A woman isn’t supposed to state her age. As I turned 35 this winter, I thought to myself, we are going to accomplish a lot this year. Nick and I purchasing a house, remodeling said house, getting married, maybe finding some ground to run cows on and keep the genomics marketing rolling for Neogen. Maybe even a vacation.
Insert hard left.
I started to have a pain in my side in September. I thought that’s strange, but it went away and I moved on. Then my seatbelt kept irritating that same area. Fast forward, a pain in my right side was keeping me up at night.
Next thought, it had to be my IUD. I had that removed, I can’t say it got better, but the pain didn’t get worse. My doctor said, she didn’t think that was the cause of the pain but wasn’t sure what else it may be.
Therefore, the it had to be my IT band. And man, I am out of shape. I had gone back to CrossFit and thought I just needed to stretch more.
Adding all this together, I always needed a nap. Like a three hour coma type nap everyday. Of course, I’m thought it’s my hormones. Nope, some quick testing by another doctor stated I was super anemic. Strange, but ok. She recommend with my random stomach pain to see a gastroenterologist and quickly as I could.
And all of that has led to stage three colon cancer diagnosis.
This is the face of a person who was completely clueless that they were living with cancer.
I didn’t have standard symptoms, but I knew something was off. I know I am fortunate because I stayed at it trying to figure out my pain. That being said, I am not announcing this for sympathy, but simply awareness. Taking care of yourself should always be a top priority.
Colon cancer is rising RAPIDLY amongst young people. They aren’t sure why today, but there are several studies taking place to hopefully determine this cause.
The next year is going to be an adventure I sure didn’t plan on. But I am very thankful for a great team of doctors and even better friends, family and coworkers.
