I Beat Cancer at 23. Two Years Later, I Woke Up Blind in One Eye - Newsweek

When I woke up from a colonoscopy, doctors told me I had colon cancer. I was stunned. Not only had I not expected the diagnosis, but I also didn't even know what colon cancer was.

The procedure had been prompted by abnormal bloodwork found during my annual hormone replacement therapy (HRT) checkup. I'd been on HRT since I was 19 and began transitioning from male to female, so regular blood tests were part of my care.

Looking back, the diagnosis made sense. I had experienced rectal bleeding for the first time at 16 and was told it was hemorrhoids. Throughout my late teens and early 20s, I seemed to be constantly ill. I was always exhausted and dealt with back pain that was diagnosed as sciatica, along with pneumonia, whooping cough, stomach ulcers and bouts of vomiting.

I would recover from one illness only to be hit by another. Still, cancer was the last thing I expected.

I've had tests and there's zero family history of cancer or genetic conditions. So, the cause of my colon cancer is a mystery.

In December 2017, three weeks after my diagnosis, I underwent a colectomy. Surgeons removed a 5-centimeter tumor, 30 centimeters of my colon and 25 lymph nodes; two of which were positive for cancer. Doctors later discovered that the tumor had wrapped around a nerve, causing the symptoms that had been mistaken for sciatica.

A 5-millimeter nodule was also found on my left lung, but it was considered too small to be a concern. After 12 rounds of full-dose FOLFOX chemotherapy in 2018, the nodule disappeared and I was declared to have no evidence of disease (NED).

My oncologist left the hospital, and nobody ever followed me up. I was young, assumed everything was fine and got on with my life.

I returned to studying, focused on my transition and worked as a veterinary technician. For two years, cancer felt like something that had happened to somebody else.

Then, at 26, I underwent facial feminization surgery.

I expected to wake up feeling more like myself. Instead, I woke up unable to see out of my left eye.

Doctors diagnosed me with a central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO), which happens when the main blood vessel supplying the retina becomes blocked. I had suddenly gone blind in one eye.

As doctors rushed to figure out what had caused it, they ordered scan after scan. Those scans revealed two nodules, one in each lung.

I then faced a year-long wait. The nodules needed to grow to around 1 centimeter before doctors could biopsy them.

My worst fear eventually became reality: the colon cancer was back. This time it was Stage IV and had spread to my lungs.

If I hadn't been transitioning, the cancer may never have been discovered when it was.

I started chemotherapy again and targeted therapy, then underwent two lung surgeries in 2021. I completed treatment in January 2022 and have had regular scans ever since.

September 15, 2021, was the last day cancer was in my body. Every test since then has shown no evidence of disease.

Today, I share my story because I want other people facing cancer to have hope. I was given terrible odds, yet I'm still here.

Cancer statistics can be frightening, especially when the disease has spread. But statistics don't tell the whole story. There are people like me who are still here, still living their lives and still making plans for the future.

I want others to know that you don't have to be a superhero to survive cancer. You can be scared. You can be ordinary. And you can still make it through.

Jenny Trefzger is a 32-year-old who is currently living in Lewes, Delaware. She now regularly uses Instagram to share her story @urgeforpermanence.