Living with Stage Four Colon Cancer
- Netflix “Country Ever After” star Criscilla Anderson, 42, is currently treating her stage four colon cancer. In a heart wrenching recent update to her Instagram, she shared that she was beginning chemotherapy again.
- She also shared that being away from her family and feeling like she’s a burden to them is taking a huge toll. Mental health struggles during a cancer journey are very understandable, but it’s crucial to try to address them. One of our experts actually says doing so can actually impact the effectiveness of your treatment.
- There are many factors to consider when deciding on the right course of treatment for stage four colon cancer. Oftent, treatment might include chemotherapy alone, but some cases will require chemotherapy and surgery. Additionally, your doctor should explain any newer therapies or clinical trials in case those are the best fit. Make sure to ask your oncologist about all of your options and seek out multiple opinions.
- While Criscilla says she is exploring alternative therapies, experts say unproven treatments without data verified by researchers can be dangerous and should absolutely be avoided.
Criscilla is a 42-year-old reality TV star married to country music singer Coffey Anderson, 45. The couple has three children together 11-year-old Ethan, 9-year-old Emmarie and 6-year-old Everleigh though Criscilla is also the step-mother to Coffey's first born child, Savannah Jean, 20.
Read MoreAn Update from Criscilla Anderson
Criscilla recently shared a deeply moving Instagram post about where she’s at in her cancer journey now. Throughout the lengthy post, Criscilla writes from a place of love, despair, exhaustion, fear and, remarkably, hope all things familiar to anyone who’s been in a cancer battle.View this post on Instagram
“Chemo begins tomorrow,” she wrote under a stunning selfie at the beach. “I've been in California for a week trying so many alternative therapies that tbh I'm not even sure about.”
"Alternative therapies" is a term used to describe treatments that people may choose in place of conventional medicine. They can range from mind-body approaches and diet and nutrition choices to supplements, healing crystals, Chinese medicine, and Ayurvedic medicine, and they're touted all over the internet. But MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Dr. Jason Westin wants to remind people that they are often too good to be true.
The Difference Between Integrative Medicine and 'Alternative Medicine'
“Make sure, if you’re finding information on the internet about something that sounds too good to be true, talk to your doctor about it and see what they think before you try some alternative treatment that may cost a lot of money and may not give you the results that you want,” Dr. Westin warned.
We don’t know the extent of her alternative medicine usage, but we do know she hasn’t dismissed standard treatments altogether. She’s beginning chemotherapy today, but the emotional burden of her cancer journey is taking a huge toll. A devoted mother above all else, Criscilla is especially struggling with being away from her young children.
“I miss my babies. Nothing harder than being away from them,” she wrote on Instagram. “Every night I remind them that I do this for more years with them. I'm alone. Couch hopping and staying with people I love and love me. Catching a few special moments in-between the treatments and long drives in traffic.
“I must say I'm tired of this life.”
Criscilla goes on to explain that although social media can seemingly depict the “highlight reel” of life, she’s currently enduring a very real struggle for “most of [her] entire life.” Thankfully, her “babies” are giving her the strength to carry on.
“Every scan I walk into by myself to hear this cancer is growing and spreading,” she shared. “But those babies. Those babies of mine. They r my why. My how. My entire reason of purpose on this earth. And one day they will know how hard I fought for them.
“I'm gonna keep going. Even tho a lot of days I want to give up. Cancer is a full time job. And I just want to put my 2 weeks notice in. I'm so much more than cancer and yet this disease has stolen so much of me and so much from me. Going through daily life always thinking ‘remember this moment just in case’ ‘take pictures just in case’ the joy of normal every day life has been ripped from me.”
Treating Depression After a Cancer Diagnosis
Criscilla continued by detailing her dark thoughts surrounding the suffering she feels she’s caused her family. She knows she needs to fight to be here for them, but sometimes she wrestles with the damaging idea that life without her might help them move forward.
If you’re a cancer warrior, it’s important to remember you didn’t choose this fight. Mental health struggles during a cancer journey are very understandable, but it’s crucial to try to address them. In fact, one of our experts says doing so can actually impact the effectiveness of your treatment.
“Depression and stress make it harder to treat cancer, make it harder to tolerate the treatments,” psychiatrist Dr. Scott Irwin, director of supportive care services at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, previously told SurvivorNet. “Actually, there’s data that if you have extra stress or depression that you may not recover or you have a higher risk of recurrence, so that in treating the depression, we’re actually impacting the cancer care outcomes.”
Despite carrying the heavy emotional weight of her colon cancer battle, Criscilla still holds on to hope. And the SurvivorNet family is rooting for her every step of the way.
“So here I am…away from my children, going to the hospital to choose to be sick holding on to the hope that this helps me,” she wrote. “I promise I didn't ask for this. I promise I'm not on some fancy vacation living my best life without my family. I'm fighting to stay alive. Actually survive. Literally my only goal in life. So 4 precious kiddos can have their mama.
“So be reminded that a simple smile can have such a story. This is mine. And God I'm praying for a miracle. Maybe even a couple of them. 💚”
Treating Stage Four Colon Cancer
A stage four colon cancer, or metastatic colon cancer, diagnosis means the tumor has spread outside the colon. But every metastatic colon cancer case is different.
“I think it’s critical that for stage 4 cancers in general, but certainly for colon cancer, not all stage 4 patients are the same,” Dr. Daniel Labow, Chief of the Surgical Oncology Division at Mount Sinai Health System, told SurvivorNet.
Treatment for this stage colon cancer often includes chemotherapy alone, but some cases require a combination of chemotherapy and surgery depending on the patient, tumor properties and where exactly the cancer has spread.
Stage Four Colon Cancer: "Not All Patients are the Same"
"The overall view of treating metastatic colon cancer is that most of those patients can not proceed to surgery, and so their cancer can never be removed entirely," Dr. Paul Oberstein, a medical oncologist with NYU Langone's Perlmutter Cancer Center, previously told SurvivorNet. "So they're going to live for the rest of their life with their cancer, and we're going to be their partners in giving therapy, or other experimental treatments that will control their cancer for as long as possible with the fewest side effects as possible."
The goal of metastatic colon cancer treatment is to control the cancer, prevent it from growing or spreading and shrink it. Once the cancer is "under control," maintenance therapy usually begins. During this phase of treatment, adapting is key. Chemotherapy drugs might need to be swapped out if the cancer mutates or changes or the patient simply needs a break from the drugs.
"So, then the next step is to maintain it so that the tumor doesn't grow, the person can continue living their life, and have reduced side effects compared to very aggressive chemotherapy.," Dr. Oberstein said.
Other stage four colon cancer warriors may consider "novel therapies or experimental therapies or clinical trials."
Understanding Your Options With Stage Four Colon Cancer
"We emphasize to patients that that's something that we as oncologists are always considering," Dr. Oberstein explained. "So that if at a certain point, a novel therapy comes out, if someone makes an announcement, or we do a clinical trial, and we demonstrate that a new therapy is effective for colon cancer, that's something that potentially will help that person during their course of their disease."
RELATED: Check Out SurvivorNet's Clinical Trial Finder
No matter what, remember there are many factors to consider when deciding on the right course of treatment. Talk with doctors about all the options if you or a loved one is faced with stage four colon cancer. And don’t be afraid to seek out multiple opinions.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
