Diagnosed at 29, Colorectal Cancer Survivor Finds Purpose in Sharing His Story

Chris Lopez was the youngest colon cancer patient his oncologist had ever treated. At 29, Chris was 16 years younger than the recommended screening age of 45. With no obvious risk factors and no family history of cancer, Chris’s diagnosis was a shock.

A Diagnosis at a Young Age

Chris had his first symptom, a severe stomachache, when traveling. He thought it was likely food poisoning. But when the pain worsened two weeks later, he decided to go to his primary care physician.

After weeks of bloodwork and other tests, Chris’s doctor sent him to a gastrointestinal (GI) specialist, who also struggled to give him answers. At this point, Chris had lost nearly 30 pounds in two months. For Chris, it was unsettling to hear so many doctors say, “I’ve never seen this in any of my patients this young.”

“[My doctor] thought I may have had some kind of parasite, so he prescribed me medication for that, but it didn’t work, and I kept losing weight,” Chris said. “I remember him saying that he wouldn’t normally recommend a colonoscopy for a patient my age, but since nothing else was working, he scheduled it.”

Chris was still waking up from anesthesia when the GI doctor delivered the news. Chris had a tumor the size of a grapefruit in his colon, and it had already started to spread outside of the colon. Chris said the diagnosis shattered the future he’d imagined for himself.

“My now wife and I were dating at the time, and we were planning to start a family,” Chris said. “When I started treatment, my radiologist told me that because of the location of the tumor, radiation would likely make me sterile. That was really hard news for us. It’s not something we ever thought would happen.”

Chris is grateful that his radiologist suggested he see a specialist to understand what options he had for preserving fertility, given the tumor’s location. “I think it is very important to discuss options before treatment begins because it might be too late once treatment begins,” he said.

Being His Own Advocate

Because of Chris’s age, he and his care team wanted to ensure his treatment options took his age and future into account. The first surgeon he met recommended first doing a major surgery to remove the tumor and part of his colon. This would mean he’d need an ostomy bag, a bag outside the body that collects waste from the digestive tract, for the rest of his life.

“I just wasn’t comfortable with that,” Chris said. “I just thought, I want to feel comfortable going to the beach. I want to live a normal life. I’m not ready for something like that. I need to think about my future and what this could be like for the rest of my life.”

During this time, Chris says he sought out information about his treatment options and diagnosis from the American Cancer Society on cancer.org.

He also sought out a second opinion and decided to receive the rest of his cancer care at the University of Texas Southwestern. Together with his new cancer team, Chris opted to have other treatments that would help to shrink his tumor first, before surgery. A smaller tumor meant he might be able to have a less invasive surgery and only a temporary ostomy rather than a permanent one.

Chris had a month of intravenous (IV) chemotherapy and another month of targeted radiation therapy, all while finishing his college degree and working as a chef. The treatment was enough to shrink his tumor, and in November 2021, surgeons removed what was left of it. He had an ostomy for a month while he healed from surgery, and in spring 2022, he had another surgery to reverse the ostomy and repair parts of his intestine.

Today, Chris is in remission. He sees his oncologist every six months for follow-ups and gets an annual colonoscopy. Still, those months of intense treatment and recovery were the most grueling of his life.

“There were so many days when I was depressed and feeling like crap, but my wife and my faith pulled me back out of that hole,” Chris said. “My wife would tell me, ‘You need to get up, there are people who have it worse than you, you’ve got to keep going.’ I got strength from her. She’s stronger than I am.”

Supporting Other Young Cancer Patients

Chris says one of the hardest parts of cancer treatment was the social isolation and loneliness. Even with a wife and supportive family who stuck by him, it was scary to be the youngest patient most of his care team had ever treated. It felt like dangerous, uncharted territory. So when Chris finished treatment, he vowed to help make sure other young people with cancer wouldn’t have to navigate that path alone.

In 2020, Chris joined a cancer support group for young adults in Dallas, a group started by patients at the hospital where he was treated. He’s become an unofficial mentor for other young adults who have been diagnosed with various cancers. The group, which has grown from just eight members in 2020 to over 60 today, is a place to share experiences, practical tips, and support when the doubt and heaviness of cancer creep in.

“I’ve stayed up late at night on the phone, answering questions and talking through their doubts and worries,” Chris said. “I’m glad I can use my experience to tell other young patients that they aren’t the only ones and that no one fights alone.”

Chris’s goal now is to raise awareness, especially among young people. He wants to stress the importance of knowing your risk and getting recommended cancer screening tests. Even more importantly, he urges everyone to seek care as soon as they experience any concerning symptoms.

Chris says every time he learns of another person diagnosed young, it both shatters his heart and revives his commitment to the cause. He’s shared his story nationwide, in both English and Spanish. Chris says his experience feels worth it when people say that because of him, they got screened or checked early enough to take action.

“I had a man in his 50s tell me that he’d been avoiding going to the doctor until he read my story,” Chris said. “When he went in for his colonoscopy, they found a polyp and removed it. His message to me said, ‘Thanks to you, I was able to avoid getting cancer.’ That makes it feel like what I’ve been through has been meaningful.”