Allison Rosen

Survivor Texas "When you are in your 30’s and loving life, cancer is the last thing on your mind. I was already having colonoscopies every year or so as routine maintenance for my Crohn's disease. I had put off my scope in 2012 because I was just too busy. It wasn’t until I felt like my food was stuck inside me and my bowel habits had been noticeably different that I reached out to my doctor. We decided it was time to schedule my scope. On June 7, 2012, I was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and my life as I knew it was changed forever. The irony of it all was that I worked in cancer research and had been doing so for seven years. I was all too familiar with what people had to go through when fighting cancer. The years that followed were truly a test in perseverance and emotional strength. It tested my mind and body in ways I never knew possible. The positive in all of this is that I can now say five years after my initial surgery that I am cancer free and living life to the fullest."