JJ’s Story:

I was 27 when my doctor made me get a CT scan in September 2015, you could see a tumor throbbing in my abdomen. I was told that I most likely had colon cancer, but I had to get a colonoscopy to be sure. I knew it was cancer.

It was. The colonoscopy showed that my colon was 90% blocked, during surgery I had 80% of my colon and 36 inches of my small intestine removed. My oncologists agreed I should do 12 rounds of chemo to be extra cautious. I finished the 6 months and thought I was done and on the way to beating cancer.

Six weeks later, I woke up with throbbing pain in my abdomen again. Scans, tests, and a biopsy later it turned out that my cancer was chemo resistant and had moved to lymph nodes all over my body, and was now growing in the abdominal wall.

They called it incurable.

We tried three different chemo cocktails, which all failed. I then got approved for a clinical trial drug… but before I was able to take it, cancer and scar tissue had grown around my stomach and closed it off. Before I could start the clinical trial, I had a 25-day hospital stay (during which I almost died), ending with me having a G-J tube and being fed by TPN for 450 days.

Once I was able to start the clinical trial drug (now an approved drug on the market), it worked to shrink my tumor and keep it from growing. Since then, I had surgery to fix my stomach and a huge hernia.

Altogether, I’ve spent 82 days in the hospital, went through 10 surgeries, had chronic pancreatitis and back pain among many other side effects that have become constant and never ending. I suffer from pretty bad PTSD and anxiety, depression and mental health issues that are as imposing as any physical part of cancer.  I have had 157 chemo/immunotherapy treatments and counting but the cancer is somewhat stable for now.

I am still fighting and learning to use my journey to advocate for not just colorectal cancer but all cancers and anyone that is impacted by cancer as well as an emphasis on helping with mental health.

JJ’s Bio:

I was born raised and still live in the mountains of western North Carolina, a small town of Canton, NC close to Asheville. 

A hardworking childhood of growing up on my grandparents’ farm and in the town dominated by paper mill workers has shaped my work ethic and toughness that has helped through all the battles I've faced. 

Sports were a huge part of my life I played football basketball and ran track, even made it to play division 2 college football. 

Graduated from Western Carolina University with a history and political science degree. After graduation I went to work for my uncle’s family business as operations manager until I got sick in 2015. 

Throughout my cancer life the last 9 years I've relied on my incredible family and friends and being raised in a loving but extremely tough hard working area as a way to deal with the ups and downs and hardships of life with cancer. 

I want to be a light and a hope in the darkness of an incurable cancer diagnosis and use my experiences to help change the future of what that means. To focus on how we live with and treat cancer and side effects of cancer drugs that impact our life so they are more than tolerable and we are able to live a quality life.

JJ’s Social Media Channels:

Facebook: jjsingleton

TikTok: @JJSingleton1

Instagram: @jj145

YouTube: @JJ-5145