TELLING YOUR PERSONAL STORY

Remember to craft your personal story by writing it down.Capturing all your thoughts and feelings is fundamental to your advocacy activities as this will be what connects you to the listener and humanizes the issues you bring forward. To learn more about how to develop your personal story, please review Telling Your Personal Story: A How-To Guide.

Shane’s story

I was diagnosed in April 2022 with stage 3c rectal cancer at 34 with no family history and only some minor symptoms. At first, I attempted to deal with the symptoms myself, assuming I had hemorrhoids, and put off seeing my doctor out of embarrassment. I never thought for a second there could be anything seriously wrong with me. Unfortunately, the whole COVID situation ca...

Lisa’s story

If you’re here reading this, you probably already have your diagnosis. Maybe you’re at the beginning, maybe you have finished your treatment or maybe you’re just moving through the uncertain process. That’s where I am. A woman diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer in the spring of 2022 at age 51 when I had surgery to remove the descending colon. Multiple pericentimetric m...

Rada’s Story

Awareness is the best medicine I remember many things from my battle with colorectal cancer, but one thing that stands out is people looking at me with pity, asking how I recognized the signs. The day before my diagnosis, I would have looked at someone the same way and asked the same questions. How did I know? I didn’t exactly. I felt the changes in m...

Gaston’s Story

April 2023 My story goes back to the start of 2000 when I made a radical life change. I decided to leave my urban life where I was running a small graphic design and advertising company. A 180-degree turn led me to go live in the forest in Haute Mauricie, Quebec and start a new life living among nature. The fact that I was in exceptional health at the time made things ea...

Hanna’s Story

We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Hanna Lengkeek, a stage III rectal cancer survivor. She was inspired to share her story with the Colorectal Cancer Canada community after hearing CTV news anchor Jocelyn Laidlaw speak about her own colorectal cancer diagnosis. Hanna currently lives in Chilliwack, BC with her husband Art and is actively involved in various volunt...