Listen to Your Body: Recognize When Something’s Wrong
- A fit and healthy 39-year-old mom was stunned to discover that three months of worsening abdominal pain and drenching night sweats were actually signs of stage 4 bowel cancer.
- Early detection makes colon cancer (also called colorectal or bowel cancer) highly treatable. At-home tests, such as Cologuard, are available, but experts say that a colonoscopy is the most accurate screening method.
- A colonoscopy uses a long, flexible tube fitted with a camera to inspect the colon and rectum for polyps. Any noncancerous growths found can be removed during the same procedure.
- Routine colorectal screenings are generally recommended starting at age 45; however, those with elevated risks—such as a family history—should consider beginning sooner. Always discuss the best screening schedule with your doctor.
- Advances in colon cancer treatment now focus on targeted therapies. By testing for specific genetic mutations, doctors can tailor treatments even in advanced cases, offering patients renewed hope.
Despite leading a fit and healthy lifestyle, Maeyke—who is also a mother to a 12-year-old son—was stunned to learn that her discomfort stemmed from advanced-stage bowel cancer, also known as colorectal or colon cancer. Her diagnosis was stage 4, meaning the disease had spread beyond her colon and into other parts of her body.
Early Signs She Didn’t Recognize
Maeyke recalls that the turning point came in May 2023 when her abdominal pain became unbearable.
“Life can change in an instant,” she said.
“That brought me to my knees,” she continued, describing the stabbing pain.
Initially, she dismissed her symptoms as food-related and didn’t suspect anything serious.
“At first, I thought I would get checked for food intolerances. As I was fit and healthy, exercising daily and eating a wholesome, balanced diet,” Maeyke explained on TikTok.
@stoneinthe0cean On the 30th of May 2023, my life was turned upside down. I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Metastasic Bowel CANCER at 37 years old. Three months leading up to this day, I started to feel tired all day, everyday but I thought I was just a busy mum. I was having irregular bowel movements but I thought it was IBS. I was having night sweats but I thought it was the Summer heat. But then came the sharp, stabbing pains which dropped me to my knees but I thought it was a food intolerance. The pain wouldn’t stop, I was airlifted by a jet plane 450km to the nearest hospital. It was then the Dr told me I have CANCER. Never in a million years would I ever think I would have this disease in my body at such a young age. I was healthy and fit and it wasn’t hereditary. I just didn’t know…..until it was too late #cancer #terminalcancer #bowelcancer #coloncancer #stage4cancer #fightcancerwithhope ♬ DIM – Yves
Then came the night sweats—another strange development she attributed to a malfunctioning air conditioner.
“I would wake up during the night drenched in sweat, enough so I had to change clothes and sheets,” she said.
Eventually, the mounting symptoms pushed her to return to the doctor, where additional testing revealed the devastating truth. Maeyke remembers the life-altering moment clearly.
“‘Krystal, I’ve got bad news. You have cancer,’” her doctor told her.
“The weight of those words, accompanied by my question of ‘How do you know?’ and the doctor’s response, ‘It’s everywhere,’ shook me to my core,” she recalled.
Krystal’s story is a powerful reminder that seemingly minor symptoms can point to something much more serious. She continues to raise awareness so others won’t wait to seek help.
Expert Resources on Colorectal Cancer
Krystal’s Cancer Diagnosis
Maekye was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer, also called colon cancer. Colon cancer, or colorectal cancer, affects your large intestine (colon) or the end of your intestine (rectum).
Colon cancer is very treatable and curable if caught early; however, in Maekye’s case, it was very advanced. Fortunately, in recent years, various treatment advances have emerged, allowing patients with this type of cancer to still enjoy a high quality of life.
“Unfortunately, there are patients who present with more distant or more aggressive disease, which we call stage four or metastatic cancer. And when they present, the cancer has spread to many different areas,” Dr. Heather Yeo, a colorectal surgeon at Weill Cornell Medicine, explained to SurvivorNet.
Colon cancer most commonly spreads to the lung and the liver.
WATCH: Treating Stage 4 Colon Cancer
“There are a lot of advances being made in colorectal cancer,” Dr. Yeo said.
Stage 4 colon cancer is often managed with chemotherapy alone or, in select cases, a combination of chemotherapy and surgery, depending on the patient, tumor properties, and where the metastases are located.
In some cases, it is not possible to surgically remove all of these tumors. In that case, the primary goal of treatment is to manage the cancer or, in other words, to prevent the cancer from growing, spreading, and causing symptoms. A combination of patient factors and tumor properties determines which chemotherapy will be used to treat metastatic colon cancer.
Tailoring Colon Cancer Treatment to the Individual
Colon cancer treatment is more targeted, meaning doctors often test for specific changes or genetic mutations that cause cancer growth.
