A tumor was pressed up into my appendix. I thought it was appendicitis, but turns out it wasn’t. It was actually a stage 3 colon adenocarcinoma.

Learning about my diagnosis made me fearful and sad. It was a shock to discover I had cancer with no symptoms.

Treatment-wise, I opted for a partial colectomy (removal of a part of colon), chemo and immunotherapy. I followed the recommendations of my surgeon and oncologist. They discussed as part of a multidisciplinary team so I felt the advice was sound. I am a public hospital patient, so my treatment is subsidized under Australian Medicare.

I did an initial 12 rounds of FOLFOX with fortnightly treatment. This continued for 6 months. I had a break of approximately 6 months and discovered my lung nodule metastasis had grown and spread. So, I started 12 rounds of FOLFIRI with bevacizumab. At my halfway point (6 rounds), I had a CT scan and discovered the cancer has continued to grow and spread in my lungs. I am now awaiting my oncologist's decision as to where to go now.

When finalizing my initial treatment plan, I was fearful and unsure what it would be like. The only experience I had was TV/movie portrayals of chemotherapy. The change in my treatment plan filled me with fear too. I wanted it to work, to shrink my lung nodules and I just wasn't sure whether it would.

Because of the chemotherapy, I suffer from peripheral neuropathy. It has impacted me in that it has made walking more difficult. I have constant numbness in my toes and fingers. I wish I had known more about peripheral neuropathy. I had been briefly told about how it would feel but knew nothing about it continually getting worse, even when the oxaliplatin had been stopped.

Apart from that, I struggle with fatigue and hair loss. Coping with these side effects required me to engage in more frequent exercise and improve my nutrition.

My nutrition and diet changed the most after treatment. I was unable to eat certain foods due to the impacts on chemotherapy side effects. I have zero taste during chemotherapy and I have become less interested in eating. There are times I'm very hungry and would love to reach for unhealthy things but don't.

For now, my personal plans are to:

• Exercise
• Get fit and healthy
• Keep doing chemo
• Travel as much as I can
• Try to live in the moment

I stopped working after being diagnosed with colorectal cancer. I’m on indefinite unpaid sick leave. My job exists (on paper) but I am unfit for work due to chemo brain and fatigue.

Since my diagnosis, I’ve gone through challenges related to my day-to-day life, professional life, social life and relationships with loved ones. But difficulties in my self-esteem/self-image impacted me the most.

I haven't gotten through these challenges. I'm trying to by exercising, embracing hobbies, etc. But I've essentially lost a job I loved doing (teaching) and my friends and family only ever talk about my cancer. I feel locked into cancer and it appears to be my whole personality now. Add to that my hair loss, I feel like an empty shell of my previous self.

My biggest fear? Leaving my partner behind. I want every minute with him and it destroys me that I will likely leave him earlier than I had ever imagined.

Now, I just try to focus on the present. Tell myself that I don't have a crystal ball and don't know when I will die (just like before my diagnosis). There are so many stories out there about other patients, who appear to have worse diagnoses than mine, and many have been NED for years. It is possible for me to reach that too.

I'm now with stage 4 disease and I am sad and fearful about the time I have left.

Join Colontown and surround yourself with others going through the same thing. It helped fill in the gaps in knowledge and I was better prepared for things that happened. Monitor your side effects. Score them out of 5, keep a written record. Don't Google prognoses – the data is skewed heavily towards older patients with comorbidities. There are lots of success stories out there. Seek them out and remain hopeful.

It's a tough journey. Advocate for yourself as much as possible. Get second, third, fourth opinions and keep knocking down the brick walls in front of you. Lastly, try to minimize the drama and unwanted opinions of others – everyone has something to say. I found this helped me remain hopeful.