At just 14, Danielle Ripley-Burgess noticed something alarming: small traces of blood in her stool.
Now 42 and a mother of two, Danielle says she simply brushed it off – convinced she must have eaten something red that hadn’t digested properly.
Too embarrassed to tell her parents, like most teenagers, she decided to put herself on a ‘no red foods diet.’
‘I stopped eating anything red for several weeks. Pizza, strawberries, popsicles, Twizzlers — all of it,’ she told the Daily Mail. ‘I thought that if I didn’t eat anything red, maybe I wouldn’t see red on my poop and that would solve my issues.’
But it didn’t work, and Danielle kept seeing the red specks in her bowel movements, which were a dark red color – a warning sign of something serious, such as colorectal cancer.
It would be another three years until she finally told her mother, at age 17, about the problem. And only then because it was occurring more frequently.
At first, Danielle’s mom suspected it was due to hemorrhoids, swollen veins in the anus or lower rectum that can cause painless, bright red blood in the stool. But then the symptoms became more severe.
‘[My stool] was dark red and sometimes black. I was embarrassed and afraid. I didn’t want to push pause on my busy high school life. I didn’t want to be a burden to my family, and I didn’t want to talk about my body,’ she said.
Danielle Ripley-Burgess, 42, has been diagnosed with colon cancer three times
Just weeks after her birthday in January 2001, Danielle was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer – the start of a 25-year battle in which she would survive the disease three times.
After her first diagnosis, Danielle received chemotherapy, radiation and surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from her colon.
She also had an oophoropexy, a procedure that temporarily moves the ovaries to the abdomen to shield them from radiation and ensure they can still produce hormones.
Danielle was told she was in remission after finishing treatment and returned to her daily life. Her ovaries were also moved back to their initial position. As a precaution, she also started to receive colonoscopies every three years to catch the cancer if it returned.
At a check in June 2009, her doctor spotted something concerning: a polyp, or an abnormal cluster of cells, in her colon. A biopsy was ordered, and weeks later she was diagnosed with stage one colon cancer.
By now, at 25, she was married, owned a home and was planning to adopt a child and start a family.
‘I thought cancer was a thing of my past and I had to reckon with it being a part of my future,’ she said. ‘I was scared, worried, and mad. I didn’t understand why I was facing cancer again.’
She had surgery to remove almost all of her colon, except for about 13 inches, and was again told she was in remission. Doctors then asked her to return every year for a colonoscopy.
Danielle in the hospital at 17 with her boyfriend, who later became her husband
Danielle is shown above in the hospital at age 25 after her second diagnosis. She is shown with her husband
Then, in 2023, at age 39, Danielle’s annual surveillance colonoscopy revealed more polyps. The doctor explained that it looked like the cancer was coming back for the third time.
It was then that Danielle decided to get a permanent ileostomy, a surgical procedure that allows stool to exit the body via the abdomen rather than the colon. This removed the remaining 13 inches of her colon.
Doctors sent the removed organ to pathology, where they tested it and found stage one colon cancer contained in only that tissue.
Danielle is one of a growing number of young Americans who have been diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
Colorectal cancer risk increases with age, particularly after 50. However, cases are rising among younger adults, with one in five diagnoses now occurring in people under 55. The disease has also become a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among younger people.
From 2013 to 2022, case rates increased by 2.9 percent per year among adults under 50. They also increased by 0.4 percent per year among those ages 50 to 64.
While experts do not have a definitive explanation as to why cases are rising in young adults, studies suggest lifestyle factors such as poor diet and gut microbiome changes may be linked.
Researchers have found that many young-onset colorectal tumors feature a specific mutation linked to colibactin – a toxin produced by certain strains of the bacteria E. coli which normally reside in the lower intestines of humans.
But in Danielle’s case, she had an underlying condition that raised her risk of the disease.
After she was diagnosed with colon cancer for a second time, doctors ordered genetic tests which revealed she had Lynch syndrome, a genetic condition caused by a fault in the genes responsible for repairing damaged DNA.
An estimated one million Americans have the condition, which allows errors to build up in cells and increases the risk of several cancers, particularly colon and rectal cancers.
In particular, it has been shown to increase the chance of developing colon, pancreatic and uterine cancer. It causes about three to five percent of all colon cancers every year, the CDC says. The only way to be certain if you have the gene is to get a test.
Lynch syndrome is typically hereditary, meaning it is passed from parents to children. But occasionally the mutation emerges at random. In Danielle’s case, she is the first member of her family to be diagnosed with the condition.
‘I’m the first and only one to carry the Lynch syndrome gene, which tends to be hereditary,’ she said.
Because Lynch syndrome also put her at higher risk of uterine and ovarian cancer, Danielle opted for a hysterectomy, a surgery that removes the uterus, to reduce her risk of developing further cancers.
Today, she is a mother of two adopted children, an author, inspirational speaker and communications consultant. Her husband of 20 years, who was her boyfriend at the time of her first diagnosis, has been ‘an anchor’ in her life.
‘My parents and step-parents have also been an incredible support system – stepping in to help me in every way possible. I’ve got a close group of friends, some I’ve known since high school and others I’ve met along the way, who have prayed for me, sent meals, babysat, joined cancer walks, and more,’ she said.
‘I’d advise people to open up and let others in — don’t go through hard things alone,’ she added.
Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the US.
The American Cancer Society estimates that 158,850 Americans will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2026, including 108,860 cases of colon cancer and 49,990 cases of rectal cancer.
Several factors can increase the risk of colorectal cancer, including a diet high in processed and red meats. Excess weight, physical inactivity, long-term smoking and heavy alcohol consumption are also linked to an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer.
Danielle with her husband Michael. They have been married for 20 years
Danielle first noticed blood in her stool at 14, but initially brushed it off believing it was something she ate
Race and genetics can also influence risk. American Indian and Alaska Native people have the highest rates of colorectal cancer, while having a family history of the disease or colon polyps can further increase a person’s chances of developing it.
Long-term inflammatory bowel diseases, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, can also increase colorectal cancer risk by causing chronic inflammation in the colon.
Early symptoms include persistent diarrhea or constipation, blood in the stool, abdominal pain, unexplained weight loss, fatigue and low iron levels.
Treatment depends on the stage of the cancer. Early-stage disease is often treated with surgery, while more advanced cases may require a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy.
