Surgery for Colorectal Cancer: 338 Real Stories
338 stories match colorectal cancer and surgery. 274 of them mention chemotherapy.
Stage 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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…
Read this storyStage 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 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: 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 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 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 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 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…
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