Michelle F.

Diagnosed at age 50  

We’re the parents of two girls, ages 20 and 22. I love children, and I work with children on a daily basis. My belief is that life is a gift, and I appreciate it every day. I’m not supposed to be here five years later with a stage 4 colon cancer diagnosis, but I survived, and I’m honored to share my story.

Five years ago, I saw blood in my stool. At first, I didn’t think anything of it. Maybe it was a hemorrhoid. But one week later, I noticed blood again, and made an appointment with my doctor, who sent me for a colonoscopy. After the procedure, my doctor met with me and confirmed that I had colon cancer. Then, after meeting with a surgeon, I was told that I had stage 4 colorectal cancer, with a tumor the size of an apricot.

The doctor told me that, given the size of the tumor, it had probably been there for about 10 years. I was 50 years old at the time, so 10 years ago, I would’ve been 40, and in hindsight, it could’ve been taken care of much earlier. The next step for me was chemo and radiation to shrink the tumor. Radiation was every day for 30 days. Chemo was once a week. It started out at 8 to 9 hours of chemo, then down to 5 or 6 hours, then down to 3 hours. I also had to wear a portable chemo pack so I could have chemo on the weekends. 

After 7 months of chemo, the tumor shrunk, and I could have the surgery.  Not only was the cancer in the rectum and colon – it was in the liver as well. I went through ten hours of surgery with two surgeons: the colon surgeon and the liver surgeon, who performed the miracle surgery. After that, recovery was rough. I could barely walk; I had an ostomy bag for three months and a catheter for six months. But I recovered from it all with no evidence of cancer at this time. After my recovery, we had the opportunity to take our kids to Disney World as part of the Memories for Kids program, and it is such a wonderful memory.

For anyone hesitant to get screened for colon cancer, just know that I am living proof that, had my cancer been caught earlier, it would not have progressed to stage 4. It could have been removed as a polyp instead of a tumor the size of an apricot. I’m proof that early detection makes all the difference!