Health Insurance Q&A
By Andrew Elder After my last post, The Best Defense is Good Insurance, I received an email from a recently diagnosed gentleman (we’ll call him “Mike”) through LinkedIN with several excellent follow-up...
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2016 Colon Camp
By Phuong Gallagher Eight years ago today, I was diagnosed with rectal cancer. Although the cancer itself was not a blessing, some of the things that it brought me absolutely are. It has given me...
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I’m Stuck
I’m stuck…I’m stuck between a world of cancer and wellness. I’m very grateful to be cancer-free but I’m far from healthy. It’s a lonely place. Sometimes I find myself jealous, even resentful of people...
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Hope, Strength and Inspiration
By 2016 Colondar Model Lauren Miller I recently found out my coworker is having preventive surgery for breast cancer. She is a 5-year breast cancer survivor and had the genetic testing done. It was...
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Perspective on Patience & Life
By Lauren Miller On a recent flight back to Chicago, I had the pleasure of sitting next an 18-year-old male college student. It was an early morning flight, and we boarded the plane in record time....
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Happy New Year
By Leighann Sturgin Happy New Year! I’m so thankful to see 2016. The holidays were a little tough for me this year. On 11/25/15 (the day before Thanksgiving) I had stoma revision surgery. I lost...
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ONE DAY OFF
By Leighann Sturgin I’d like to have One Day Off. One day that I didn’t have to think about the crapsack on my belly. One day I didn’t hear the bag crinkle or my stoma didn’t make weird, loud,...
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Family Ties
By Leighann Sturgin My Lynch Syndrome comes from my Dad’s side of the family. We have the MSH2 gene mutation. My dad has had several polyps removed during colonoscopies over the years and has had...
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Starting Young
Written by Emily Mitchell (left) daughter of 2007 Colondar survivor Anita Mitchell (right) As I thought about how to approach my 25-second graders about colon cancer awareness, all I could think about...
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Living ‘Skinny-Fat’ and ‘Healthy-Sick’
Forward by Leighann Sturgin Colon Club Blog Administrator and Colondar 2.0 Staff writer. Featured Survivor in May 2015 Colondar 2.0. My friends 13 yr old, athletic, daughter, Chloe, is 5’4 3/4″ tall...
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Colon Camp 2017
Guest Blog by Kenny Toye, Featured Survivor in 2017 Colondar After my last chemo treatment, the nurse disconnected me from the chemo device that was attached to me every 2 weeks for two days, I...
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March Blue
By Leighann Sturgin Infusing IV fluids all day and TPN at night I have to pee…quite often. If it’s not my ostomy, it’s my bladder but I feel like I’m running to the bathroom 100 times a day. At night,...
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ON THE RISE
By Krista Wilson President of The Colon Club Colossal Idea Molly (McMaster) Morgoslepov was diagnosed with stage III colorectal cancer on her 23rd birthday. Feeling broken and alone she set out to and...
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Single Cancer Survivor
“Hello, my name is Lauren. I’m single and a cancer survivor. Want to date me?” I dread the mere thought of this becoming my name tag in the dating world. But around June 2015, I was looking to get...
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The single life with cancer.
. Hindsight- recognition of the realities, possibilities, or requirements of a situation, event, decision etc., after its occurrence. My name is Kenny Toye. November 2012 I was diagnosed with stage 3...
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The day cancer took me from anticipation to devastation — and then we danced
Tom Marsilje and his daughters “CT scan of the abdomen shows the patient to have multiple bilateral, too numerous to count, liver lesions consistent with widespread liver metastases.” My jaw dropped...
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Colon Cancer Ruined My Kidneys But Didn’t Ruin Me
My first HIPEC surgery Friday on 1/21/2005, lasted 14 hours. I was so close to death my surgeon said I wouldn’t have lived through the weekend without it. During the surgery that saved my life, my...
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Most Magical Vacation from Hell
After 2 HIPEC surgeries in 2005 & 2006 I had PET scan every 3 months. There was a spot “glowing” on my spleen we watched for over a year. It wasn’t getting bigger but it wasn’t going away. Near...
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What They Didn’t Tell Me
By Kristina Smith Going into becoming a model for the Colon Club, brought me great honor, as I would be one of the first to represent caregivers, after losing my husband to colon cancer, all too...
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Fighting the Fight: Through a Caretaker’s Eyes
By Kristina Smith After my husband was diagnosed with Stage IV Colon Cancer, had a total colectomy, then being reopened, to allow his abdominal wound to heal from the inside out, body issues were a...
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The Talk I Never Wanted to Have
By Diana Sloan When you have incurable cancer and children, the talk about death is inevitable. But, man, do you really try to avoid it. Not because we shouldn’t talk about death with our kids, but...
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When Did that Even Happen?
By Diana Sloan When we are fortunate enough to have our parents with us to a ripe old age, we often end up becoming their caretakers. We return the love and care they gave us when we were unable to...
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Let’s talk about sex……AND cancer.
By Riley Lewis Castro When most people think of sex, the last thing they think about is cancer. That is not the case for me, or the millions of other people in the world that have had the unfortunate...
