Jessica Catlin
Patient/Survivor |
Rectal - Stage III |
Age at Diagnosis: 38
I first went to see a doctor at age 38. I had been having blood in my stool off and on for several months. She told me it was likely an internal hemorrhoid, that I was too young for colon cancer, and it would likely go away on its own. She didn’t even look at my bottom let alone order a test, and she sent me on my way. Six months later, the bleeding was still coming and going, so I went to see a different doctor. She also didn’t think much of it, but I pressed her for a colonoscopy, using my family history card: My maternal grandmother died of rectal cancer. The bleeding got worse before I finally got in to see a gastroenterologist who performed my colonoscopy. Almost a full year after I first went to see a doctor, at age 39, just a few months before my 40th birthday, I was finally diagnosed with stage IIIb rectal cancer.
Jessica Catlin
Patient/Survivor |
Rectal - Stage III |
Age at Diagnosis: 38
I first went to see a doctor at age 38. I had been having blood in my stool off and on for several months. She told me it was likely an internal hemorrhoid, that I was too young for colon cancer, and it would likely go away on its own. She didn’t even look at my bottom let alone order a test, and she sent me on my way. Six months later, the bleeding was still coming and going, so I went to see a different doctor. She also didn’t think much of it, but I pressed her for a colonoscopy, using my family history card: My maternal grandmother died of rectal cancer. The bleeding got worse before I finally got in to see a gastroenterologist who performed my colonoscopy. Almost a full year after I first went to see a doctor, at age 39, just a few months before my 40th birthday, I was finally diagnosed with stage IIIb rectal cancer.
Jessica Catlin
Patient/Survivor |
Rectal - Stage III |
Age at Diagnosis: 38
I first went to see a doctor at age 38. I had been having blood in my stool off and on for several months. She told me it was likely an internal hemorrhoid, that I was too young for colon cancer, and it would likely go away on its own. She didn’t even look at my bottom let alone order a test, and she sent me on my way. Six months later, the bleeding was still coming and going, so I went to see a different doctor. She also didn’t think much of it, but I pressed her for a colonoscopy, using my family history card: My maternal grandmother died of rectal cancer. The bleeding got worse before I finally got in to see a gastroenterologist who performed my colonoscopy. Almost a full year after I first went to see a doctor, at age 39, just a few months before my 40th birthday, I was finally diagnosed with stage IIIb rectal cancer.
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