Criscilla's Colon Cancer Journey
- Hip-hop dancer Criscilla Anderson, 40, has been sharing her stage 3 colon cancer journey in new Netflix show Country Ever After.
- Through the show and Criscilla’s Instagram posts, we’ve learned valuable lessons about realities facing cancer warriors: including the importance of happy moments, how physical fitness is possible, and treatment side-effects.
- The first season of Country Ever After was filmed in 2019, and since her colon cancer has progressed to stage 4.
Finding Joy Through Treatment
As an experienced hip-hop dancer, Criscilla takes any moment she can to bust a move even during chemotherapy treatments. In the show, Criscilla joins a hip-hop dance class while anticipating her final round of chemo. Clearly she loves to dance (and is good at it too), but some viewers may not realize that finding moments of joy during treatment can lead to more successful treatment outcomes.Staying positive during treatments is easier said than done, but Criscilla has pledged to keep dancing through the ups and downs of her journey. According to Dr. Dana Chase, a gynecologic oncologist at Arizona Oncology, studies have proven that patients who are positive typically see better treatment outcomes. This has a lot do with prioritizing emotional health, and doing activities you love can really influence that.
Dr. Dana Chase explains how doing activities you love can influence treatment outcomes
Staying Active While Fighting Cancer
Cancer treatment can really impact someone’s physical strength, but that doesn’t mean they’re always bed-ridden. In their show, Criscilla challenges Coffey to a two-mile run and wipes the floor with him. Some people may assume that people going through cancer treatment aren’t able to workout or push themselves physically, but that couldn’t be less of the case.
Related: What to Know About Diet and Exercise if You Have Cancer
Staying active and exercising can really influence side-effects during treatment such as chemotherapy and help patients deal with stress. “The more physically fit you are going through your cancer treatment, the less side effects you'll have and the faster you'll get back to your normal quality of life,” Dr. Sairah Ahmed, associate professor in the division of cancer medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, tells SurvivorNet.
Dr. Sairah Ahmed breaks down exercise and diet during cancer treatment
Dealing with Treatment Side-Effects
Since her diagnosis, Criscilla has gone through treatment options including chemotherapy, surgery, and immunotherapy. In addition to discussing these therapies, the dancer has also shown the uglier side of the treatment process. On her Instagram, Criscilla often shares photos of her treatment process and adjusting to life during side-effects. Recently, she shared a photo of a bad reaction she had to immunotherapy, which is a type of treatment that harnesses the power of your own immune system to. The treatment caused her to develop a very serious rash on various parts of her body and caused a lot of pain.
Although rashes are common side-effects of immunotherapy and checkpoint inhibitors, they can also be managed and maintained in order to decrease the pain. Other side-effects which are less common include inflammation of the lungs, colon or heart. That’s why consulting your physician is key when it comes to how your body is reacting to current treatment.
Related: Tell Your Doctor About Immunotherapy Side Effects
Embracing a Port
During her treatment, Criscilla experienced pain that wouldn’t subside and bothered her significantly. To ease this, she decided to get a port to make these hospital visits less painful. A port also known as a port-a-cath is used to give chemotherapy, blood transfusions, and IV fluids and is surgically placed under the skin, usually on the right side of the chest, below the collar bone. It's also used for taking blood samples, allowing patients to avoid repeated needle-sticks.
In an Instagram post, Criscilla shared a video of a nurse cleaning the port and she says it is helping her get through treatment a lot easier, and with less pain.
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