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Courtney Forget had digestive issues for about a year, but was busy planning a wedding to the love of her life, trying to buy their first home, and teaching art to elementary school students (K-5), so she just assumed her symptoms were due to stress. She went to her GP in September of 2014, and they wrote her off and said to eat a healthier diet. Fast forward to the first week of the 2015 summer break and she’d been having severe abdominal pain and sleeping 80% of the day! She knew something wasn’t right and called and demanded a colonoscopy. After her visit, she was diagnosed with Stage 3c colorectal cancer. Married in October, bought her first house in May, and diagnosed with cancer in July. She was 29 years old.
Thankfully she was set up with amazing doctors at the Cancer Center In Gainesville, VA. She’s been on six weeks of chemo and radiation, she had her tumor removed and an ileostomy bag put in, and then chemo every other week for six months. She has two treatments left, and her ileostomy take down surgery in August, and life is looking pretty great! She started #CrayonsForChildrens, a program where people donate old and broken crayons and she melts them down into fun new shapes and donates the new and improved crayons to Children’s Hospital in DC and Falls Church. She had to take a year off from teaching to get better and She’s excited to return to the classroom this fall! She also plans to volunteer at Children’s Hospital to work with young patients and will read stories to them and create art projects with them to brighten their day.