Every cancer patient is,” explained Kaiser, City of Hope’s chief of colorectal surgery. Kaiser, M.D., remembers his first meeting with Valenzuela, as he sought to reassure a frightened young woman in deep distress, already enduring chemotherapy, embarrassed by her colostomy bag, suspicious of doctors, and desperate to end her mounting symptoms but terrified of what surgery might do to her. A close family member had been treated there. ![]() “My parents wanted me at City of Hope,” she said. Her family knew what her next step should be. Valenzuela began chemotherapy to try to shrink the tumor in preparation for eventual surgery. The tumor in her colon was also impacting her bladder and threatening her uterus. Her cancer diagnosis helped explain everything Valenzuela had been going through. Still, screening for colon cancer isn’t recommended until age 45, unless there is a family history of the disease. Most cases occur in people over 50, but it can strike young adults and even teenagers. And my brother tried to be strong in front of me, but Mom says he started crying, too.”Ĭolon cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the U.S. “We were devastated at first,” said Valenzuela. Months later, when doctors finally performed a colonoscopy to closely examine her colon, they found a tumor. They fitted Valenzuela with a colostomy bag - something she hated - to bypass and, it was hoped, relieve the inflammation.īut Valenzuela did not have diverticulitis at all. She tried another hospital, where she was told her intestines were inflamed and that she may have diverticulitis, an infection of small, bulging pouches that can form in the digestive tract. That sent her to the emergency room.ĭoctors there, startled by her “brown like coffee” discharge, prescribed antibiotics. The pain persisted, and now it was accompanied by deeply discolored urine. She visited the clinic that had fitted her with an IUD and had it removed, thinking it might be the cause. Instead, she tried self-care, buying a bunch of over-the-counter remedies, none of which worked. Stubborn and independent, Valenzuela still did not seek help or tell her parents. “Going to the bathroom was a nightmare,” she said, tears in her eyes. Then came what felt like a urinary tract infection. She didn’t consider seeing a doctor - she had no health insurance or primary-care physician.īut more symptoms followed. “My lower abdomen felt very tender,” she remembered. It was during those high-intensity sessions that Valenzuela, only 28 at the time, began to suspect something was wrong. ![]() “We did intense workouts five days a week,” she said. When public facilities began shutting down in early 2020, Valenzuela organized a “fitness boot camp” for her friends. Now it’s my turn.”Įven the COVID-19 pandemic was no match for the health-conscious Valenzuela. ![]() “She was always taking us to the mall, to the movies. The oldest of three children, Valenzuela lives with her dementia-afflicted grandmother, serving as primary caregiver. She has also stepped up when challenges presented themselves at home. A straight-A student, Valenzuela, now 31, is working toward a degree - and a career - in broadcast journalism. That spirit also turned up in the classroom. During PE in middle school, I would sneak into the boys’ line to play basketball with them because they were more competitive.” Playing with other girls didn’t interest her. “Especially basketball,” she said, recalling her school days. Growing up in East Los Angeles, she sought out the toughest challenges. Melisa Valenzuela has always been a competitor.
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