Meet Trish: Trish Riley has worked in the field of Human Resources at the House of Commons for the last 11 years, following 14 years at Health Canada.? She is a stage 3 colon cancer survivor who enjoys working out, home decor, travel, time with family and friends, but her new passion is raising colon cancer awareness. Here’s her story.
I was 51 years old, and it was the tail-end of Covid. It all started with increasingly achy muscles, sudden sharp pains in my upper abdomen. My regular 30-minute workout that I had been doing for a year always challenged me, but now it was oddly winding me to the point that I almost couldn’t make it through until the end.? A few days later, I was heading up the staircase and had to sit down, exhausted as if I had run a marathon. Then headaches, awful headaches, I’d wake up and go to bed with one and there was no reprieve. A few days in, I assumed I had Covid and it would go away in 5 or so days.? Day 9 of constant headaches, I called my family physician and was told to head directly to the Emerge at The Ottawa Hospital.
Blood was drawn and then off I went for a CT scan of my head, with a concern of brain bleeds.? The scan came back normal, but my bloodwork indicated my iron level was at a critically low level.? I needed and received an emergency blood transfusion and was released with a referral to the hematology department, which later led to a colonoscopy and endoscopy on May 24, 2022. Colon Cancer. A very aggressive tumour in my ascending colon.
Surgery ‘should’ take place within four weeks, but Covid delays suggested a wait of three to three and a half months. Terrified this could mean life or death, I reached out to a CBC journalist who was interested, and they published an article on hospital wait times for cancer surgery.? The day after the article was published, news radio CFRA contacted me for an interview that very evening. The day after that, The Ottawa Hospital contacted me with a surgery date much sooner than originally reported.
Six weeks after diagnosis, my tumour was removed, but the cancer had spread to 4 out of 26 lymph nodes. Nine rounds of chemo started in September 2022 and ended January 13, 2023.? I have been cancer-free since. I am blessed, I am grateful, but I also feel an overwhelming and compelling sense that I need to help others avoid this cancer.? It takes an average of 10 years for colon cancer to develop from the polyp stage.? There is time to diagnose at an early stage and we absolutely need to lower the screening age in Canada from 50 to 45 – or younger, similar to what our neighbours in the United States did this a number of years ago.
A few months prior to being diagnosed with colon cancer, I had submitted my FIT test (Fecal Immunochemical Test), the provincial standard for colon cancer screening, and the result was a letter, received just 2 months prior to learning I had stage 3 colon cancer, congratulating me on taking care of my colon health – with an indication that my result was ‘normal’.? In following up with the province as to how this was possible, I was advised that the FIT test is based on detecting blood in the stool… so if your tumour isn’t bleeding, it goes undetected! I appreciate the value of the FIT test, it catches a lot of cases from what I have learned, but the colonoscopy is clearly the gold standard.
This disease is undoubtedly the worst physical challenge I have ever faced in my life; I could list the side effects to my body, but I choose to tell you instead about the blessings that came into my life during my battle. At the top of that list are the connections I have made with other human beings. Trish Massart, herself a stage 4 colon cancer survivor and a stranger to me at the time, reached out to me because of the media releases about my case.? She is now one of my very best friends and beyond that, she is a superhuman being who inspires so many cancer fighters and connects them with resources. Many days of my recovery stage were spent at the barn with Trish and her horse.
A stranger from Richmond Hill located my contact information and sent me a case of chemical-free hair and body products to help me through my fight.? My neighbor, retired and a friend, attended every single one of my chemo treatments with me – driving me there, injecting me nightly with neutrophil-boosting drugs required just to get my levels to where my chemo treatments could continue. A friend from out of town drove to my home to deliver a birthday cake to my doorstep for my birthday because I was in isolation due to treatment.? Blessed. Grateful.
I am cancer-free, I have returned to full-time work, I am back to my daily workouts, and I am determined to help others avoid this disease.
I am also strongly encouraging my 50-ish year-old family and friends into colonoscopy screening – I think I’m up to nine of them now – two of whom had polyps, one of whom learned from the pathology that it would have developed into cancer! Please, get tested!
Update:
March 1st was the first day of colon cancer awareness month.
I am a member of two colon cancer awareness/survivors’ groups on Facebook, one is Canadian, the other is international.
Just before 9pm, a young woman from Spain, living in Australia, posted a message wanting any advice she could get, as her 39 –year-old sister is stage 3 and starting chemo. Her fear was palpable, as was her love for her sister. I saw her post before bed, I responded at 11:30pm, the questions began to come in quickly from her, taking me back to exactly how I felt prior to chemo.
Next thing I knew, someone was calling me through Facebook Messenger. It was the young woman from Australia and when I answered, she went immediately into apologizing for ‘invading my privacy’ and said she just so desperately needed to speak with someone who could answer her questions, someone who had been through this specific cancer. I was on speaker phone and Isabel (the sister who called me) and Elena (the cancer patient) were asking me all the questions I once had, questions I now had answers to – from medications to side effects to nutrition to hair loss to the mental anguish.
They were so afraid, cancer had spread to 4/24 lymph nodes (I had it in 4/26, so our cases were so relatable that this brought them peace, because they were speaking not only with someone who had it, but also with someone who had a similar case and survived it!). We spoke for over two hours (until 2am) and at the end, they just kept saying how grateful they were, how I gave them the first hope they have had since her sister was diagnosed late January. They asked if I would mind if they stayed in touch to ask more questions as they come – which I obviously welcomed. We have spoken/written daily since.
What they didn’t know was that they were helping me. This gives purpose to my battle and deep purpose to my life. This also took me back to my four-hour coffee shop meeting almost three years ago with Trish Massart, a stranger at the time (dear friend now), who met with me to answer my questions after I had just been diagnosed. Hearing I could beat it from a survivor was what I needed, Trish gave me that gift, and that is what Elena and Isabel needed from me that night.
In this crazy world, with the ugly that is going on, we need to see the beauty, the humanity. Trish M., a stranger at the time, gave me hope in my darkest moment and now I was able to do the same for two young women on the other side of the world. This is beauty, this is love, this is what we are capable of as humans if we just CHOOSE it. The beautiful irony of this happening on the first day of colon cancer awareness month gives me goosebumps.
Sweet Elena has a 14-month-old daughter, imagine her fear as a new mother. Please send positive vibes her way (and prayers from those of you who do) as her treatment begins.
This disease is drastically trending towards the young, the screening age can’t remain at 50! Get your butts into your doctor and get tested!
Please.