My mother was diagnosed with stage IIIa colon cancer in September 2020. Because of a lack of awareness, she had her first colonoscopy at age 72! She was living in Rio de Janeiro, and I was living in NY. This was during the pandemic when we could not travel, so I could not be with her during the diagnosis, chemotherapy, or surgery. There were no signs and symptoms. Her treatment side effects included high blood pressure, neuropathy, and hand-foot syndrome. It was extremely hard to witness my mother go through all of this and not be able to be with her to support her.

I fight for awareness and continuous research on fighting colorectal cancer.