Meet Maria

Maria Campbell, Patient/Survivor Prestonsburg, Kentucky

Maria's Story

On Apr. 17, 2015 I was admitted to the hospital to have my gall bladder removed. However, after the surgery I got worse. It was not my gall bladder that was giving me stomach pains. They examined my stomach by putting a tube down my throat. This was also a way to remove some of the toxins that had been sitting in my stomach. Nothing helped the pain or the sick to my stomach feeling. After 10 days I was told I needed to call in my family for support. I was not going to make it. Later that evening, an off-duty nurse stopped by, she discovered that I was throwing up my own feces! The next day they found the tumor. A few days later, Dr. Patterson took almost 2 ft. of my colon and out of 34 lymph nodes, six were positive. My doctors discovered I was stage IIIC. And 26 days after surgery I started chemo.

Maria's Advice

Know your family history. And get tested.