Adventures In Living Terminally Optimistic
Tom was an oncology researcher who was surprised to be diagnosed with Stage 3C colon cancer at the young age of 40, in June 2012 – ironically only 6 hours after he and his teammates had presented a now FDA-approved cancer drug that he helped co-invent. By June 2014, his cancer had progressed to “incurable” Stage IV CRC, with mets in his lymph nodes and lungs. In October 2017, metastatic tumours were found in his brain. He passed away on November 14th, 2017. His blog is filled with valuable updates on his condition and optimistic posts about living with metastatic cancer.
Amanda is a wife and a mother of 2 little girls. She was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in February 2015, after experiencing pains in her lower back and stomach area. She completed chemotherapy in September 2015, and was rediagnosed with colon cancer in February 2017. She underwent chemo again, and by August of 2018 everything had shrunk. She has not updated her blog since then, but we recommend reading through her past posts for a healthy dose of optimism in the face of adversity.
Angela was diagnosed with Colorectal Cancer in May 2007. She has undergone chemo and radiation multiple times, after having recurrent tumours in her lungs several times over the next decade. Her blog allows her to document her thoughts as she fights cancer, and also serves as a way to keep all of her friends and family up to speed on how things are going.
Kate was 36 when she was diagnosed with Stage II bowel cancer in May 2018. She is a single mother with 3 kids, and underwent 6 months of chemotherapy. She is now 6 months post-treatment and still recovering emotionally.
Beating Bowel Cancer – Forum
The Beating Bowel Cancer provides vital practical and emotional help in UK. The bring people with bowel cancer together to share experiences and create a powerful voice for change. They have the Patient Forum that is for anybody affected by bowel cancer either directly or through a relative. You can join after you register or sign in.
In September 2010, Ben was feeling a little sick, with some general symptoms of GI distress. In January 2011, he was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancers at 28 years old and with no family history. He has had no evidence of disease (NED) since January 2012. This blog explores aspects of cancer diagnosis, treatment, care, and survivorship.
Ben’s Bowel Movements – Facebook page
Ben was a husband, father of three daughters, and runner. He was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer in March 2012. It came as a huge shock to him and his young family, but they remained positive. “We’ll never stop fighting and living life.” He raised lots of money for cancer charities before passing away in July 2017, but his impact will not be forgotten.
Britt received a shocking diagnosis of stage 4 Colon Cancer at the age of 27 in March 2013. She has since started this blog to share the tribulations of living with cancer as a young adult.
Natalie was a 26 year old mother to 19-month old Isobel when she was diagnosed with Stage II bowel cancer, one week after her birthday. Two months later, it was upgraded to stage 4. Natalie had been suffering from rectal bleeding for five years; she was not referred for a diagnostic colonoscopy until the symptoms intensified. She wants to tell her story publicly to help others avoid her fate. She is now cancer-free and has started a new blog documenting her life as a single mother with no colon.
Bo Morris Journey with Colon Cancer
Glenn Morris has been battling colon cancer since his diagnosis in January 2013. He went through a depression and posted about the struggle and psychological impacts of a cancer diagnosis.
Patrick was diagnosed with Stage 4 bowel cancer in June 2017. This blog documents his journey living with Stage 4 cancer.
Beth is 39 years old with 2 small children, a husband, and many pets. She was diagnosed with incurable Stage 4 bowel cancer at the age of 37. She works to raise awareness of bowel cancer in young people (under age 50), as they are often not taken seriously when they visit a health professional with their symptoms.
The author was diagnosed with rectal cancer when she was 37 years old. She is married with 6 kids and 2 dogs. She warns readers that her blog will not be “nice reading”, as it is comprised of thoughts she has to get out. She talks about the emotional roller coaster that is cancer treatment.
Rob Pollock is a minister in the United Church of Canada who lives in Westend, Vancouver, BC, Canada. In 2004, he was diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer. This blog was created in 2007, during which time he was being treated for a recurrence. In 2012, he was in treatment for a persistent recurrence in his sacrum. Rob wrote, “In here you will find personal stories, reflections, inspiring videos, great music, and cancer humour.”
Cancer Owl – Comics about getting cancer and surviving it, where I draw myself as an owl.
