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Liver Resection and Recovery
It’s been a while but I have finally kicked myself into gear and written a post!! It’s a long one but every detail highlights my journey, ups and downs…… If you have been following my story, you should know that I went into remission or at least it seemed that way in May and if you are just reading my journey for the first time, I will try to explain as much as I can! I had a great clinical response to my chemotherapy and the six lesions that I had in my liver appeared to have calcified. Scans of any kind are not 100% accurate, a cancer cell is…
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Nobody Said It Would Be Easy
Following the birth of her eldest daughter in 2013, Laura Stephenson gave birth to twin girls on April 25th 2017. There was huge excitement among all the family, her mother, her two sisters, in-laws and of course myself, her dad. Two identical girls that arrived amidst lots of questions:- Are there twins in the family , how do you feed two at the same time, do they both sleep at the same time, will Mum and Dad get any more sleep, the need for a twin pram, can we fit 3 car seats in the back of the car. Lots of questions all based around the twins. In the middle…
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Martha’s story – La historia de Martha
My name is Martha, I am 48 years old and I live in Florida. I was diagnosed with colon cancer on December 20, 2017 at age 45; this is my story. I am the mother of two beautiful young children and the wife of a wonderful man. The fourth of five sisters created by good parents, especially my mother. My life changed in December 2017 when what I thought was a simple problem of exhaustion turned into a nightmare. It was during a very important time, my daughter was turning 15 which is a tradition for young Latino women, the celebration of her 15 years. We were preparing a…
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Tommy’s story
My name is Tommy. I am 32 years old and live in Orlando, Florida. I was diagnosed with stage lV Colon Cancer in May of 2018 at the age of 30, which was the age my late grandfather was when he was first diagnosed with colon cancer. My journey begins in early 2018 when I began to notice that I was rapidly losing weight. I was not working out on a daily basis and was not dieting. I was also having night sweats pretty much nightly. I went to see my primary care physician and explained my symptoms. They had me do a blood panel, which yielded negative results. They…
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Jeremy’s story
My name is Jeremy Echols. I live in Houston, Texas and am 35 years old. I was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer at 33. Before my diagnosis I practically lived in the gym. I worked out eight times a week, followed a strict meal plan, never smoked and was not a heavy drinker. There is no genetic history of colon cancer in my family. My story begins in May of 2018 when I started noticing abdominal pain. Nothing too severe, but it was consistent. A month later I started noticing blood in my stool so I booked an appointment with a colorectal surgeon. He told me “I doubt…
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Life begins at 40?!
It’s been a while since I made a post. I actually wrote three posts then decided against publishing them, there has been so much going on in my life and the world that it all became quite overwhelming! I did turn 40 though which is meant to be a milestone in life, to be honest, I can’t quite get my head around where all the time has gone. I thought the same when I hit 30. I have moments where I downplay being 40 then other days I feel like I have one foot in the grave! I am assuming that’s natural the older we get. Maybe that is why…
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My Alopecia Story
My name is Melanie, I’m 48, and I have Alopecia which means I’m bald. It took me more than 40 years to be strong enough to utter these words to the world. Alopecia is an autoimmune disease that causes your hair to fall out. My immune system is basically a big bully and it attack my hair follicles. About 147 million people worldwide have or will develop Alopecia areata at some point in their lives. So it’s more common than one might think but why have so many not heard of it. Think about it… because the majority of people- mostly females hide it! Including me. There are different kinds…
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Vanessa’s story
Well my story started with a trip, a journey back to Australia where we had not long moved from. It was our first holiday back home and I was at the airport with my two boys, going back to New Zealand where we are still living now. While I was in Australia my GP called me to get some tests done as she was a bit concerned after she found I had tested positive for HPV. As I thought she was exaggerating a bit, I asked if I really needed to go, and she assured me that yes, I needed to do a colposcopy and briefly explained what it was.…
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‘Colin the Colon’ Tunnel Educates About Colorectal Cancer
As you know, I now live with my family in Johannesburg which is where I received all my treatment. I have been fortunate to have phenomenal South African medical professionals treating me. I want to pay back that kind by raising awareness about cancer in South Africa. I am happy to say that I am collaborating with CANSA who have launched its Colorectal Cancer Awareness Campaign this month. Please keep reading to find out about this amazing campaign – raising awareness, educating and saving lives! Afrikaanse Media Vrystelling 11 March 2020 – CANSA launches its Colorectal Cancer Awareness Campaign in partnership with Medtronic, the global leader in medical technology,…
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Angelica’s story
My name is Angelica Alen and I am 40 years old. I am originally from Brazil but I have spent the last 19 years living and working around the world. My last stop was New Zealand where my husband and I stayed for six years. I had my two kids there. It was a stressful time arriving in New Zealand, settling ourselves, having my first baby and second baby within two years a part with no family support. My youngest started developing symptoms of asthma in New Zealand and I found myself spending a lot of time in hospital by myself with a 1.5 years old baby. I was really…
