Metastatic Colorectal Cancer to Liver, Lungs, Ovaries, and Brain: Seven Surgeries in Five Years, No Regrets, Only Reluctance to Let Go | Patient Story
“Any regrets?”
Standing atop a 4,860-meter snow-capped peak, biting winds swept across Lin’s face, tousling her hair.
Amid the vast, silent snowy expanse, only the wind remained. Her husband’s gentle yet solemn voice softly reached her ears.
In an instant, Lin’s nose tingled, warmth and sorrow blurring her vision.
She had been fighting rectal cancer for five long years.
In 2021, Lin was diagnosed with Stage IV rectal adenocarcinoma, accompanied by multiple liver and lung metastases. The disease did not stop there; ovarian and peritoneal metastases followed. By late 2025, cancer cells had invaded her brain, bringing the most challenging complication yet: brain metastases.
Their child, unable to tolerate the high altitude, cried incessantly. Her husband carefully picked up the child and gently told Lin, “Wait here, don’t move around. I’ll take him to the station to settle in and be right back.”
As he spoke, he turned and hurried away, his figure gradually shrinking and blurring into the vast snowy landscape.
Watching his retreating back, Lin felt a tightness in her chest. Tears slipped silently down her cheeks, falling onto the cold snow and into the depths of her heart.
In a daze, an inexplicable fear washed over her, as if this turn might be a silent farewell.
She was reluctant to let go—reluctant to leave the husband who had sheltered her from storms and stood by her through hardships, reluctant to leave her young children who still needed her, and even more reluctant to part with all the gentle ties to this world that bound them together.
At that moment, Lin closed her eyes and softly answered the question in her heart: “I have no regrets. All that remains is a deep reluctance to let go.”
Fate has always been harsh, yet in the depths of despair, it quietly offered her a sliver of grace.
Over five years, more than 1,800 days and nights, she gritted her teeth through 7 surgeries, 15 sessions of TOMO radiotherapy, and countless chemotherapy cycles.
No one would have guessed that this seemingly fragile woman, stumbling yet persevering, had walked through five springs and autumns, defying the doctors’ prognosis.
Life is not measured by the days you merely pass through, but by those etched into your heart—days of being deeply loved, cared for, and forever remembered.
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Author丨Zhong Lala
Editor丨Zhong Lala
Reviewer丨Guang Guang
「 Part I: A Devastating Start: Rectal Cancer with Liver and Lung Metastases 」
Time rewinds to July 2021. Lin often felt dull lower abdominal pain and discomfort, which she mistakenly attributed to gynecological inflammation. After repeated, fruitless visits to the gynecology department, she finally underwent a gastroscopy and colonoscopy on a doctor’s advice after three consecutive weeks of rectal bleeding.
That day happened to be Lin’s birthday.
Her husband rushed to the hospital, carefully protecting a small piece of cake in his arms. He feared arriving too late, afraid he wouldn’t even make it in time to give his wife a little birthday sweetness.
Under strict pandemic controls, hospital visitation was heavily restricted, with checkpoints making access nearly impossible. Yet he refused to give up. He communicated repeatedly, pleaded softly, and persisted with almost stubborn determination, just to place that cake by his wife’s bedside himself.
This man, never one for sweet words, never wanted to miss any ritual or tender moment connected to her.
When the cake was finally brought in, Lin couldn’t eat it due to fasting requirements. His eyes filled with heartache.
He stepped out for a breath of fresh air to call a friend. But the moment the call connected, he choked up, unable to form a complete sentence—his beloved wife couldn’t even eat a piece of cake on her birthday.
The test results came back: Stage IV rectal adenocarcinoma (cT4N2M1) with multiple liver and lung metastases; CA19-9 levels soared past 12,000 U/ml, far exceeding the instrument’s upper limit, like a cliff with no way back.