Biomarkers are key to tailoring specific treatments. Biomarkers are molecular patterns becoming more commonly used in colon cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and management. According to the National Cancer Institute, a biomarker is “a biological molecule found in blood, other body fluids, or tissues that is a sign of a normal or abnormal process, or a condition or disease,” such as cancer.
“In colon cancer, we’re starting to look more and more at people’s biomarkers, so we’re starting to take the cancers, sequence them, understand where the different mutations are to figure out whether or not someone has a normal gene here or an abnormal gene,” Dr. Yeo explained.
“Those are the areas that people want to be able to target a little bit more. We’re getting close to more of what we would call precision medicine, meaning we can start looking at people’s genetic mutations and think about how they might respond to different drugs.”
There are different types of biomarkers, including DNA, proteins, and genetic mutations found in blood, tumor tissue, or other body fluids. The biomarkers most commonly used in colon cancer management are:
Genetic mutations within the tumor, such as MMR/MSI, KRAS, BRAF, and HER2
Bloodstream carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA)
CEA is a protein produced by most tumor cells (but not all) and can be picked up in the bloodstream. High CEA levels do not establish a colon cancer diagnosis. However, higher CEA levels correlate with a worse prognosis and potential metastasis. Carcinoembryonic antigen is important for post-treatment follow-up to ensure the cancer hasn’t returned. Be sure to check with your doctor before treatment starts to ensure a CEA blood sample has been obtained.
More on Treating Colon Cancer
Surgery and chemotherapy are common approaches to colorectal cancer.
Some examples of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved chemotherapy drug treatments include:
- FOLFOX: leucovorin, 5-FU, and oxaliplatin (Eloxatin)
- FOLFIRI: leucovorin, 5-FU, and irinotecan (Camptosar)
- CAPEOX or CAPOX: capecitabine (Xeloda) and oxaliplatin
- FOLFOXIRI: leucovorin, 5-FU, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan
- Trifluridine and tipiracil (Lonsurf)
WATCH: Understanding Your Options with Metastatic Colon Cancer
Among metastatic colon cancer patients, multiple treatment options exist, including surgical and non-surgical options.
One treatment option includes an oral medication called Fruquintinib, a targeted therapy for adults with metastatic colorectal cancer who have tried other treatments. Results from a trial published last year showed that the drug improved overall survival and progression-free survival, which measures the time before the cancer returns or spreads. It works by blocking the growth of blood vessels, thereby reducing tumor growth.
Once you get to the metastatic setting, many patients “just run out of options,” Jennifer Elliott, head of solid tumors at Takeda, explained to SurvivorNet at the ASCO Annual Meeting. So it was critically important for Takeda to do this deal to in-license fruquintinib. We hope to give patients another option.”
Fruquintinib has been approved in China since 2018 and was originally developed by the Chinese biopharmaceutical company HUTCHMED. Takeda Oncology acquired the exclusive worldwide license for the drug outside of mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau in January 2023.
Understanding Colon Cancer
It’s important to reiterate that colon cancer is very treatable and curable if caught early. Colon cancer screenings can involve at-home tests such as Cologuard, but a colonoscopy is more effective, according to SurvivorNet experts. A colonoscopy involves the insertion of a long, thin tube equipped with a camera to examine the colon and rectum. If no polyps are discovered, the next screening won’t be needed for ten years. Polyps are small growths in the colon that are not yet cancerous but can potentially develop into cancer.
“When we see a polyp, we actually physically take the polyp out through the colonoscope,” Dr. Zuri Murrell, a colorectal cancer surgeon and Director of the Cedars-Sinai Colorectal Cancer Center, explained.
The cancer starts when abnormal lumps called polyps grow in the colon or rectum. It takes up to 10 years for a colon polyp to become full-blown cancer, according to SurvivorNet experts.
The American Gastrointestinal Association lowered the recommended initial age for a colorectal screening from 50 to 45. However, experts recommend screening earlier for some people who may be at an increased risk of developing colon cancer, such as having a family history of the disease.
WATCH: Colon cancer symptoms.
The most poignant signature of colon cancer includes a change in bowel habits. This may include constipation or diarrhea due to changes in the size or shape of bowel movements. A change in stool color, particularly black or tarry stools, can indicate bleeding from a tumor that lies deep in the colon.
Other symptoms can be harder to pinpoint, such as abdominal pain and unintentional weight loss. Finally, some tumors bleed a small amount over a long period of time, resulting in anemia (low red blood cell count) that is picked up on blood work.
Questions to Ask Your Doctor
If you are facing a colon cancer diagnosis, here are some questions you may ask your doctor.
- What are my treatment options based on my diagnosis?
- If I’m worried about managing the costs of cancer care, who can help me?
- What support services are available to me? To my family?
- Could this treatment affect my sex life? If so, how and for how long?
- What are the risks and possible side effects of treatment?
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
