A Philadelphia woman underwent cancer treatment twice, both times with new babies at home. Now she's using her story to educate others about colon and colorectal cancer.
Lauren Ricottone, 37 at the time of this story, is a nurse, wife, and mom. She'd just given birth to her eldest child when she experienced severe bleeding and received a colorectal cancer diagnosis.
It wasn't the first time Lauren had noticed some bleeding, but she had no idea things would get that bad.
"I thought it was just a hemorrhoid or something I ate — I wasn’t too worried,” she told Yahoo! Lifestyle.
Lauren managed to undergo cancer treatment with a newborn at home, and after months of chemo, she thought she was in the clear. But then, double déjà vu: The cancer was back, and she was pregnant again.
Once again, Lauren beat cancer, this time with a young baby and a toddler at home. She's now been cancer-free for 16 months, and she wants to raise awareness of colon and colorectal cancer, which many people never think twice about.
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"I work in the ER of a large health system, so I deal with cancer, including cancer in younger people, every day. But a lot of people my age don't recognize that it can happen to them," Lauren said.
This story first appeared on LittleThings in March 2019.
Lauren Ricottone is a nurse, so she's always been conscientious of her health. But in 2015, she unexpectedly noticed blood on her toilet paper.
"I thought it was just a hemorrhoid or something I ate — I wasn't too worried," Lauren told Yahoo! Lifestyle.
Her husband, Chris, urged her to get a colonoscopy, so off to the hospital she went. On the day of the procedure, she went through all the normal steps of preparation, including a pregnancy test. To her surprise, the test came back positive.
Lauren didn't want to undergo anesthesia while pregnant, so she put off the colonoscopy. She gave birth to her first baby girl, Charlie Elizabeth, in January 2016.
Two weeks later, things took a turn for the worse.
"I went to the bathroom and suddenly there was blood everywhere, from both my rectum and vagina," Lauren said. "I was so dizzy and weak I could barely stand."
Lauren and Chris rushed to the hospital, and shortly after, she went back for her colonoscopy. That's where she received an earth-shattering diagnosis: She had stage 3B colorectal cancer.
"Even after getting the news, I was in total shock," Lauren said. "I didn’t cry — I was in total disbelief. I was so young, and I had no family history of colon cancer. It just didn’t seem possible."
With a newborn at home, Lauren began cancer treatment at Fox Chase Cancer Center. She had her tumor removed in March 2016, mere months after giving birth, and then she underwent chemotherapy for six months.
After a few months, Lauren's health had drastically improved. She was able to enjoy her favorite activities again.
But in February 2017, she went back to the emergency room with a stomach bug. For the second time, she found out by surprise that she was pregnant.
"I still can't believe I got the news that way," Lauren wrote for Fox Chase. "It was all the more shocking, because I had been told that the chemotherapy would likely make me infertile."
Lauren's follow-up CT scans to check for cancer were put on hold for the duration of her pregnancy. In August 2017, her son Michael was born.
A month later, she went for her first scan… and the cancer was back.
Her primary tumor was gone, but the cancer had spread to her lungs.
"Here I was again, with a newborn and a cancer diagnosis," she told Yahoo! Lifestyle.
"We knew we would need around the clock care for a month, and Michael was only four weeks old, so I wrote out a schedule from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day and family members and friends took turns coming out to watch the kids while I was recovering."
After a while, Lauren went back to work. Juggling work, a newborn, a toddler, and cancer treatment was exactly as challenging as you'd expect it to be.
"I would work the night shift, leave work at 7 a.m., go to chemo at 8 a.m., and sleep in the chemo chair while I knew my kids were at home with my mom," Lauren recalled.
That was 16 months ago. Lauren is now cancer-free, and she's determined to stay that way.
"I have so much to live for — every time I come home from work and see my kids so healthy and happy, it motivates me to keep fighting," Lauren said.
Now she's working to raise awareness of colon cancer and colorectal cancer, which are on the rise in young people.
"I work in the ER of a large health system, so I deal with cancer, including cancer in younger people, every day," Lauren explained. "But a lot of people my age [don't] recognize that it can happen to them.”
Symptoms include bleeding, diarrhea, and constipation that doesn't go away after a few days.
It's not just about watching for symptoms, though, but also about advocating for your own health.
"Even some physicians will brush off bleeding in a 30-year-old as hemorrhoids. But it should still always be checked out with a colonoscopy," she warned.
Please share Lauren's story to spread her important message.