Fortunately, a classmate of Lin’s worked at Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, so she was admitted immediately. After a port-a-cath was implanted, she began her first chemotherapy cycle with oxaliplatin and capecitabine. For the long treatment journey ahead, she would consistently follow Dr. Jin’s care.
Yet fate remained cold, determined to crush the faint glimmer of hope in the abyss.
The genetic test revealed a KRAS G12V mutation, indicating a very poor prognosis and minimal response to immunotherapy. Additionally, the liver tumor was too close to major blood vessels, ruling out immediate surgery. Chemotherapy was the only option to control tumor progression.
The doctor spoke plainly and calmly: without treatment, survival would be about one year; even with aggressive therapy, it might only extend to three years.
While she still had the strength, within a month of diagnosis, Lin completed a notarized will, transferred her mother’s household registration, and settled all her affairs.
Her treatment plan was then switched to FOLFIRI chemotherapy combined with bevacizumab targeted therapy.
The side effects of chemotherapy hit hard. Lin lost clumps of hair, enduring immense physical and mental torment, bearing unspeakable suffering day and night.
Her two young children, innocent and unaware, only knew their mother was sick. They didn’t understand why she was growing thinner, losing hair, or why she was always so exhausted and bedridden.
Her children were her deepest concern and the sole reason she kept going.
Fortunately, after four grueling chemotherapy cycles, follow-up scans finally brought long-awaited good news: the tumors had significantly shrunk, and tumor markers plummeted.
In the pitch-black abyss, a sliver of light finally broke through, bringing a glimmer of hope.
「 Part II: Either in Surgery, or on the Way to Surgery 」
The initial success of chemotherapy reignited Lin’s will to live. Unwilling to give up, she sought out leading experts. The Panda Guangdong-Guangxi patient group recommended Professor Chen from Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center.
The couple traveled from Shenzhen to Guangzhou specifically for an extra consultation. After waiting from dawn until late into the night, they finally received Professor Chen’s reassuring and confident reply: “Your tumor markers dropped from over ten thousand to just dozens. This is already a great turning point. What is there to worry about? Finish your chemotherapy, then come back to me for surgery. For the liver, you can consult Professor Li first.”
Without delay, they rushed to Professor Li’s clinic. Fortunately, they secured an appointment and received clear confirmation that she was eligible for surgery.
Encouraged by both professors, the couple returned to Guangzhou after Lin’s ninth chemotherapy cycle.
On December 24, 2021, she underwent open surgery for liver metastasis resection and ablation. Postoperative pathology showed lymph node metastasis in 4 out of 6 nodes.
As the first major surgery approached, her husband was filled with anxiety. He even invited relatives and friends to visit in advance, secretly bracing himself: come see Lin while you can; no one knows if she will safely pass this hurdle.
Fortunately, the surgery went smoothly. The day after the open surgery, Lin was already able to get out of bed; within a week, she was discharged.
When a close friend visited, what she saw completely overturned expectations: Lin wasn’t weak and bedridden. Instead, she was sweeping and doing chores, “even scolding the kids with a clothes hanger in hand.”
Her CA19-9, once soaring above 12,000, even returned to the normal range of just 17.43 after the first liver surgery. This success gave Lin tremendous confidence, launching her into a relentless series of surgical hurdles:
January 26, 2022: Laparoscopic radical rectal cancer surgery + ileostomy, with lymph node metastasis in 6 out of 10 nodes. Postoperative stage: ypT2N2aM1;
April 28, 2022: Lung metastasis resection, with 1 out of 4 lymph nodes involved;
May 22, 2022: Ileostomy reversal surgery.
Looking back at that period, Lin sighed with emotion: every day was either spent in surgery or preparing for it. The interval between the first four surgeries was often less than a month.
Initially, she was terrified, convinced she wouldn’t make it. Even after the first surgery, she still doubted she could cross the threshold of life and death.
But lying on the operating table, she gradually learned to calm herself, acclimate to the environment, take one last look at the clock on the wall, and then willingly close her eyes, naturally slipping into anesthesia. It seemed this was the only way to feel the comfort of surviving those hours when she woke up and saw the clock again.
