Colorectal Cancer: Jessica's Patient Story
This colorectal cancer diagnosis at a glance
- Treatment
- surgery, ostomy and chemotherapy
- Outcome
- Living With Cancer
Treatment course, step by step
- Presented after 1 week unable to pass stool, followed by stabbing right-sided abdominal pain
- Colonoscopy attempt raised concern for cancer
- Emergency surgery removed a tumor and created a colostomy
- Cancer had spread to abdominal lymph nodes
- Treatment started in January 2023
- By 2026, colostomy was reversed, disease was stable, and maintenance chemotherapy continued every 2 weeks
- Exact regimen is not reported.
What happened, in summary
Jessica Engle’s only early symptom was that she could not pass stool for a week. On day 7, she developed stabbing pain on the right side of her abdomen, and her daughter took her to the hospital. Doctors attempted a colonoscopy, and Jessica woke up hearing people say she had cancer. Surgery happened immediately. A tumor was removed, and she was given a colostomy. Doctors also found that the cancer had spread to abdominal lymph nodes. Her children were 16 and 18 at the time, and Jessica remembers going into crisis mode because she could only think that they could not lose their mother. She started treatment in January 2023, supported by family and friends who helped her keep going. By 2026, her colostomy had been reversed. Her cancer was stable, with no further spreading, but she was still on maintenance chemotherapy every 2 weeks. Jessica’s current status is best described as living with colorectal cancer under ongoing maintenance treatment, not cancer-free. She uses her experience to call for more research funding and answers about why young adults are being diagnosed at increasing rates.
Where this story comes from
This is a lay summary of an account first published by Fight Colorectal Cancer. Read the original in full
How we source and attribute stories Accuracy and limitations
These are lay summaries of published cancer stories, for information only. No two cancers behave the same way, and nothing here predicts your own diagnosis or replaces advice from your oncology team. Read the full disclaimer