Carmel Justilien
Patient/Survivor
Colon
Age at Diagnosis: 42
"Do it afraid. Hold onto hope, give yourself grace, and keep going."
In 2025, at 42, I was a mom, and a new ER nurse when my life changed. I had anemia, exhaustion, abdominal pain, pencil-thin stools and blood in my stool. After initially being told I was constipated, I returned to the ER knowing something was wrong. A colonoscopy revealed an obstructing mass: Stage III colon cancer. My greatest fear wasn’t chemo or surgery it was leaving my 6-year-old daughter without her mom. I underwent an 8-hour surgery followed by chemotherapy, and today I am in surveillance with negative Signatera results. Cancer took pieces of me I’m still learning to grieve. I’m still meeting the woman who survived and learning to give her grace. Some days I’m grateful, some days I’m scared, but every day I thank God that I’m still here to be her mom and to use my voice to help someone else.