In just five months, Lin gritted her teeth and endured four highly complex major surgeries.
Over the following year, she completed 12 maintenance therapy cycles with capecitabine and bevacizumab at Peking University Shenzhen Hospital.
During this time, her condition remained largely stable and controllable, with tumor markers consistently normal. Life gradually returned to its normal track. She could visit the hospital for follow-ups alone, and her days grew peaceful and steady.
In July 2023, Lin successfully completed this phase of treatment, overcoming the most difficult stage of her cancer journey.
In early 2023, the couple returned to Jiuzhaigou.
This was where they had spent their honeymoon in 2008. But the sudden Wenchuan earthquake turned what should have been a romantic getaway into a frantic struggle for survival.
Fifteen years later, as Lin stood once again in these familiar mountains and waters, a long-buried wish was finally fulfilled.
Fortunately, the person who had weathered natural disasters and life-and-death trials with her was still safely by her side. Even as she battled a severe illness, navigating one life-threatening hurdle after another, he never left her side.
Standing amidst the clear winds and mountain scenery of Jiuzhaigou, Lin’s heart was filled with emotion and gratitude. She silently reminded herself: life’s wishes cannot wait for “someday.” Don’t let waiting become a lifelong regret.
She turned to her husband and softly made a promise: for the rest of their lives, they would travel hand in hand every year, honoring the landscapes, their companionship, and the time they had left.
「 Part III: Metastasis: Overcoming One Hurdle After Another 」
If the treatment from 2021 to 2023 was a long road of recovery filled with hope, the relapse in 2023 was another sudden, heavy blow from fate.
In August 2023, just one month after completing her treatment phase, Lin noticed unexplained abdominal swelling. After detailed hospital examinations, she was diagnosed with ovarian metastasis. The tumors inside her had grown to over ten centimeters, proliferating at a terrifying speed.
On September 4, 2023, Lin underwent bilateral adnexectomy combined with pelvic adhesion lysis surgery.
She had hoped that standardized postoperative chemotherapy would stabilize her condition. Instead, unbearable treatment side effects followed: a severe, rapid drop in platelets and intense bone marrow suppression.
Despite consecutive injections of recombinant human thrombopoietin and oral platelet-boosting medications, her blood counts failed to recover. Subsequent chemotherapy had to be interrupted, leaving her to maintain her condition intermittently and with great difficulty.
After the ovarian surgery, prompted by a fellow patient, Lin underwent further tests and discovered retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis. Gynecological evaluation concluded that the primary lesion originated in the intestines, recommending a transfer back to the colorectal department for continued care.
In April 2024, Lin returned to SYSUCC for a complex major surgery: lymph node dissection, abdominal adhesion lysis, and abdominal wall hernia repair.
This was the most perilous surgery she had ever faced. It required meticulous dissection of adhered organs and careful release of pelvic and abdominal adhesions, causing significant surgical trauma.
In February 2025, Lin still honored her annual travel promise, heading to Harbin.
Her physical condition wasn’t at its best, but it hadn’t worsened further.
How fortunate to have survived another surgical hurdle; even more fortunate to still be able to spend the Lunar New Year with her husband and child in the snowy north.
Happiness is never about where you go, but about having someone to stay by your side and days to look forward to.
After the peritoneal surgery, Lin’s platelet counts remained persistently low. Multiple times, chemotherapy couldn’t be initiated due to critically low blood counts. Helplessly, she sought conservative platelet-boosting treatments across several hospitals in Shenzhen just to hold on.
Yet, fate’s trials never ceased. Long-term, repeated chemotherapy had severely damaged her liver function. Coupled with splenomegaly and hypersplenism, her platelets refused to recover, and her spleen remained congested and enlarged, trapping her body in a vicious, seemingly irreversible cycle.
