Surveillance for Colorectal Cancer: 90 Real Stories
90 stories match colorectal cancer and surveillance. 79 of them mention surgery.
Stage III Colorectal Cancer: Mark’s Survivor Story
Mark was 35 when cramping episodes in 2020 led him toward a Stage IIIB colon cancer diagnosis. At first, doctors thought the pain might be appendicitis, but Mark felt that explanation did not fit what was happening in his body. He kept pushing for more…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Edie’s Survivor Story
Edie was 52 when a positive Cologuard test led to a Stage IIIB colorectal cancer diagnosis. For years, she had dealt with constipation, but she had linked it to medication, scoliosis, and everyday explanations. When she turned 50, her doctor recommended…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Katie’s Survivor Story
Katie’s Stage IIIB colon cancer was found after symptoms that did not look like classic bowel cancer at first. She had extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, and heartburn, but no blood in her stool or obvious gastrointestinal changes. Because she was active…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Denelle’s Survivor Story
Denelle was diagnosed with Stage IIIB rectal cancer in April 2024 after months of bowel changes. In fall 2023, she noticed irregular bowel movements, frequent bleeding, and a feeling that she could not fully evacuate. She initially thought the symptoms might…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Jose’s Survivor Story
Jose Santos lived with severe ulcerative colitis for 16 years before his Stage III colorectal cancer diagnosis in 2022. The autoimmune disease had caused abdominal pain, bleeding, urgency, weakness, and a major loss of quality of life since his 20s. When…
Read this storyStage I Colorectal Cancer: Jay’s Survivor Story
Jay Trevino was 48 when a routine screening test unexpectedly led to a colon cancer diagnosis on June 14, 2024. After a change in health insurance, he had to find a new primary care physician. The new doctor recommended a Cologuard test for colon cancer…
Read this storyStage II Colorectal Cancer: Maddee’s Survivor Story
Maddee Moore was diagnosed with Stage II colon cancer in February 2023 after months of fatigue, abdominal pain, burning sensations, shortness of breath on hills, dizziness, and anemia. Because she had a history of gastrointestinal problems after a prior…
Read this storyStage IV BRAF Colorectal Cancer: Sophie’s Survivor Story
Sophie was diagnosed with Stage IV bowel cancer in 2018 after nearly a year of unexplained symptoms. Vomiting, anemia, pain, diarrhea, and inability to keep food down were first investigated as possible Crohn’s disease. Colonoscopy, MRI, and CT then showed a…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Andrea’s Survivor Story
Andrea was 32 when Stage III colorectal cancer was diagnosed, after symptoms that began while she was about 7 months pregnant. She first noticed bloody stool, lower back pain, and pressure in June 2021. During childbirth she had severe rectal pain, and…
Read this storyStage II Colorectal Cancer: Savannah’s Survivor Story
Savannah Kaspar was 26 when abdominal pain, severe constipation, and bloody stools pushed her to seek answers. A colonoscopy in August found a mass in her sigmoid colon. It was first described as noncancerous, but Savannah came to MD Anderson, where imaging…
Read this storyStage II Colorectal Cancer: John’s Survivor Story
John Johnson was 35 and training seriously as a runner when rectal bleeding led to a Stage II rectal cancer diagnosis. At first, he thought the bleeding might be hemorrhoids. When it worsened, he saw his physician, who recommended a colonoscopy. The…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Jason’s Survivor Story
Jason Randall was 35 in 2018 when severe cramping and inability to move his bowels led to scans showing Stage IV rectosigmoid colorectal cancer. He had a large tumor where the rectum and colon meet, and cancerous lesions covered about 80% of his liver. His…
Read this storyStage 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 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 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 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 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 III MSI-High Colorectal Cancer: Kelly’s Survivor Story
Kelly was 28 when she was diagnosed with Stage III rectal cancer. She had a 5 cm ulcerated tumor, and the standard path discussed at first would have included chemotherapy, chemoradiation, and surgery. That plan carried major concerns for her, including…
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 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 Colorectal Cancer: Danielle’s Patient Story
Danielle Archer was 40 when worsening constipation, abdominal pain, and a feeling that something was off led to a colonoscopy and endoscopy on December 31, 2018. During the colonoscopy, doctors found a bleeding 7-centimeter mass in the upper sigmoid area…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Kelly’s Survivor Story
Kelly Spill’s symptoms began when she was 8 months pregnant: constipation, blood in her stool, appetite changes, fatigue, weight loss, cramping, and a strong feeling that something was wrong. For months, she was repeatedly told the symptoms were likely…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Michelle’s Patient Story
Michelle Cappel was first diagnosed with Stage IV colorectal cancer in 2017. Initial treatment included chemotherapy and curative-intent surgery, and she reached no evidence of disease for about 2.5 years. As she approached the 3-year mark, she developed a…
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