Allison Rosen went from lab researcher to colorectal cancer super advocate she spends her days helping new patients and caregivers figure out how to navigate life with colorectal cancer. She shared her entire treatment journey with The Patient Story (full story → www.thepatientstory.com/cancers/colorectal/allisonrosen/).

We've listed time codes below to help you navigate this video. To those of you watching, we hope her story and words give you comfort and some knowledge on the daytoday life with colorectal cancer.

1. Diagnosis
(00:26) 1st Symptoms
(2:10) Getting things checked out
(3:20) Describing the colonoscopy
(5:58) "Scanxiety" dealing with waiting for test results
(8:09) Processing the diagnosis

2. Treatment Decisions
(9:48) Finding the right medical team
(12:44) Why she chose her hospital
(14:24) Treatment plan

3. Neoadjuvant ChemoRadiation
(18:42) Oral chemo pill, Xeloda, and side effects
(21:20) Radiation and side effects

4. Surgery (Total Abdominal Colectomy)
(26:08) Prepping for surgery, emotional decisions
(31:30) Surgery and tips for updating loved ones
(33:08) Waking up from 14hour surgery
(38:52) Recovering from major surgery
(41:15) Guidance on how to best recover

5. Surgical options
(35:21) The need for a stoma and ileostomy bag
(37:49) General surgical options
(45:55) Dealing with the ileostomy

6. Second Chemo
(43:28) More on oral chemo
(48:50) Followup protocol

7. Reflections
(30:05) Getting emotional support
(49:56) Hair loss was unique to Allison
(51:37) Top questions you get as a patient advocate
(52:30) Fertility preservation
(55:27) Longterm impacts of cancer
(57:20) How cancer affected relationships
(59:07) Finding your cancer community
(1:02:38) Last message to others