work, CT imaging, and a next-day surgical appointment. The tumor was in the…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Lindsay’s Patient Story
Lindsay was 32, about 3 weeks from her 33rd birthday, when she noticed a lump in her pelvic area. At first, she wondered if it was related to healing after a C-section, but the lump did not go away. She also developed unusual food smells, rapid weight loss…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Lee’s Patient Story
Lee was 55 and had no family history of cancer when a prostate infection unexpectedly led to a CT scan. The scan showed 5 spots on his liver. A colonoscopy then found the primary tumor in his colon, making the diagnosis Stage IV colon cancer with liver…
Read this storyStage I Colorectal Cancer: Rachel’s Survivor Story
Rachel had lived with digestive issues since she was 10, but after losing more than 100 pounds and feeling healthier, nausea, bloating, and stomach discomfort returned. The symptom that pushed her to seek help was blood in her stool. Her family doctor took…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Justine’s Patient Story
Justine was a 30-year-old kindergarten teacher when bowel changes, soft stool, and blood led her to seek answers. On February 11, 2019, a colonoscopy found a tumor, and she was staged with Stage IIIB rectal cancer. Her first plan was 5 weeks of capecitabine…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Joanna’s Survivor Story
Joanna developed rectal bleeding, stomachaches, bloating, and food-related discomfort that worsened over about 1.5 years. Because she was young and active, cancer was not initially discussed. She first contacted her gynecologist, then waited months for a…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Catherine’s Patient Story
Catherine was 10 weeks pregnant when persistent rectal bleeding, bloating, and trouble going to the bathroom led to sigmoidoscopy. The procedure found a rectal tumor. Further CT, MRI, and biopsy workup showed Stage III rectal cancer: it had reached lymph…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Jackie’s Patient Story
Jackie was diagnosed with Stage IIIB rectal cancer after constant blood in her stool and worsening constipation led to colonoscopy. CT imaging raised concern for a liver spot, but that finding was later considered nothing. Genetic testing then showed Lynch…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Maria’s Survivor Story
Maria’s Stage IIIC rectal cancer was first mistaken for other problems. She was tired, lost about 20 pounds, and had a high pulse during a physical for maritime work. Doctors found a bladder infection that would not clear, then later suspected appendicitis…
Read this storyStage I Colorectal Cancer: Hugo’s Patient Story
Hugo was 27 and 5 years clear from testicular cancer when a routine colonoscopy led to a second cancer diagnosis. He had mild ulcerative colitis and usually had colonoscopies every 3 years, but he asked to move one up when his bowels began flaring in a way…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Ken’s Patient Story
Ken was 59 when Stage IV sigmoid colon cancer was found after years of intermittent bowel changes. He had loose stools, increasing bathroom frequency, and occasional blood, but no abdominal pain and no major appetite problems, so he kept hoping the symptoms…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Ben’s Patient Story
Ben Schultz was 33 when he first told a doctor that he had blood in his stool. The symptom was attributed to constipation. Two years later, it returned and became worse. A different doctor took Ben’s family history seriously and ordered a colonoscopy. On…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Carrie’s Patient Story
Carrie was a full-time elementary music teacher and single mother when she suddenly became very sick with stomach pain, gas, nausea, and vomiting. A walk-in clinic told her it was probably gas, but the symptoms did not improve. After she became sick in a…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Miles’s Patient Story
Miles was 23 when he died on November 1, 2024, after an 8-month medical journey in which the cause of his worsening condition remained unresolved. Beginning in March 2024, he was hospitalized multiple times and underwent extensive testing, surgeries, and…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Lawrence’s Survivor Story
Lawrence Henry, a retired Army colonel, was diagnosed with Stage 3C colon cancer in 2021 at age 50 after worsening stomach pain, blood in his stool and a feeling of fullness after bowel movements led to colonoscopy. He was treated locally with surgery…
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 storyColorectal Cancer Patient Story
Karen Coleman’s father developed severe stomach pain in 2006 shortly after having lunch with friends. By that evening, the pain had become serious enough for him to go to the emergency room. Doctors initially suspected diverticulitis, but while he was being…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Kristen’s Survivor Story
Kristen developed new abdominal pain and severe constipation around the end of April. At first, she wondered if food was the cause, but the episodes kept returning almost every 3 weeks. Doctors repeatedly told her it was IBS-C, even as she struggled to use…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Kyle’s Patient Story
Kyle Rising-Moore described his colorectal cancer experience as a fight that nearly broke him. What began with subtle symptoms quickly became a Stage IV colorectal cancer diagnosis and forced him to confront his mortality. He went through cancer treatment…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Nathan’s Survivor Story
Nathan, a 35-year-old father of 5, had persistent heartburn, digestive problems, early fullness, exhaustion, and later severe abdominal pain. Blood work in the emergency room showed major anemia, and colonoscopy revealed colon cancer: a baseball-sized tumor…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Mariana’s Patient Story
Mariana was 26 when mild symptoms led to a Stage IV colon cancer diagnosis. Her main warning signs were bloating, anemia, and blood in her stool. After she passed out at home in May, the emergency room gave her fluids and noted severe anemia, but she still…
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…
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