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Cat P. : “5 years of clean scans” – Colorectal Cancer Alliance

Colorectal Cancer Alliance/LinkedIn

Mar 11, 2025, 11:42

Cat P. : “5 years of clean scans” – Colorectal Cancer Alliance

Colorectal Cancer Alliance shared a post on LinkedIn:

“”We were newlyweds when I started getting some alarming symptoms; blood in my stool, change in bowel movements, and extreme bloating. I went to my doctor, who treated me for hemorrhoids. When I still had no relief, I went back to my doctor, who referred me to a Gastroenterologist – however because I was “young and healthy,” I had to wait six months for an appointment.

In the meantime, my symptoms did not let up, and I knew something was off. I tried two different doctors, went to the ER, and pleaded with my doctor again. Everywhere I turned I was told that bleeding is common and nothing serious, and sent me on my way. After several doctors reassuring me that I was too young for my symptoms to be anything serious, my husband and I decided to carry on with life. We found out we were pregnant with our first child in March 2019 and were so excited about our future.

However, at 10 weeks pregnant, a mass was found in my rectum, and they were sure it was cancer. After all of the initial tests and scans, I was diagnosed with Stage III colorectal cancer at 32 years old.

After my diagnosis, I was quickly thrown into making important long term decisions about treatment and fertility. Since I needed both radiation and chemo, we had to terminate our pregnancy at 13 weeks. Since my treatment would leave me in immediate menopause and infertile – I was lucky enough that my team gave me two weeks to do a crash course egg retrieval so one day we could have the chance of having our family.

My cancer treatment consisted of 25 rounds of radiation and chemo together (every day for five weeks), a lower anterior resection with a temporary loop ileostomy, six months of further chemotherapy (CAPOX), and a second surgery to reverse the ileostomy.

I have recently celebrated five years of clean scans and my husband and I are expecting our beautiful rainbow baby via surrogacy in May 2025. We are slowly trying to take our lives back, one step at a time.

Cancer is complex – it will always be part of my life whether I like it or not. Despite no one wanting to be part of this club, I have met some of the most amazing people in this community and I am so thankful that we all have each other.” – Cat P.

Make a gift to the Alliance this March. Your gift will help promote the importance of prevention, increase access to life-saving screening methods, and invest in needed research to end colorectal cancer in our lifetime.”

Cat P. : "5 years of clean scans" - Colorectal Cancer Alliance