In November of 2014, Matthew was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. He began art journaling as a way to cope and began drawing himself and owl, thus Cancer Owl was born. He also works as a therapist.
Cancer Smarts – Good Encouragement Helps
Sharon shares her colorectal cancer journey with humor and grace. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer in 2010, and has been NED since 2013. Her goal as a cancer survivor is to encourage others going through bowel cancer diagnosis and treatment by writing faith-infused blog posts.
Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada blog
The Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada (CCAC) is dedicated to increasing awareness of colorectal cancer, supporting patients, and advocating for population-based screening and timely access to effective treatments. Their blog categories are; Advocacy, Education, Events, Exercise, Giant Colon Tour, Healthy Lifestyles, New, Recipes, Research, Support etc…
Colon Cancer Chick – Survivor. Mother. Chick.
Sarah was working in the entertainment industry on TV commercials, when she was diagnosed with stage lV colon cancer at the age of 34 in November 2011. She spends her days writing about life with cancer, working for a national colon cancer non-profit, and debating her 7-year-old son.
This is Colon cancer (colorectal cancer) support forum. The Colon Club message board was started as a guestbook when Molly raises awareness of CRC back in the summer of 2000. The message board is here now to bring survivors – young and old- together. Please, ask questions, tell stories and jokes, connect with others, and send hugs…anything you feel. They monitor the board, but this is a place for you to be comfortable and say what you feel. Please, just be courteous of others who may have just started their own journeys.
A Nashville, Tennessee, girl now in Chicago is diagnosed with colon cancer and lives to blog about it. (If you don’t like to read about poop, this is not the blog for you; it IS colon cancer.)
Danielle Ripley Burgess – Spreading a message of hope.
Danielle is a two-time colon cancer survivor first diagnosed at age 17 in 2001. (You can read more about that on her first blog, Semicolon Stories.) She lives in Kansas City and is the wife to her high school sweetheart Mikey and adoptive mother to a beautiful baby girl.
Doug was diagnosed with Stage III rectal cancer in January 2010 at the age of 40. This blog about an otherwise healthy man’s battle through rectal cancer and life with a colostomy.
DOWNEY RANCH, Inc. – Barb’s rectal cancer blog
Barb handles day-to-day operations at Downey Ranch, Inc., which is a family-owned operation and 3rd generation cattle producer. She was diagnosed with Stage 3 rectal cancer in December of 2014, and has been blogging about her cancer journey since then.
Eve was experiencing extreme stomach pains in December 2007. She made several trips to the hospital, where she kept insisting there was something wrong, but kept being told it was just extreme constipation. She was finally admitted for tests in January 2008, and they decided to move forward with surgery. During the surgery they ended up taking out a foot of her colon, 20 lymph nodes, some muscle and her appendix. She was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer. She documents her cancer journey in this blog.
Julia was a mother to 4 daughters. She was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer which spread to her liver in December 2013. Her blog was about her life in general, not just cancer – because she was more than just her cancer. She passed away in December of 2016.
Grace De La Rosa – Stage 3c Colon Cancer Survivor, Advocate and Public Speaker
Grace was 38 when she was diagnosed with stage 3c colon cancer in August 2005. She has no family history of any type of cancer. She is a wife and mother of two. She was a swimwear model, fitness instructor and fitness competitor. She worked out religiously and ate healthy foods. When she heard the words “You have cancer”, she was shocked because she took care of herself inside and out. She is now a cancer survivor.
Susanne was diagnosed with advanced stage colon cancer at the age of 36, and after chemotherapy, radiotherapy and an abdominoperineal resection surgery, she now wears a colostomy bag. Finding clothes to wear with her colostomy has at times been a challenge, and not always successful, but she’d say she has had more wins than losses.
Inside Ed – The on-going, first-hand tale of a journey through medical oncology… and what happens after.
Ed is a Stage lV colo-rectal cancer survivor with a penchant for small thoughts. He was diagnosed Stage lllb tumor in March 2007 at the age of 45.
