Anna Razhova Discusses Her Personal Battle With Colon Cancer

Vicki:

Welcome and thank you for joining us for another HMC HealthWorks podcast. Anna Razhova joins us today to discuss colorectal cancer. Anna is on the Never Too Young Advisory Board of the Colorectal Cancer Alliance. She has stage four colorectal cancer and is passionate about young survivors and patients being heard. Today, we will focus on some of the basics, including the different stages of cancer, standard screening recommendations and what some symptoms of colorectal cancer are. We will also discuss the importance of knowing your body and advocating for yourself if something doesn’t feel right. Anna, thank you so much for joining us today. I know you are currently battling colorectal cancer, and I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us today.

Anna:

Thank you so much for having me. I’m very excited. Thank you for this opportunity.

Vicki:

All right, before we start discussing, your personal battle with cancer, I want to start out with some of the basics for listeners who don’t really know a lot about colorectal cancer. There are four stages of any type of cancer. Can you describe each stage as it relates to the colorectal cancer for me?

Anna:

Absolutely. Simply put, these are the stages of colon cancer. There’s stage zero, which I know is surprising to many people. That’s when cancer hasn’t moved from where it started and it’s still restricted to the innermost lining of the colon. Then there is stage one. That’s when cancer has begun to spread, but it’s still in the inner lining of the colon. With stage two, cancer has gone through the wall of the colon and it may extend into nearby tissue. They have not yet spread to the lymph nodes yet. With stage three, cancer has spread to lymph nodes, but has not been carried to distant parts of the body. And I will say it is zero to three. Those are all considered to be very curable. Most of the time they’re 90% curable. It’s very different when you get to stage four with colorectal cancer. That’s when cancer has been carried through the lymph, through the lymph system, to distant parts of the body, most commonly lungs and especially liver.

Vicki:

Wow. Yeah, I didn’t know there was a stage zero. When you were diagnosed how old were you and what stage were you?

Anna:

I was diagnosed in February 2018. I was only 33 years old, and my daughter was three months old. I was misdiagnosed prior a few times and got a lot of pushback from multiple doctors about addressing my symptoms. Most of it was assumed to be post-delivery infection. I was only taken serious finally, when it was too late, that was when I collapsed in my office with sharp pain in my rib cage area. A few days later, I was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. It’s very unfortunate that many young patients, either don’t have symptoms at all, like me, until something critical happens or our symptoms aren’t taken seriously by the doctors. That’s why many of the times, young patients are really diagnosed at a very late stage, unfortunately.

Vicki:

Yeah, I mean 33, that is so young. It’s my understanding that it’s becoming more and more common that young people are getting diagnosed with colon cancer. Let’s talk about some of the risk factors and the symptoms that people can look out for,

Anna:

To be honest, colorectal cancer first develops with few, if any symptoms at all. But, if you have any of the following changes, you should contact your doctor immediately. The first one is changing bowl habits. This can include diarrhea and or constipation, change in consistency of your stool, or more narrow stool than usual. The second one is persistent abdominal discomfort. So this happens when you have cramps, gas, pain, and you’re feeling bloated, or you feel like your bowel is not completely empty. You can also feel nauseous or actually be vomiting.

Anna:

The third one, and that’s the most telling sign, as well as a more repeated sign where most of the patients is blotting in stool. Blood can be bright red, or your stool may turn black or brick red. The fourth one is you will feel weak or fatigued. You may also have anemia, which is what I had, or low red blood cell count. And then there’s a fifth one, which is unexplained weight loss. So if you are losing weight for no known reason and you still have the same eating habits and you have nausea or vomiting, it’s very possible symptom that you may have colorectal cancer.

Vicki:

Well, it seems like a lot of these can be common with other health conditions, making it important to talk to your doctor right away. In addition to the symptoms above it is also important to take your family history into account. According to the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, if you have a family history it increases your risk and your doctor will recommend earlier or more frequent screening. People with a family history should get screened at age 40 or 10 years before the youngest case in your family, whichever is earlier. I understand if you have a family history of screening that the recommendation is 40 years old, but if you don’t have a family history, what is the guideline?

Anna:

That actually changed last year, and we were very excited for the change that was made prior. It was recommended by the American Cancer Society to get a colonoscopy at 50 years old. But what the recent change is the recommendation now is that you see a doctor and you get a colonoscopy, it’s 45 if you have family history of colorectal cancer.

Vicki:

Well, that’s good that there’s been some progress there. Can you tell me a little bit about the different types of screening tests there are?