Shortly after returning from Harbin, on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2025, a fatal accident struck without warning. Due to portal hypertension, Lin suddenly vomited large amounts of blood. Blood clots surged uncontrollably, and her life hung by a thread.
“That day, I had just gotten up to brush my teeth. I hadn’t done anything, but the moment I opened my mouth, blood clots poured out. I was completely stunned. Yet after vomiting, I actually felt a bit lighter, so I even called my husband to tell him not to rush back and to just go to work as usual.”
“It wasn’t until I was hospitalized and the doctor told me that many people who experience such sudden hematemesis don’t even make it to rescue that I realized I had just walked through the gates of death.”
Hearing the doctor explain the severity behind her condition and recalling that life-threatening moment, Lin still feels a chill down her spine and lingering fear every time she remembers it.
Lin first received conservative treatment at Shenzhen University South China Hospital to stabilize the critical bleeding, then transferred to SYSUCC for TIPS surgery and splenic artery embolization.
Although her platelets briefly rebounded post-surgery, they soon plummeted again. From then on, she could only maintain her blood counts with the self-paid targeted drug romiplostim, while long-term taking ornithine aspartate and rivaroxaban to constantly guard against the dual risks of hepatic encephalopathy and thrombosis.
By this point, Lin described herself as “the chosen one who has been ‘picked’ by SYSUCC seven times.”
「 Part IV: Comprehensive Progression: Liver and Lung Relapse + Brain Metastasis 」
Having undergone seven surgeries, she had hoped her condition would temporarily stabilize. During this period, Lin used a bevacizumab + S-1 chemotherapy regimen.
However, in August 2025, follow-up scans revealed new multiple metastases in the liver and lungs, indicating comprehensive tumor progression.
She visited Professor Ding’s clinic at SYSUCC again, who suggested trying immunotherapy.
Lin was reluctant to use immunotherapy so soon, fearing she would run out of options later. After consulting Professor Xiao at Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital and Professor Deng at the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of SYSU, she decided to continue treatment with single-agent fruquintinib.
In October, even more devastating news arrived—brain metastasis (4 lesions, largest 31x24mm) + occipital soft tissue metastasis (49x26mm). The probability of colorectal cancer metastasizing to the brain is only 0.29%, yet she happened to “win the lottery.”
Facing the brain metastasis diagnosis, Lin allowed herself only ten minutes to break down before launching into another round of battle.
From November to December 2025, she underwent 15 sessions of precise TOMO radiotherapy. Despite severe hair loss and physical weakness, she gritted her teeth and persevered.
Post-radiotherapy, she switched to FOLFOXIRI four-drug liposomal chemotherapy. Her physical tolerance was acceptable, and her appetite was normal, but a new crisis emerged: bowel obstruction, perineal and anal swelling, and complete reliance on lactulose for bowel movements.
This year’s annual trip had to be temporarily postponed.
Unable to travel far, she instead fulfilled another wish on her list—the long-awaited Zhou Shen concert.
The melody of “Little Happiness” gently washed over Lin.
“Whatever you choose to believe, that’s how you’ll see the world. When life adds extra weight to your challenges, you must spin even more lightly.”
For her, who had endured so much pain and turmoil, there was no need to chase blooming flowers or seek dramatic years. Simply living well, with peaceful days, family by her side, and unwavering companionship, was already the most fitting, grounded, and precious “little happiness” in this world.
The side effects of treatment grew increasingly pronounced: memory decline, dizziness, fatigue, and even seizures.
That day, after returning home from chemotherapy, she was washing up and about to lie down when she suddenly lost consciousness without warning. Foam gathered at her mouth, her body went limp, and she slumped sideways, her head heavily resting on the edge of the bed.
Hearing the commotion, her husband rushed into the room. Panicked, he carefully gathered her into his arms, repeatedly and urgently calling her name.
Her eldest son happened to push the door open at that moment. Witnessing the heartbreaking scene, he burst into tears but, in his panic, tremblingly grabbed his phone and dialed 120.