Julie was a 38-year-old wife and mother of two young girls. She has had two great challenges in her life, and both have been medical. She was born blind, and in July 2013, she was diagnosed with Stage lV Colon Cancer. She passed away in March of 2018. Her blog is filled with valuable posts surrounding her cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Karen and Stage 4 Colon Cancer
Without any family history of colon cancer or any other major cancer, and without any previous signs or symptoms, Karen was diagnosed with stage 4 Colon Cancer in April 2007. She was 31 years old at the time of her diagnosis. She underwent multiple chemo treatments, radiation therapy, had 2 surgeries, went through remission, then relapse, then remission again. She has now been in remission for over 7 years. This blog was started by her husband, Francis after she was diagnosed, and ended up being therapeutic for both of them.
Kicking the Crap out of Colon Cancer
David Brown lives in Toronto and was diagnosed with colon cancer in March 2012. He shares about his life, fighting cancer, side effects of treatment, hopes, fears, updates on both significant life events and everyday moments in life. He is now cancer-free.
Living with Bowel Cancer by John Naisbit
John was a police officer in London, UK before emigrating to the Gold Coast in Australia in 2008, and was diagnosed with Bowel Cancer in 2009. He blogged about his journey through bowel cancer, and no longer posts on his blog because he is no longer “Living with Bowel Cancer” since being cancer-free.
This blogger was 33 years old when she was diagnosed with Stage 3 Rectal Cancer in December 2007. She had no family history with the disease, had never been a smoker, and had been vegetarian for over eight years. She has been living cancer-free for nearly 10 years now.
Nicola Bourne – Writer. Mother. Cancer Survivor. Blogger. Sharer. Colostomy Wearer.
Nicola is a mum of 2 and writer. She was diagnosed with bowel cancer in January 2012. On this blog, she documents her struggles of coping with cancer even after completing chemotherapy. She is the author of The Fabulous Woman’s Guide Through Cancer.
This is a blog written by Derek Miller from Burnaby, BC. He shared his tale of living with colorectal cancer and the complications that came from it. His blog gained recognition in newspapers and online after a posthumous post was entered by Miller’s friend.
Julia is a journalist, blogger and mum of two. She started this blog to write about things she likes. Her husband Roger was diagnosed with inoperable bowel cancer in March 2015, passing away in and her posts from around that time up until his death in July of that year. She wrote many posts about her journey having a husband with cancer, and now about being a widow.
Inge is a stage 4 rectal cancer survivor (cancer free since June 2011), writer, motivational speaker, healthy food advocate/activist, vegan, practicing Buddhist, ostomate, and well-being coach. This blog is about life after cancer, her thoughts about being a practicing Zen Buddhist, living vegan; dipped in occasional political discourse. She has since moved her blog to Facebook.
Screw Cancer – I’m Peggy Luckey Damnit!
The good, bad and the ugly account of Peggy’s journey with Colon Cancer.
Carol was diagnosed with Stage lll Colon Cancer in September 2007. She has since been declared cancer-free, and moved past cancer.
Suze is a survivor of more than 10 years since advanced bowel cancer….. Here’s to many more!
Ali was diagnosed with Stage IV bowel cancer. She is a wife and mother, and is active and strong. This blog documents her journey with metastatic bowel cancer.
Tina was diagnosed with Stage 3b colorectal cancer in February 2009, at the age of 44. She had surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. She is now cancer-free.
Robert Scholl was diagnosed with Stage II Rectal Cancer in March 2007. His intention of this blog is to share his experience as honestly as he can. His commitment is to transform our current cultural conversation about cancer from one of fear and dread to one that empowers those of us who have cancer, as well as our friends and loved ones. “I had cancer. Cancer didn’t have me.” He has been in remission for over 2 years.
Jamie is from Toronto, Ontario. Colon cancer runs in her family – her grandmother died from it, and her grandfather survived it. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer in June 2014 at the age of 28. She has been living with Stage 4 cancer for 5 years now.
101 Things to Do When You Survive
Greg is a double cancer survivor at the age of 33. He was diagnosed with a stage 4 Wilms’ tumour at the age of 7. He was then diagnosed with bowel cancer at the age of 30. He beat cancer again but has struggled with the emotional effects this time round. After receiving his 2 year all-clear, he decided that now was the time to follow his dreams and travel the world with the aim of inspiring those affected by cancer.