CLOBBERING COLON CANCER

A couple of years ago, Christine Niemi was just another twenty-something toiling away as a temporary budget analyst for a health care company while pursuing her interest in acting in Los Angeles, CA. In May 2005, without warning, she started craving ice and feeling overly fatigued. All she wanted to do was sleep and just mustering the energy to get to work became a major chore. Upon hearing her symptoms, a doctor declared her anemic. She was given iron supplements and sent home, but that isn't where the story ends.

Doctors became baffled when Christine's iron levels remained low, even with supplements. She underwent more tests until she was finally given a more accurate, albeit far scarier, diagnosis: Colon Cancer. At the time, Christine was a mere 28 years old! The cancer had progressed to Stage IV and, at first, her prospects seemed as dim as a 40-watt light bulb during a blackout. Doctors warned that it could be untreatable. Yet in August 2005, Christine underwent her first surgery. Other surgeries and tests were to follow along with chemotherapy, which is scary enough on its own.

During the initial stages of her illness, Christine was forced to quit her temp job and face the reality of rapidly escalating health care costs without any health care insurance. At times, the costs scared her more than the cancer. She had so many emotions that she didn't know what to do with them all--so she started a blog, appropriately named http://coloncancersucksass.blogspot.com. The blog made her feel better. She blogged about her experiences, surgeries, and the odd, humorous, and downright strange aspects of her illness and reactions to medications.

At first, blogging was a therapeutic way to express her anger and fears about her illness and a relatively easy way to update friends and family on her health status. When she put up her first posts, Christine had no idea how much of an impact her personal blog would have on others. Suddenly she was getting e-mails from people she didn't even know. To others coping with cancer, she offered support and assured them that they were not alone - and as Christine soon found out, neither was she.

With her ever-increasing blog, http://coloncancersucksass.blogspot.com, Christine had new motivation and strength to fight her illness, along with a solid purpose in helping others affected by cancer. Since colon cancer is extremely rare in women her age, she's increased awareness through her site by listing colon cancer related links and other resources for young adults coping with cancer. This March, Christine was chosen to participate in the C3 (Colorectal Cancer Coalition) Call-On Congress in Washington D.C. to spread awareness of the disease and lobby for more cancer research funding. She embraced the opportunity to make an even more powerful impact with her presence on Capitol Hill!

The Specter-Harkin Amendmentpassed and will increase NIH ( National Institutes of Health) funding by $2.2 billion. Funding will benefit cancer programs at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and allow for more colorectal cancer screening, education, and outreach initiative. It was a victory for cancer and a victory for Christine and others like her.

Christine has not allowed cancer to define her, yet she has allowed it to inspire her. She is planning to go back to school to further her interest in the medical field. Although it's hard to plan for anything when cancer presents you with so many detours. After two surgeries and months of chemotherapy, Christine was declared cancer-free, otherwise known as : NED (no evidence of disease), but the celebration was short-lived. In June, doctors discovered two reoccurrences, in her liver and abdomen. Just when she thought it was over, Christine is reluctantly resuming chemotherapy treatments. With family, friends, and the blog community that discovered and embraced her, Christine has lots of good karma coming her way in her continued health battle.

To help Christine or to find out more about colon cancer, please visit her blog at http://coloncancersucksass.blogspot.com
Christine's archives provide a candid snapshot and timeline of what it's like to be diagnosed with cancer and all that comes with it. Christine has also listed a multitude of informational links on her site. Cancer touched Christine, but she's turned the evil around to find a way to touch others in a positive way. She looks forward to when she can slowly segue into blog posts about her daily life beyond cancer. Until then, she'll take one day at a time. She does, however, still believe that colon cancer sucks ass.