My diagnosis began, like that of many others, with a random finding during a CT for what I thought was appendicitis. The ER doctor notified me that everything was normal, except they had found a mass on my lung in the top corner of the scan. Shortly after that, I met with a Pulmonologist who informed me that due to my age and that I wasn’t a smoker, this wasn’t lung cancer but rather had spread from elsewhere. I then had a PET scan and subsequent colonoscopy that confirmed I have Stage IV Colon Cancer.

I then spent the next year undergoing 21 rounds of chemotherapy. After which, I had a colonoscopy that showed the tumor had disappeared! It was great news and confirmation that the chemo had done its job. In April of ’24, I underwent a bilateral lung wedge resection and lymph node removal to handle my Mets. The surgery went great. I’ve been off of chemo since, and I am now in a monitoring phase.

I was honored to attend the Cologuard Classic and learn more about the CRC (Colorectal Cancer) community. At that time, I decided to do more, help raise awareness of others in the community, and begin advocating. After looking into various avenues to do this, I applied to be an ambassador for Fight CRC for 2025 and was selected! This next year will be full of learning, advocating, raising awareness, and meeting others in the CRC community.

Thank you for contributing to Fight CRC.