Introduction

I’m 33 years old. I’m a nanny and I work occasionally as a server in restaurants.

I have a 15-year-old son. He’s a sophomore in high school.

Before I was diagnosed, I went to the gym. I like to lift. I had a bunch of gym friends and we lifted a lot of weights.

Gynecology Appointment

I went to the gynecologist. I wasn’t on birth control, but she said, “Maybe due to your heavy menstrual cycles, the birth control will help lessen the cramps and all the things that come with your menstrual cycle, like tiredness and headaches.” She said it could make the flow lighter. We went the whole route of doing birth control to see if that would help, but nothing seemed to help.

One weekend, I was out to lunch and couldn’t even stomach a bite because that’s how bad my stomach was hurting. I couldn’t eat. I knew something was wrong. I said, “I need to go home and lie down.”

I had that feeling like I was going to throw up. I called my mom and she said, “Maybe you caught a stomach bug. Take some Pepto-Bismol,” so I did that.

The next morning, the pain was still there. It was pretty bad and I knew. I called my mom and said, “I should go to the ER.”

Preparing for a Colonoscopy

They tried to prep me for the colonoscopy. All night, I couldn’t drink. It was coming back up. I was very nauseous. They tried every nausea medicine, but nothing was working. The nurse said, “I’m going to call the physician on call and see what he suggests.”

He must have gotten in touch with the gastro doctor and they took me as the next case first thing in the morning. I had an endoscopy and was supposed to have a colonoscopy. All I remember is being wheeled down.

Surgery

They wheeled me down to the OR. He explained, “You could have a colostomy bag when you wake up. We don’t know until we get in there.” I’m scared. I’ve never had major surgery. I was thinking, Cancer. Chemo. I’m going to lose my hair.

I don’t remember anything, but when I woke up, the first thing I looked for in recovery was if I had a colostomy bag. Thankfully, I didn’t. The surgery went well.

I had an idea of what a colostomy bag was, but no other information like what it would make me feel like or what I would have to do if I woke up and I had one.

I had no time to process anything because everything happened so fast. It put things in perspective. I knew that something wasn’t right in those two years when my stomach was hurting, but the doctors kept on saying, “Oh, you’re young,” and then it turned into a horror story.

Treatment

Discussing the Treatment Plan

Both my parents came with me. I remember being so nervous and scared to death. I was thinking, I’m going to have to get a port and get chemo. I’m going to lose my hair. I didn’t know the side effects or how it was going to feel.

I remember him telling my parents the cancer had gone into some of the lymph nodes. They cut them out during surgery, but I will have to do chemo to make sure. I would do a chemo regimen of oxaliplatin and Xeloda (capecitabine).

I got a port placed in my chest. Once every two weeks, I would go in for a chemo infusion. Every day for two weeks, I would take two chemo pills — one in the morning and one in the evening.

Managing the Side Effects

I’m very outgoing. I love to socialize so it was very hard for me to relax because I wanted to keep on living life as normal as possible. That’s what helped me the most.

This is sad to say, but I was the youngest patient getting chemo. Everyone else was probably 50 and older. I’m coming in, this young girl, and I still have my hair while a lot of these patients are sick.

I tried to be very positive. I would bring in little note cards and hand them out to patients. I brought in a lot of word searches and positivity coloring books because they helped take my mind off of everything else that going on. There are also these little crafts that I would buy. They’re little sticky coloring pages and you put the gem to the number and they make very beautiful pictures.

I also bring music. Anything to distract you and keep you occupied.

I said, “I really want to get a PET scan,” to ease my mind. The nurse navigator was able to contact insurance and get authorization so I was able to get a PET scan.

I still have the spot on my liver and lung, but it did not grow in size so they’re not very concerned, but they’ll continue to monitor. Every three months, I go in for a CT scan and lab work. Every eight weeks, I get my port flushed.

My last scan was in October 2023. The scans came back clear and the doctor says my cancer is in remission.

Words of Advice

Trust your intuition. When you feel as though something isn’t right and you need further help, you need to advocate for yourself. “I’m not going to leave this doctor’s office until you do a test.” I would hate for someone to end up in my shoes, but I didn’t know then.

I was going to the doctor and at one point, I felt like I was crazy. My friends and I would have plans to go out to dinner and I would cancel because my stomach was hurting. I didn’t want to be the girl who has terrible stomach aches all the time. I thought it was social anxiety. It was driving me insane.

What I’ve learned through my experience is to advocate for yourself when your intuition is telling you something’s not right. Fight to get your voice heard.

I knew something was not right. Unfortunately, I’m young. I was 32 at the time of my diagnosis. How often do you hear of a 32-year-old female getting diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer?