Shit got real, fast. There was blood on the toilet paper after I wiped my butt and symptoms that grew pervasively more concerning. It was clear things were not normal.
For the five years prior, I voiced my symptoms to every medical professional in my life. Dismissed as something that came with giving birth, striving for perfection and overreactive. Told the the hemorrhoids I had were "cute" and that there was nothing to worry about, I remained unheard. As blood became brighter and more prevalent, I knew I needed to be seen. And then I was diagnosed with Stage 3 Rectal cancer. It rocked me to the core and the kicker is it never had to happen.
Now I know colorectal cancers are preventable with early detection.
Throughout my cancer battle, it was hard to balance the tight-rope walk carrying a full time job and raising three young boys. We learned a whole lot about who we are, what we stand for and ways to make life well-lived. A harsh reality for all of us in our 20s, 30s and 40s is there is a skyrocketing uptick of younger people like me with colorectal cancer threatening our longevity, disproportionately impacting in healthy people, women and people of color.
My story is becoming all too common and many of us don't live to tell about it. Being fortunate enough to complete the aggressive treatment that left me as a cancer survivor today, it’s clear that this was completely avoidable with earlier intervention. If I had just been seen. Taken seriously. Earlier. I was not crazy, I was right and the system was broken around me. My butthole was (literally) trying to murder me. My story does not need to become yours.
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