Too Young For Cancer: One Woman's Story

Erica Heilman
Editor's note: After a battle with colon cancer, Jessica Grace Wing passed away on July 19, 2003, just days before her 32nd birthday. Throughout her cancer experience, Jessica was a model of strength and endurance and an advocate for cancer awareness and education. Her work to promote better understanding of the disease and its treatment lives on and continues to reach others with cancer and their families.

Most cancers strike at age 55 or older, and one-third of all cancer-related deaths in 2003 are expected to be the result of lifestyle factors that could have been controlled or avoided. Imagine the shock when Jessica Wing, a 30-year-old filmmaker in otherwise good health, learned she had advanced-stage colon cancer. Putting a promising young career on hold, Jessica began a long and difficult series of treatments for her cancer. Below, she talks about how she coped with treatment and disease complications, and how this life-threatening condition has changed her outlook on life.

What were the symptoms that led you to the doctor?
I was having a lot of bowel-related symptoms, and at first they thought it was a Giardia infection or irritable bowel syndrome. But after I got a colonoscopy, they found that my intestines were almost completely obstructed by a large tumor.


What was your initial reaction to learning you had cancer?
It was pretty awful. And it was so completely unexpected. I was 30 years old. There was no history of cancer in my family. I had been a vegetarian for 10 years. So there was nothing that could have prepared me for the news that I had Stage 4 colon cancer. So it was very difficult, and it's still difficult.

What treatment did you pursue after the diagnosis?
They didn't want to operate right away because there was just too much disease through my abdomen at that point, so I began with chemotherapy. Six to eight months later, I had surgery.

How did your friends and family react? Were they helpful during your treatment?
I was actually very surprised by how loving and supportive they all were. You expect that from your family, but all of my friends as well-even people who I wasn't incredibly close to-really pulled together and did everything they could for me. They would take me to appointments or keep me company when I wasn't feeling well. I didn't really experience anybody running away from me at that time, which surprised me. Because I don't know how I would react if I found out that a friend had cancer.

How has your general outlook on life changed since your diagnosis?
When I first learned I had cancer, my life suddenly became exclusively focused on medical care. My goals became much more short-term. Now my life is much more focused on my family and my boyfriend and the people that I love. I think that I have given myself space to not worry so much about my career and the future. I always pushed myself very hard. So that's been one good lesson that I've learned out of this: I no longer drive myself crazy thinking about where I'll be two years from now. It's easier for me to live with the fact that I don't know what the future holds.
What has been the hardest feeling you have had to face in all this?
The hardest thing for me is the feeling of guilt that I'm a burden to my family and that it's not fair that my boyfriend has to deal with this kind of thing. Feelings of uncertainty are also very difficult for me. But as I said, I have become more comfortable with them over time, although it's never easy.

Have support groups been helpful to you?
I have gone to a couple of support groups, which I found very helpful. One is specifically for people in their 20s and 30s who have cancer, and that's nice because when I go to the clinic or the hospital, it's very rare that I interact with people who are my own age. It's helpful to hear other people who have had similar experiences and other young people who are dealing with similar issues-young people who felt alone because they were the only people they knew going through a serious illness like this, experiencing serious limitations on their health or physical ability.

As much as your friends and family want to help you, they just don't really know what it's like to be the person who is going through it. And they also try to spare your feelings and so there is a limit to what they're going to tell you. For this reason, support groups can be really helpful.


Did you do extensive research on the disease and treatment when you were first diagnosed? Was this helpful?
My family really went off the deep end in terms of research, and I saw a thousand specialists. But in the end I ended up doing exactly what the first doctor who I'd gone to recommended. So I think it's important to do research, but I also think that it's important to remember that you're seeing professionals who spend their whole lives doing that kind of research. And sometimes I think burying yourself in books or magazines is an escape from dealing with the emotional realities of what you're going through.

What were some of the biggest physical complications for you during treatment?
In the beginning I had a lot of bowel problems. I had constant stomach cramps that were very painful, and there were a lot of limitations on what I could eat, mostly because my bowels were obstructed. I had a lot of back pain and my energy was very low. I was bloated, and my belly was very swollen. Those were some of my initial problems. Then last April I had surgery and they removed all of the disease that was in my abdomen, and my quality of life improved a lot. A month or two after my surgery, they discovered I had developed bone and brain metastases.
How were the bone metastases discovered?
I had a lot of neck pain. I went in for a bone scan, and they discovered that there were metastases scattered through my spine and also in my hips. But the worst one was in my neck where I was having a lot of pain. So I had radiation to my neck and had to wear a neck brace for about a month. The radiation actually fixed the problem, so I don't have any more pain in my neck.

How did the bone complications affect your life?
It was very, very painful. The worst of it was about two to three weeks where I really couldn't do much of anything. I had to wear a neck brace, which anybody who has worn one can tell you is a big pain in the neck, so to speak. But that was really hard because my friends would come over. I couldn't turn my head to look at them. I felt very self-conscious. I'd walk around the neighborhood and people would ask me if I'd gotten in a bike accident. I really didn't want to tell them what was going on. It's hard because for the most part when I'm out in public, nobody would know that I'm a cancer patient. But I think manifesting visible signs of illness is very difficult.

Also, I really couldn't work because a lot of the work that I do is at the computer. I couldn't really look at the computer for any extended period of time. I could watch television, which is not one of my favorite activities, but I couldn't really walk around a lot because I could not turn my head to look and see if a car was coming.


It was hard to be confined to the house and not have a lot to do. And being in pain is hard.

The radiation was very helpful in clearing the pain in my neck, and I get bisphosphonates every three weeks, along with my chemotherapy. These drugs are meant to strengthen my bones, and they come in IV form. It takes about 15 minutes. It's really an easy treatment.

What kinds of things can you do now that perhaps you couldn't do before and during the treatment?
Well, now that my bone disease seems to be stable, I'm back to exercising. I swim. I do yoga. I hike. I'm going to go scuba diving. So I really feel like I can do whatever I want physically.

How does this make a difference in you mentally?
It's very important for me to feel normal. And being physically sound and being able to do the things that somebody my age should do makes me feel really good. And it makes it a lot easier for me not to obsess about my illness or be afraid for the future.

http://womens_health.healthology.com...cancer&spg=FLA