Lavender Ribbon Cancer Scholarship

My Dad was first diagnosed with colorectal cancer in November of 2011. At the time, doctors believed it was Stage 1. I was in second grade, and my parents didn't tell me at first. Eventually, my Mom sat me down and explained what was going on. He had surgery on a Wednesday in Spring - I remember because I still went to school and my teacher gave me the purple bracelet she was wearing in an attempt to comfort me. The surgery took much longer than expected, and analysis of the tissue samples revealed what my Dad actually had was Stage 3B colorectal cancer. When he came home he slept on a bed with thick foam placed on top of it - he later told me that foam saved his life, as it was the only way he could be comfortable. We were incredibly lucky in that, due to a combination of chemotherapy, the surgery, and radiation, my Dad went into remission. It was an incredible celebration when he hit the five-year mark! Unfortunately, in the Fall of 2017, he was once again going to frequent appointments and determining treatment options. It took a long time to actually find the tumor. All we knew were his symptoms and a rising CEA. Finally, it was found in the lining of his bladder, where all the imaging fluid collected, making it hard to see. There was another surgery, and an ileostomy was added to the colostomy he already had. In 2019 he received CyberKnife treatment, seeing as he had too much general radiation in 2011 to consider any more. In January 2020, he had a blockage in his colon that had doctors resorting to surgery, in which they discovered scar tissue from his 2011 operation - some samples of which tested as cancerous. The scar tissue was so extensive the consensus was he could never have abdominal surgery again. This was the beginning of the end, although I am incredibly grateful to have had three more years before he passed. His cancer was, quite frankly, strange. The most common places for metastasis in colorectal cancer are the liver and lungs, and slightly less commonly the brain and lymph nodes. As far as we know, he never had metastases in any of these places. Cancer in your lungs kills much more quickly than cancer in the lining of your abdomen. His oncologist placed him on a regiment of chemotherapy - they'd try one, his CEA would go down for a bit, then something would mutate and his CEA would rise again. Rinse and repeat with a new chemo. It wasn't until December of 2022 that his hemoglobin was so low the chemotherapy center sent him straight to the emergency department. There, it was discovered he had an infection in his abdomen due to complications from cancer and treatment - an infection nothing could be done for. He entered at-home hospice care and passed away in February 2023. Cancer was a constant worry in my life growing up. When choosing a college major, I decided on Cellular and Molecular Biology in the hope of joining the thousands of cancer researchers currently fighting the "Emperor of all Maladies". Without the variety of treatments currently available my Dad would have died in 2012. Although it's incredible my Mom and I had eleven extra years with him, more can always be done. I intend to pursue a graduate degree in Cancer Biology or Molecular Biology, in order to have the education I need to successfully serve humanity by making a difference in the outlook of cancer patients.