A woman who battled cancer has revealed how doctors ignored her for years because they told her she was “too young” to catch the disease.
Katie Coleman, now 33, of Austin, Texas, was diagnosed with an extremely rare type of kidney cancer known as renal mass carcinoma in December 2020.
And while she was “terrified” by the news, she also felt “relieved” knowing she finally had an answer after “feeling bad” for years.
In an excerpt from his new memoir, titled Too Young for Cancer, which was shared by Insider business informationShe explained that she “knew something was wrong” for quite some time, but struggled to get medical professionals “to take her seriously.”
Katie, then 29, said she had previously been told by “several doctors” that she “was too young to have cancer.”
She recalled sitting in a hospital room with her husband Brian when they gave her the heartbreaking news that she had cancer.
“My vision tunneled as my rapidly increasing heart rate began setting off alarms behind me,” he wrote.
‘For years, in my search for vague symptoms, I had asked doctors if we could rule out cancer.
A woman who battled cancer has revealed how doctors ignored her for years because they told her she was “too young” to catch the disease.
Katie Coleman, now 33, of Austin, Texas, was diagnosed with an extremely rare type of kidney cancer known as renal mass carcinoma in December 2020 (seen)
And while she was “terrified” by the news, she also felt “relieved” knowing she finally had an answer after “feeling bad” for years. She appears in the photo during her treatment.
“I was terrified by this moment, and catastrophic worry had led me to imagine delivering this news probably 100 times before.
“But now that it was actually happening, it was nothing like I had imagined it would be.”
Katie explained that despite the devastating blow, she was happy to have finally found a doctor who “believed her and seemed to genuinely care” after struggling for years.
“I felt like I finally had an answer to why I had been feeling bad, and it wasn’t all in my head,” she continued.
‘I wasn’t surprised to hear that something was wrong because I already knew something was wrong; I just couldn’t get anyone to take me seriously.
“But now we had undeniable evidence and, for the first time, I was sitting in front of a doctor who believed me and seemed to genuinely care.
“I knew this wouldn’t be an easy path, but at least I didn’t have to walk it alone anymore.”
After a series of tests, he discovered that his cancer was stage four and had spread.
In an excerpt from her new memoir, she explained that she “knew something was wrong” for quite some time, but fought to get doctors to “take her seriously.”
Katie, then 29, said she had previously been told by “several doctors” that she “was too young for cancer.”
She started taking a ‘chemotherapy-like drug’ in February, and had surgery in June, which involved ‘a resection of the liver and removal of the kidney.’ You can see his scar from the surgery.
“Unfortunately, because of how rare this is, there isn’t much information or data available on treatment protocols or clinical trials to join,” she wrote on Instagram at the time.
In November 2022, he was told there was “no evidence of disease” in his kidney or liver. She has recently been seen with her husband Brian.
‘My oncologist wants me to start a treatment that has worked in other types of kidney cancer, but to my knowledge there is no data on its use in the type I have.
“I am scared, terrified and devastated.
“But I’m going to keep going and I’m going to fight.”
He was told that not only did he have a huge tumor in his kidney, but he also had a series of smaller tumors in his liver.
He began taking a “chemotherapy-like drug” in early February 2021 and, in April of that year, revealed that the tumor in his kidney was “shrinking.”
In June of that year, he underwent surgery, which involved “a liver resection and the removal of his right kidney,” and in November 2022, he was told there was “no evidence of disease” in his kidney or liver.
Now, he is preparing to tell his harrowing story in his next volume, which will be available this week.