LAURA (last name withheld by request)

Laura was diagnosed with Stage IV Colon Cancer in December of 2009, at the age of 23. She was in the middle of law school when she received the news. Laura had surgery three days after her diagnosis and went on to complete six months of chemotherapy, followed by five weeks of radiation.

Bound and determined that a cancer diagnosis would not interfere with her career aspirations, she kept on working during her treatment and graduated law school three months behind schedule, after taking a semester off.

The Colon Club came to Laura’s attention after seeing a high school classmate featured in the 2013 Colondar. She applied to be in the 2014 edition; was selected and appeared as Ms. June, 2014. Prior to meeting her Colon Club family, Laura had never reached out to anyone to talk about her diagnosis, treatment or how it impacted her life. The week spent at Lake George changed her life. She felt a sense of belonging and developed a new passion for raising awareness. Laura has now made it a personal mission to share her story and raise awareness that colon cancer can happen to anyone, at any age.