Surgery for Colorectal Cancer: 338 Real Stories
338 stories match colorectal cancer and surgery. 274 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage III Colorectal Cancer: Jelena’s Survivor Story
Jelena was 34, healthy, and running half marathons when she began noticing unusual digestive changes. Her gas smelled different, then she saw blood in her stool. Because colorectal cancer did not run in her family and she felt otherwise well, she first…
Read this storyColorectal Cancer: Ann’s Survivor Story
Ann Gustafson was 49 when she noticed blood with bowel movements. Her doctor promptly referred her for a gastrointestinal consultation and colonoscopy. When Ann woke from the procedure, she was alone and learned that doctors had found a large tumor believed…
Read this storyStage II Colorectal Cancer: Kara’s Patient Story
Kara Wutzke considered herself to be in the best shape of her life when persistent gas, bloating, abdominal discomfort, and irregular bowel movements began to interfere with how she felt. As a health and fitness professional, she first examined her diet and…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Stacy’s Survivor Story
Stacy Hughes was 38 when she was diagnosed with Stage IIIB colon cancer in April 2023. She had noticed persistent changes in bowel habits, narrow stools, stomach cramping, bloating, fullness, and pain in the left lower abdomen. Her primary-care clinician felt…
Read this storyStage II Colorectal Cancer: Jay’s Survivor Story
Jay McCoy was 48 when a scheduled executive physical and routine colonoscopy unexpectedly found Stage II colon cancer. His wife, a family medicine physician, arranged the colonoscopy because screening recommendations had shifted to begin at age 45. During the…
Read this storyStage 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 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 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 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 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 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 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…
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