Living with Stage 4 Colon Cancer

In the summer of 2023, Jesus Abarca wasn’t feeling right. He saw multiple doctors where he was living in California, but the pain wouldn’t go away. In the winter he quit his job, moved home to Southwest Florida, saw a specialist and got a colonoscopy. The results showed that he had stage 4 colon cancer at only 33 years old. “It was super hard to hear,” said Abarca. “I mean, again, because in my mind, I'm like, I've been doing things in my mind the right way, working out, taking care of myself.”
His treatment started with radiation followed by chemotherapy. He says while it can be hard at times, the compassion and support from his family, friends, nurses and doctors has had a major impact. “There was a distinct conversation I had with one of the nurses here. I was crying, and I'm just like, I feel so weak, and I've never felt like that before. And she's like, your body right now is fighting cancer, and it's fighting for you, so you have to do the same thing. And I remember holding her hand, and I'm like, wow. It's such a small thing to say, but it really impacted me,” said Abarca.
Fortunately, he’s responding well to treatment. Abarca said “Because it's stage 4, I'll pretty much need treatment to my understanding permanently, just to contain it in my liver. The rectal tumors already shrunk in half, so that's really good. I've noticed a huge difference just in, like, being a little bit more active in, like, my lifestyle, kind of getting that quality of life back.”
He’s grateful for the little things like being able to drive a car, exercise, and go for a walk. “I'm kind of like feeling some semblance of my old life back again.” He encourages others to listen to your body and don’t put off treatment if things don’t feel right. You can learn more about colon cancer by searching for it on leehealth.org.
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Lee Health in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of health care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For more than 100 years, we’ve been providing our community with personalized preventative health services and primary care to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries.
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