After what felt like an eternity, Lin slowly regained consciousness from the haze. Through blurry vision, she met her son’s tear-stained, terrified eyes. Even after brushing against death, she firmly refused to get into the ambulance.
Amid the panic and helplessness, a soft warmth enveloped her heart, quickly followed by profound heartache for her child.
「 Part V: The Reality Check: Fighting for Every Penny 」
The cancer journey isn’t just about enduring pain and sticking to treatment; it also involves facing a very practical reality: finances.
When treatment reaches its final stages, it’s not just a test of wealth, but of mental strength, endurance, and unwavering resolve.
Many patients in the Panda group got to know Lin through medical insurance issues.
They often say, “Following Sister Lin saves us countless detours and wasted money.”
While warmly answering questions and offering advice to fellow patients, she always encourages them and their families to firmly defend their rights and never give up easily.
She knows that cancer treatment is a bottomless pit, and financial pressure can crush an ordinary family. So, she taught herself to become a “medical insurance expert” and “insurance savvy.”
“Fighting illness is hard enough. Saving even one yuan eases the family’s burden a little and gives us more confidence. I’m just a typical Guangdong housewife, careful with every penny.”
It was precisely through repeated billing, reimbursement, and claims processes that her typical Guangdong housewife’s meticulousness and clarity proved invaluable.
For Shenzhen medical insurance patients, the local coverage is robust. The critical illness outpatient special program is the core of reimbursement, supplemented by critical illness insurance and Huiminbao, which further alleviates financial pressure.
But when she was diagnosed in 2021, neither she nor her family understood the rules. This led to genetic testing and long-acting G-CSF injections being denied coverage. The insurance company rejected the claims, and even experienced insurance-savvy patients advised her not to bother.
But Lin refused to give up easily. She tried various channels, had a sudden idea to seek professional help, and surprisingly found a reliable agency.
The assigned lawyer was familiar with insurance clauses and company procedures. Through mediation, he successfully secured the previously denied claim of over 50,000 RMB. Later, she shared this experience with fellow patients, helping them defend their rights together.
Isn’t this another form of brave resistance against cancer?
「 Part VI: Soberly Rational, Yet Dreamily Hopeful 」
Illness is a detour we never asked to take; treatment is a long trek fueled by faith.
Looking back on five years of fighting cancer, Lin faces the cruelty of her condition with clear-eyed realism, yet holds onto hope for a glimmer of light. Between rationality and expectation, she has steadily overcome every hurdle.
With every relapse, her husband never says much, only “I’m with you.” He has been by her side through everything, never absent. This steadfastness mirrors the stubborn determination he showed when handing her that cake at diagnosis—hesitation-free, purely protective.
Cancer has never defeated her, but Lin knows the road ahead remains steep.
Right from the start, Lin calmly told her two children: Mom has a serious illness and will go through a long, grueling treatment. She gently reassured them, promising to fight with all her might so they wouldn’t have to be afraid, forced to grow up too fast, or pretend to be overly sensible. They just needed to be carefree children.
She often sighs softly that children are naturally pure. They haven’t become overly cautious because of her illness; they remain playful and mischievous, never sparing her from worry.
As she says this, a gentle yet bittersweet smile lights up her eyes, and she whispers: “But this unforced innocence, this ordinary childishness, is exactly the quiet strength they give me. They are accompanying me, slowly extending my life.”
Past regrets have long been cleared. All that remains is a deep reluctance to let go—reluctant to part with a home-cooked meal, a goodnight wish, or the warmth of daily companionship.
Lin is still fighting, not to create a miracle. All her perseverance is simply to guard a few more ordinary, smoke-and-fire days with the people she loves.
Treat well, live well, love well. This is Lin’s most practical and resilient strength in defying fate.
To protect patient privacy, the name used in this article is a pseudonym.
Images featuring the patient have been used with her authorization. Unauthorized use is prohibited.