LITTLE ROCK, Ark.- Tina Niederbrach has come a long way since first being diagnosed with colon cancer.
“It truly is a battle,” Niederbrach says. “I would tell my husband, ‘I don’t know how people do this alone.”
Tina says she had an army of care from the folks at CARTI Cancer Center.
“Shandra was my nurse, and I can’t say enough about Dr. Petel,” Niederbrach recalls. “I told Dr. Pete the first time I met him, ‘I want you to annihilate it.’ He said, ‘Well, I don’t know annihilate, but I do know kill the…’, and I said, ‘Okay, I’m good with that.”
Tina tells me she had a fast-growing colon cancer tumor, and went through some tough rounds of radiation and chemotherapy. It all paid off, because now she’s cancer-free.
“Just to say ‘I’m cancer free’, is probably one of the most empowering words you can imagine,” Niederbrach says.
Like many cancer survivors, her wisdom carries a lot of weight. She suggests if you have warning signs of colon cancer, see a doctor quickly.
“Know yourself is a really, really important thing,” Niederbrach says. “And take care of it and don’t put it off.”
Here are a few of the symptoms of colon cancer:
- Rectal bleeding or blood in the stool
- Abdominal bloating, cramps or discomfort
- A feeling that the bowel doesn’t empty completely
- Stools that are thinner than normal
If you have signs, see a GI doctor immediately.
