Colorectal cancer survivor celebrates five-year milestone

This Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, Lara Lambert, M.D., is celebrating a big milestone – five years cancer-free.

She hit that mark in September, five years after surgery for Stage 3C rectal cancer. As wonderful as it is to be declared cancer-free, it’s still a milestone that comes with mixed feelings, she said, as she no longer comes in for regular monitoring.

“It's one of those very exciting but also kind of terrifying feelings because you're so used to going to get a scan and going to get labs, and you're going to get reassurance every six months,” she said. “And then after five years, you don't have to. But you're so used to it, it's kind of like your little safety net."

Lambert was diagnosed at age 40 in 2019, 2 1/2 years after she first noticed blood in her stool. A pulmonologist at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Health Care System, she was certainly well-versed in medicine. But she didn’t realize that colorectal cancer was increasing among younger adults.

"I didn't think that my symptoms were severe enough to be cancer. I could always explain away symptoms."

Lara Lambert, M.D.

“I wasn't aware that young-onset colorectal cancer was increasing in prevalence. If I had known that, then obviously I would have gone to get a colonoscopy,” she said.

“But I didn't think that my symptoms were severe enough to be cancer. I could always explain away symptoms, you know – do you have a hemorrhoid, or are you stressed out? Do you have an anal fissure, or do you have some sort of colitis? And so, in my mind, because I was able to think about a differential diagnosis, colon cancer was not really high on that list – especially since I felt well. I had no other symptoms. I wasn't having any pain. My labs were always stable. I wasn't losing weight.”

Once Lambert was diagnosed, she began radiation therapy, paused her treatment to hold her wedding, then underwent surgery and six months of chemotherapy.

“I'm fortunate,” she said. “Through this whole ordeal, you find people who have similar diagnoses. And one of the things that they don't tell you is that you're going to lose some of those people. And it's heartbreaking because you don't necessarily understand why. I think that I have a little bit of survivor's guilt just because I waited so long to get my symptoms checked out. Some people didn't wait, and then they were Stage 4. It doesn't make any sense sometimes.”

 

Lambert is determined to spread the word about colorectal cancer and the importance of paying attention to symptoms. She takes every opportunity that she can to talk about starting colonoscopies at the recommended age of 45 (or earlier if there’s a family history) and knowing the symptoms.

She always checks to see if her patients are up to date on colon cancer screening and gets them scheduled for colonoscopies if they aren’t.

She also thinks that her cancer journey has made her a better doctor.

“Being on the other side of the patient-physician relationship is eye-opening, and it really makes you slow down,” she said. “It made me a better physician because I have been where those people are. Especially in the emergency room, where people are coming in and they’re not knowing what’s going on, and they’re scared. I have been there.”

Symptoms of colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer often doesn’t cause symptoms early on, which is why regular screening is important. Some symptoms that should be discussed with your doctor include:

• Blood in the stool (may look dark brown or black).
  
  
• Unexplained weight loss.
  
  
• Anemia.
  
  
• Changes in your typical bowel movement pattern that don’t go back to normal after a few days.
  
  
• The feeling of needing to have a bowel movement even after going to the bathroom.
  
  
• Fatigue.

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