Alecia Mandal

Alecia's story

August 2020, I was tired after moving my youngest into college. My husband is an oncologist, and he got me in for a CBC. I went in and my hemoglobin was 6k. I was bleeding from somewhere. So, I went in that week for a colonoscopy, and they found a mass in my colon. I had a CT that same day, and I was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer.

I started treatment within a week, and I am still in treatment receiving immunotherapy.

Signs and symptoms

Signs and symptoms included rectal bleeding or blood in stool, and fatigue.

Side effects

Side effects included fatigue, bowel irregularities, chemo induced nausea and vomiting (CINV), neuropathy, skin rashes (skin toxicity, chemo rash), and chemo brain.

Alecia's advice

Don’t wait. The best treatment is early intervention!

We all have our stories to tell and share. We need to build each other up and help when we can.