I had just turned 40 years old when I received the worst news of my life, that I have rectal cancer Stage 3C. I have always been healthy overall, getting checked yearly with my primary Dr. and thought all was dandy until I went to see a gastroenterologist because I saw streaks of blood on my bowels and then I got referred to get a colonoscopy and when I woke up I was told that he sees a tumor that is most likely cancer and biopsy confirmed it 2 days after. I was in a dark place thinking about cancer taking my life too soon and leaving my 3 children with no mother. This was so devastating to think about! My family gave me the strength to fight, I had chemo, surgery, had sepsis then had another surgery ended up with an ileostomy then had more chemo and surgery again for ileostomy reversal. Doing great now.

Mental Health