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Creating Experiences to Last a Lifetime
Guest Blog By Sarah DeBord On the night I was diagnosed, I came home and nursed my baby boy to sleep through uncontrollable tears. As is the case with most babies, he was obsessively in love with me...
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I’m Still Me
– By Diana Sloan To say everything changes with a cancer diagnosis is the understatement of the century. Of course, there is all the medical stuff, planning normal life around appointments, and just...
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Another 10
A tumor was removed along with my spleen and part of my pancreas on 12/27/2007. It was the 4th time cancer returned to my body after the initial stage IV diagnosis in 2004. My cancer was always...
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Thankful For…
By Kenny Toye I’m thankful for cancer because it taught me how to use everything I have to survive. Sitting on a fake, deteriorating, peeling leather couch. Trade winds blowing through the 267 square...
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Five Years
~By Diana Sloan For cancer patients, the five-year mark can mean different things. For some, it may be five years since diagnosis. For others, it could be five years without evidence of disease which...
View ArticleLiving with Cancer as a Chronic Illness -Diana Sloan
When you hear you have stage IV cancer, it is hard to wrap your head around the connotations that go with the news. Immediately your mind goes to this is the worst possible diagnosis. What do I do now?...
View ArticleI Have Cancer: How Do I Tell My Children
Any parent can tell you, they have all had conversations that they would rather not have with their children. It could be the awkward puberty talk or confronting them about suspected substance abuse....
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Harvesting the Journey: Embrace, Empower, Endure
Embrace: to accept As a pediatric palliative care nurse practitioner, I journey with patients and their families through the toughest of diagnoses, including disease-related pain and symptoms. I sit...
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Why them and not me?
I think every cancer patient asks why at some point? I know I did. Why did I get sick? Why did I get colorectal cancer under 50? Why me? I quickly realized there are no answers to those questions...
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Dear Caretakers: Thank You Isn’t Enough
One thing I think all cancer patients can agree on is that caretakers are the unsung heroes of a cancer diagnosis. You may be a spouse, family, or friends, but you all have something in common....
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New to Chemo? Survivors Share their Tips
One of the most intimidating parts of a cancer diagnosis is beginning chemotherapy. Patients wonder what to expect and what they need to have to make treatment easier. It is important to understand...
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Treatments for Colorectal Cancer: A Guide by Dr. Laura Porter
Today I want to talk about the mechanisms of action of various treatments for colorectal cancer. There are three different categories of systemic or drug treatment. Chemotherapy This treatment uses...
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“Not the News I Wanted” A Guest Blog Post by Danielle Ripley-Burgess
I had dreams of posting a blog about my colonoscopy earlier this week and sharing that I was polyp-free and the coast was clear in my colon. Although I didn’t leave the clinic like I have in...
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When Should I do a Clinical Trial? By Dr. Laura Porter
An important question to ask regarding clinical trials is when is it appropriate to look for clinical trials? The short answer is immediately, and I will tell you why. Less than 3% of people with...
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Moving Forward
By Leighann Sturgin After several tests and biopsies over the last four weeks, I’ve unfortunately been diagnosed with stage 3 rectal cancer. For those who understand these things it’s T3N2. After...
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“It’s Okay to Not Be Okay in March” by Diana Sloan
As many of you know, March was Colorectal Cancer awareness month. For long-term survivors or patients like me it is a blessing and extremely hard at the same time. Don’t get me wrong. I loved seeing...
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Colon Club Board Member Profile: Rob Vite
My name is Rob Vite. I am 37 years old. I am a five year colon cancer survivor, and this is my story: I grew up playing sports, but I lived for football. It was my passion, release, fight and glory....
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Routine Disruption
By Diana Sloan Today I am sitting in The Gazebo at MD Anderson Cancer Center waiting to meet my new oncologist. My previous oncologist has moved to a new opportunity, so I have been reassigned. This...
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Colon Club Board Member Profile: Ashley Flynn
Hi everyone! Take a seat, sit back, and prepare to be shocked as I tell you a little bit about myself and this evil thing called colorectal cancer. I believe that colon cancer entered my life in 2008...
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Meet Our Board Member: Meggan Mikal
Embrace: to accept My name is Meggan Mikal and I am pediatric palliative care nurse practitioner. I journey with patients and their families through the toughest of diagnoses, including...
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Make Plans by Diana Sloan
Lately I have experienced the loss of some great friends. All from colorectal cancer and way too young. These were all Stage IV patients, and they were all simply amazing in their own ways. One was a...
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Becoming a Mom After Surviving Colon Cancer by Danielle Ripley-Burgess
My Story My story of becoming a parent after cancer actually starts at age 17. It’s not because I had a teenage pregnancy, but because it’s when I lost my fertility. We were all shocked, how could I...
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Veteran’s Day By Katie Lee
The year is 2003, and it’s March. Bush just declared war in Iraq. My boyfriend was serving in the Marine Corps in Okinawa, Japan and had just transferred to his first-choice duty station in Camp...
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A Caretaker’s Story by Nadya Carlson-Bowen
As we close the month of November and National Caregivers Month, The Colon Club would like to send a special thank you to all loved ones who care for cancer patients. The level of gratefulness...
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