Colorectal Cancer: 402 Real Stories
402 stories match colorectal cancer. 338 of them mention surgery.
Stage III Colorectal Cancer: Briana’s Survivor Story
Briana was 31, active outdoors, and working in the environmental sector when symptoms began about 10 months before diagnosis. Mild constipation became repeated episodes of nausea, vomiting, lower-left abdominal pain, anemia, and worsening bowel problems. She…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Kayleigh’s Patient Story
Kayleigh had 1 alarming symptom: a small amount of blood in her stool. She called her doctor right away because it was unusual for her body. At first, hemorrhoids seemed possible, but Kayleigh asked for a FIT test. When it came back positive, she researched…
Read this storyStage III MSI-High Colorectal Cancer: Tommy’s Survivor Story
Tommy Allen was 57 when severe stomach pain and bright red blood in his stool led to a colon cancer diagnosis. He first had surgery in June 2019 near home in Alabama, but the surgeon could not remove all the cancer because the tumor was wrapped around…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Rylie’s Patient Story
Rylie was 27 when repeated emergency-room visits for lower-left abdominal pain and bloating led to a Stage IV colon cancer diagnosis. At first, she was sent home after being told the problem might be constipation. During another visit, doctors kept her for…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Donna’s Survivor Story
Donna Marie Caruso, 70, began treatment for rectal cancer in November 2020, soon after retiring from a 30-year teaching career. Because colorectal cancer ran in her family, she had been careful about screening and credited colonoscopy with catching the cancer…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Kailee’s Patient Story
Kailee was 34 and 15 weeks pregnant with her second daughter when she was diagnosed with Stage IV colorectal cancer. Her symptoms had started earlier. During her first pregnancy, blood in her stool was dismissed as hemorrhoids, and she later put her own…
Read this storyStage IV BRAF Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Pio’s Patient Story
Pio was 54, originally from Italy and living in Hawaii for 35 years, when a mild ache near his liver led to a Stage IV colon cancer diagnosis. He was still surfing, windsurfing, swimming, and training, so the pain felt small: about 2 out of 10. During a…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Starr’s Survivor Story
Starr was 45 when abdominal pain pushed her to seek care. A scan showed multiple masses in her liver, and a hospital biopsy confirmed cancer there that had started elsewhere. She was diagnosed with Stage IV metastatic colon cancer, with later discussions also…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Kalei’s Patient Story
Kalei was 28 and raising 2 young daughters when bowel changes, strange tissue in her stool, blood, clots, and cramping made her push for answers. A full colonoscopy found a mass growing through the rectal wall, and pathology confirmed rectal cancer. Her care…
Read this storyStage II Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Ali’s Survivor Story
Ali was 32 and 25 weeks pregnant when worsening rectal bleeding led to a flexible sigmoidoscopy. She had been bloated for months and initially thought bleeding might be hemorrhoids, but the scope found a rectal mass. Biopsy confirmed adenocarcinoma, and she…
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 BRAF Colorectal Cancer: Jackson’s Patient Story
Jackson was 27 when worsening fatigue, thinning stool, blood in his stool, severe stomach pain, and projectile vomiting led him to the ER. He was diagnosed on January 11, 2025 with Stage IV colon cancer, a complete bowel blockage, and more than 40 tumors in…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Laura’s Patient Story
In November 2024, Laura VanBrocklin was making dinner for her 2 children when sudden nausea, urgency, and a feeling that she might pass out sent her to the emergency room. A CT scan within 30 minutes showed a bowel blockage caused by a tumor and lesions in…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Heather’s Patient Story
Heather Candrilli was 35 when severe bloating and later rectal bleeding led her to a gastroenterologist. An abdominal ultrasound found lesions throughout her liver, and colonoscopy later found the colon mass. She was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer in…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Kara’s Survivor Story
Kara Lionetta was caring for 2 young children when her youngest was only 5 months old and she learned that symptoms she had associated with pregnancy and postpartum recovery were actually Stage III rectal cancer. She had experienced extreme exhaustion…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Claire’s Patient Story
Claire Firrell was 46 when abdominal pain led to a Stage III colorectal cancer diagnosis in November 2015. The cancer had spread to lymph nodes. Her first treatment included surgery to remove the tumor, part of her colon, and lymph nodes, followed by 12…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Shiva’s Survivor Story
Shiva Sharma was 40 and working as a family doctor when vague bowel changes and back pain finally led him to schedule a colonoscopy. He had recently moved countries with his wife and 3 children and initially blamed stress. The colonoscopy changed everything…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Nicole’s Survivor Story
Nicole was 27, active, and athletic when stomach pain and inconsistent bowel movements started to feel less like routine digestive trouble. At first, she thought it might be IBS, partly because many young women around her talked about stomach issues. The pain…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Samantha’s Survivor Story
Samantha Fletcher spent months trying to understand persistent stomach pain. Her journey included emergency-room visits and surgery for an ovarian cyst before a colonoscopy in July 2024 finally found a tumor in her colon. She was 35 when she learned she had…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Kathy’s Survivor Story
Kathy Ball-Toncic had already survived the trauma of September 11 and rebuilt her career when cancer entered her life twice in close succession. In February 2023, on her 69th birthday, she was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), described as the…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Devon’s Survivor Story
Devon was 30 when rectal cancer symptoms appeared quickly. She first noticed more frequent bathroom urges, then mucus instead of stool, pain, and very narrow stools. She did not have blood in her stool, but the symptoms kept worsening. A gastroenterologist…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Dan’s Survivor Story
Dan Trombley was 37, a Navy chief warrant officer, when unusual fatigue and low blood counts led to a colonoscopy in 2020. At first, doctors thought the colon tumor would be straightforward to treat. A CT scan 2 weeks later changed that: he had Stage IV colon…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Ian’s Survivor Story
Ian was 38 when unusual fatigue and blood in his stool led him to the emergency room in late November 2022. His wife and sister pushed him to act quickly, and the ER doctor took the symptoms seriously. A CT scan showed a mass or narrowing in the colon. When a…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Lauren’s Patient Story
Lauren was 42 when she was diagnosed with Stage IV signet-ring cell adenocarcinoma of the colon in 2025. The diagnosis was a shock: colon cancer had not been on her radar, and she struggled with how to tell her parents, siblings, cousins, husband, and 2 young…
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