Teresa Tiano had most of her stomach removed, leaving her a smaller version of her former self. Linda Taylor, an active and healthy non-smoker, was shocked to be diagnosed with lung cancer, which for years had left her with an underlying fear of recurrence. And when Stacy Zelazny was just in her mid-30s, she felt a lump in her chest and discovered she was a carrier of the rare BRCA2 gene mutation.
Cancer can look very different depending on its type and nerve-wracking decisions about treatment. For patients and their families, the journey requires courage.
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Teresa Tiano
Teresa Tiano lost both her parents to cancer when she was 30 years old. Her father passed away at age 65 from metastatic colon cancer, and her mother passed away at age 69 from a brain tumor. Still, her own health was fine, apart from the digestive problems she suffered in her youth. Because of her family history, she was monitored regularly and proactive about seeing her doctor. But in the summer of 2011, she wasn't feeling well and felt something was wrong. Her doctor scheduled her for an endoscopy and colonoscopy to examine the digestive tract.
“At the time, I was overweight and had no problems eating. I was 44 years old. “Colon cancer has run in my family, so I thought it was time to get tested,” says Tiano, 57, of Toronto. The diagnosis caught her completely off guard. She had stomach cancer, a rare cancer that is estimated to have killed 2,000 Canadians in 2023, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. Tumors grow into tissue near the stomach, a J-shaped muscular organ in the abdomen that contains and breaks down food. Tumors can also spread to other parts of the body, so early detection saves lives. Unfortunately, it may go undetected if there are no symptoms.