Anna:

There are several screening tests that can be used to find polyps of colorectal cancer. There are stool tests, which are the easiest, and those are the ones that you can also do at home. It’s a stool sample, and your stool sample is tested for presence of blood or cancer cells. Another one is CT colonography, which uses x-rays and computers to produce images of the entire colon. And then the third one, which is the most accurate one, is colonoscopy. That’s really the only test where you can know for sure the location of the polyp, as well as your stage. And with that, the doctor will go in with the long, thin, flexible lighted tube and it’s inserted inside of the rectum and the entire colon to check for polyps, so cancer. And I know it sounds scary and a lot of people are scared to do it, but you actually don’t feel anything during the procedure or after procedure. And I’ve had it done twice so I promise you it’s painless and it’s worth it.

Vicki:

Good to know. Now that we have discussed the basics of colon cancer. I want to talk a little about your battle, because I understand that you do have a family history with the cancer and can you tell me a little bit about this?

Anna:

Absolutely. I knew that cancer ran in my family. Unfortunately, because where we lived, I lived in another country, it was a little more taboo to get treatments or get proper diagnosis in communist Russia. Especially if you talk about poop, you just don’t discuss that. To women it’s unladylike, and then for men, you just don’t go back there. Eventually after my diagnosis, I found out that my father, as well as my grandmother and her brother all passed away from colorectal cancer. We had a rare genetic mutation called FAP, which is familial adenomatous polyposis. That’s when the polyps and colon start growing at a very young age. With me, the doctors assumed that my polyps probably started going when I was just only eight or 10 years old. And if the preventative surgery isn’t done, it is 100% of the time that this mutation causes gastro related cancer at a young age.

Anna:

My father chose not to get any treatment or tell us. I’m not sure about the fact that my grandmother chose. She passed away when my father was only 17 and he never discussed that. That is why I made my mission to speak up, because people in my family didn’t, and that’s why I am in this predicament today. I know what happens to me is a terrible, terrible thing. And of course I’m not happy about it, but I also see that it was given to me so that I can prevent others from being in that position. And it’s become my mission as well as a source of therapy and healing for myself.

Vicki:

Wow. What a story. Sadly, like most cancers, there is no cure for colorectal cancer. What is some of the best advice you would give to someone who has received a diagnosis?

Anna:

That is a very great question, and I wish that somebody gave me this advice when I was first diagnosed. When I was first diagnosed, I was absolutely bombarded with information, with treatment options, with advice, it was just on and on and on. It became overwhelming. I actually think it was counterproductive on some level. I was losing sleep over trying to process all of this information. I would say take deep breaths, filter through the information slowly and don’t panic. Accept help and ask for help. Don’t shut down. Find resources in the community where you can speak to other patients going through the same issues. They’re even mentioned body programs where you can have someone to go to who is about the same age and in a similar situation as you. You won’t recognize yourself, you will never be the same person.

Anna:

Be patient for those close around you. Meditate, eat healthy, exercise, even if it’s just walking outside. And then on the days when you are down and you don’t want to do anything, be kind to yourself, allow yourself to just do nothing and feel no guilt about it. The best advice I ever received was from my liver surgeon, Dr. Fong, in City of Hope. She told me to live my life, fill up my calendar, make plans, do trips, stop living in fear and around cancer appointments or don’t RSVP to something because you think you’ll probably be too sick to do it.

Anna:

And I know it’s a little bit different now because of COVID, but say yes to everything. Get out, laugh, occupy your mind, live your life. What’s the worst that can happen? You call and cancel because you are too sick? So do it, did say yes. I will repeat you nothing to deserve this, this isn’t your fault. Be loving and kind to yourself. Positive attitude is tough in this battle, you have cancer, don’t let the cancer have you.

Vicki:

Wow. That’s some really powerful advice. And I really appreciate you taking the time to speak with me today as you’re fighting your own battle with cancer. My hope is that our conversation can help others understand the importance of advocating for yourself, and that someday there will be a cure for those fighting battles with cancer.

Anna:

My phrase that I tell everyone, and anyone who will listen to me or even ignore me, because I’ll just keep saying it, love yourself enough to check yourself at a doctor’s office today, one cell, one phrase, “you have cancer”, both turn your world upside down. So if you love your life, your family, do it for them. If it’s your family members, be open. It’s never an easy conversation discussing loss of a family member, but find out, ask questions. Genetic testing is a great way to narrow down some genetic issues you may have, although don’t rely on that fully. There’s nothing, I mean, nothing more important than your health. Stop making up excuses for not going to the doctor. You have time, you have money, and if you don’t, there are tons of resources that can help you cover the costs. For example, Colorectal Cancer Alliance covers costs for colonoscopies if you aren’t able. People are out there to help you, just make the step. Love yourself enough to catch yourself today. Let’s end colorectal cancer in our lifetime.

Vicki:

Anna, again, thank you so much for taking the time to share your story. Your positive attitude and advocacy show how strong you just truly are. Well that wraps it up for today. If you want to listen to HMC HealthWorks podcast, visit our website at hmchealthworks.com, or you can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.