Coping With Advanced Colon Cancer
- Fitness social media influencer and mom of three Maria Kang, 43, was shocked to learn her occasional stomach pains and bloody stool were because of stage 4 colon cancer instead of hemorrhoids as she mistakenly believed.
- Metastatic or Stage 4 colon cancer means that the cancer has spread from the colon to other organs. The most common sites for colon cancer to metastasize are the liver, lungs, and peritoneum (the lining in your abdomen).
- Chemotherapy is often the first line of treatment for metastatic colon cancer. Surgery or a combination of therapies may be recommended depending on where the cancer is located and how widespread it is.
- Some people battling a disease or cancer are open to sharing their experiences as much as they can, while others prefer to keep it to themselves. SurvivorNet experts say both approaches and everything in between are valid.
Fitness influencer Maria Kang, 43, famously went viral for posting a 10-Year-Challenge side-by-side photo of her alongside her three boys. Kang is widely known by millions of social media users for exercise and a healthy lifestyle.
However, she found herself at a crossroads when she was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.
Read MoreView this post on InstagramKang admitted it took her several weeks to process her cancer diagnosis, which came as a complete “shock.”
She’s developed a reputation as being the epitome of health, yet coping with the idea she’s living with cancer has shifted her way of thinking.
“It’s taken me some time to process this. I am ok. The boys are ok. It will be ok. I appreciate all of the prayers for miraculous healing,” Kang wrote in an Instagram post.
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In Kang’s blog, she noted she had been experiencing lingering pain, notably in her stomach. She also experienced blood in her stool. However, she chalked those symptoms up to hemorrhoids and irritable bowel syndrome, which are benign conditions.
“I was told blood in my stool came from hemorrhoids (the joy of having babies),” Kang said in a personal blog.
However, as the pain grew progressively worse, she finally went to see a doctor. CT and MRI scans found a mass in her colon.
“I took in the news with shock,” Kang said.
“I didn’t meet any of the markers for colon cancer. It didn’t run in our family; I was relatively young, healthy, a non-smoker…I meditate and teach breathwork, for God’s sake. None of it made sense,” Kang explained.
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Adding to Kang’s emotional journey, she was coping with a divorce from her long-time husband and the loss of her mom.
“I have no doubt cancer found me when I was distressed, depressed, and in pain,” Kang explained.
Despite the journey that awaits her, Kang still makes social media posts focused on her family and the healthy lifestyle she’s living with added meaning.
Expert Resources on Colorectal Cancer
Coping With Advanced Colon Cancer
Colon cancer is very treatable and curable if caught early. However, treatment may become more intense when the cancer is detected in later stages.
Chemotherapy is known to improve survival in patients with metastatic or stage 4 colon cancer.
“Colon cancer most commonly spreads to the lung and to the liver,” Dr. Heather Yeo, a board-certified in general surgery, colon and rectal surgery, and complex general surgical oncology, explains to SurvivorNet.
“We try not to do surgery right away. If you think about it, we can’t cut out all of the disease, and any time you do surgery, you’re actually compromising a patient’s immune system,” Dr. Yeo explains.
The most common therapy is called FOLFOX, and your doctor may add medications like irinotecan (FOLFIRI) or cetuximab, depending on how well your tumor shrinks with treatment and other specifics about your particular tumor.
“If you respond really well, then we keep you on that until you stop responding really well. But if after a few cycles, your disease has progressed, that’s when we think about adding other additional chemotherapies,” Dr. Yeo said.
WATCH: Not all stage 4 colon cancer patients are the same.
Colon cancer screenings can involve at-home tests such as Cologuard, but a colonoscopy is more effective, according to SurvivorNet experts. A colonoscopy involves examining the colon and rectum with a long, thin tube attached to a camera.
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.
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.
Kang Waited to Share Her Diagnosis
Some people battling a disease or cancer are open to sharing their experiences as much as they can, while others prefer to keep it to themselves or close loved ones. SurvivorNet experts say both approaches and everything in between, are valid.
WATCH: Sharing a Diagnosis
“Patients who have just been diagnosed with cancer sometimes wonder how they are going to handle the diagnosis of the cancer in social situations,” psychiatrist Dr. Lori Plutchik explains.
Questions like “How much information should they share and with whom should they share the information?” are things Plutchik says patients take into consideration.
Dr. Plutchik explains, “There is no one right way to handle this diagnosis. People should do what feels right to them.”
A cancer journey can last months to years, which means cancer warriors may be experiencing a lot of uncertainty until they fully understand where their health stands. This uncertainty can influence when a cancer patient is ready to share their diagnosis, Dr. Plutchik further explained.
Dr. Plutchik stresses that those close to a person going through cancer should be respectful of their wishes when it comes to disclosing their diagnosis and seeking support.
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?
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