Jenna: My name is Jenna. I am from Atlanta, Georgia, and I was diagnosed with stage four metastatic colon cancer in 2017 at the age of 31. 

I was first diagnosed after my son turned one, and the doctors told me that the symptoms that I was having when I was pregnant — I was having all of the signs of colorectal cancer — but they thought it was just pregnancy related. 

I go to the GI doctor and the doctor walks in and he’s like, “Let’s have a colonoscopy.” 

We have the colonoscopy and I wake up, there are about four nurses, my husband, the doctor, everyone’s in the room, and the doctor just says, “I don’t have to send your tests off to pathology to know that you have cancer.” 

And that was the moment that life initially changed for both myself and my family. 

Dr. Mahipal: What was your initial reaction when you got diagnosed? 

Jenna: My initial reaction was, like, I kind of laughed it off a little bit, a little smirk, because the doctor and I had built that rapport. And he said, “I would never joke about something like this.” “You do, in fact, have cancer.” So, my reaction was pure shock. 

Dr. Mahipal: So, tell me, like, what important information was missing or didn’t resonate? 

Jenna: I wish that they would have talked about recommendations to talk to someone. You know, this process is going to be really hard, and I feel like if it were more conversations around that, like all of the resources and all of the other organizations that could kind of help you while you’re going through these treatments, that was a huge part that I think was missing in the beginning. 

Dr. Mahipal: Do you wish your doctor gave you more power in the decisions that you were making relating to your treatment journey? 

Jenna: So over time, the more I knew, the more I educated myself, the more knowledge I gained, I did start to make more of the decisions for myself. Because again, you know, if the goal is to keep me happy, I have to let you know how these things are affecting me. So yes, I think I make more of the decisions now, eight years in, than I did when I first started because I trust myself. 

So, Dr. Mahipal, how do you approach appointments for new patients? 

Dr. Mahipal: I always believe that the trust between a patient and physician is the most important thing, right? Apart from obviously getting the right diagnosis and treatment. And for that, like, some patients have a lot of questions, some patients just want to know what to do next and they’ll do it, right? So, everyone is different. But I think it is very, very important, too, for a patient to ask a question and for the provider to tell them the answers to those questions because that’s how you build trust between each other. 

Jenna: Do you ever tell the patients that they are the one leading their treatment, like they are the ultimate decision maker? 

Dr. Mahipal: Yes, absolutely. They should be the ultimate decision maker. My job is to give them the different paths or different options they can take, and I can suggest which I think is the best option, but patients should be the driver of their treatment decision. 

Jenna: So how can patients help you in this process? 

Dr. Mahipal: It’s best that the patient comes to the appointment prepared, right? If they have some ideas, what their wishes are, what they want to do, what they want their life to be in the next 6 months, one year, five years, and so on, and be a part of the decision-making process. Also, more importantly, the patients should be advocate for themselves. 

Jenna: I would just say if your care team could be your biggest cheerleader while you’re at the doctor’s office, that’s super important. And then just your village, you know, your support system, encouraging you, but also you knowing yourself that you have goals and in order to get to those goals, you have to stay in a positive mindset. 

Doctor Mahipal, thank you so much for your time today. I really got some great information and I had a fun time talking to you. 

Dr. Mahipal: Same here. Thanks for spending time with me. I learned a lot from a patient’s perspective, especially from someone who’s been going strong for almost a decade and still going. 

Jenna: Thank you so much.