FOLFOX: 58 Real Stories
58 stories match FOLFOX. 55 of them mention surgery.
Colorectal Cancer: Judy’s Survivor Story
Judy Perdue is a mother of 3 with a high-stress healthcare career. When she noticed a little blood, loose stools, and some pain, it was easy to think the problem might be hemorrhoids. A colonoscopy changed everything by finding rectal cancer when Judy was 44…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Joanne’s Survivor Story
Joanne Kowalec was 40, a mother of 3, and working full time as a nurse when symptoms began to build. Heartburn, bloating, fatigue, and constipation were easy to connect to aging or a busy life. A dull pain in her left upper abdomen had also been present for a…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Cancer: Pete’s Survivor Story
Pete Di Stefano had a recommended screening colonoscopy at age 45 and learned he had a 3 cm mass in his transverse colon. Looking back, he realized he had missed anemia as a possible warning sign. His treatment plan began with surgery. After pathology came…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Sydney’s Patient Story
Sydney Stoner had digestive issues for years before lower abdominal pain became debilitating. The pain shifted from occasional constipation to frequent heavy pain with constipation and diarrhea. She tried elimination diets and holistic doctors, but she knew…
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 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 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Nathan’s Survivor Story
Nathan, a 35-year-old father of 5, had persistent heartburn, digestive problems, early fullness, exhaustion, and later severe abdominal pain. Blood work in the emergency room showed major anemia, and colonoscopy revealed colon cancer: a baseball-sized tumor…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Mariana’s Patient Story
Mariana was 26 when mild symptoms led to a Stage IV colon cancer diagnosis. Her main warning signs were bloating, anemia, and blood in her stool. After she passed out at home in May, the emergency room gave her fluids and noted severe anemia, but she still…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Helen’s Survivor Story
Helen was 49 when symptoms that seemed like a urinary tract infection led to a Stage IV sigmoid colon cancer diagnosis. She had pelvic pressure, burning with urination, bowel changes, bloating, and low energy. After 3 rounds of antibiotics and 2 enemas that…
Read this storyStage III Colorectal Adenocarcinoma: Meagan’s Survivor Story
Meagan was 24, student teaching, and focused on starting her adult life when she noticed small amounts of blood in her stool in August 2024. She assumed it was probably hemorrhoids because the bleeding was not constant or heavy. By February 2025, she brought…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Kalei’s Patient Story
Kalei first noticed bowel changes that seemed small: going more often, mucus or tissue in the stool, stomach pain, sharp pains, rectal bleeding, and then blood clots. Doctors initially reassured her because her blood work was normal, she was not anemic, and…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Joe’s Patient Story
Joe never had blood in his stool. His warning signs were fatigue, loss of appetite, feeling generally off, and then severe shoulder, back, stomach, and liver-area pain. Because he worked long hours in the restaurant industry, the fatigue was easy to explain…
Read this storyStage IV Colorectal Cancer: Sydney’s Patient Story
Sydney had years of constipation, bloating, and pain before anyone found the cause. She thought it might be IBS and tried diet changes, including gluten-free and dairy-free eating. Doctors repeatedly told her she was too young for colon cancer. In mid-2020…
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: 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 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 Cancer: Michelle’s Patient Story
Michelle was a 40-year-old 5th-grade teacher when Stage IV colorectal cancer was diagnosed in 2017. For years, she had chronic constipation and bloating, but those symptoms were explained away as medication effects or other issues. Severe pain eventually sent…
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