“I am too young for this.” That thought kept running through Mikisha Longie’s mind when she was diagnosed with colorectal cancer at the age of 44. Around June of 2021, Mikisha began experiencing symptoms—oddly formed/colored stool and pelvic and back pain.
While these symptoms concerned her, she attributed the pain to a recent hysterectomy and went on with her busy life as a Public Health Nurse and graduate student. When she began noticing blood in her stool, she could no longer ignore her symptoms. After several trips to the ER without resolve, she insisted something was wrong and requested additional testing.
Mikisha was referred out for a colonoscopy and an EGD. The colonoscopy revealed Stage 3b colorectal cancer. She was devastated and afraid. Her thoughts raced, “I am too young for this. What am I going to do now? What if I die?” After her diagnosis in August 2021, she had surgery for a colon resection in September. Two weeks later she started 12 rounds of chemotherapy and received her last treatment in March 2022.
Mikisha didn’t let her treatment slow her down. She states, “The chemotherapy itself made me ill, but I kept going. I worked full time, attended graduate school full time, and kept up with my appointments. My family kept me going. I used my family and friends as a support network.” Her best friend works for an oncology unit out of state, and Mikisha ran questions past her friend who forwarded them to her doctors for answers. Mikisha found obtaining additional knowledge about her cancer and treatment was very reassuring. She stated her cancer team was also very supportive.
As a nurse, Mikisha has reprimanded herself for not addressing her symptoms earlier. However, once
she realized something was definitely wrong, she persisted until she received the testing that ultimately diagnosed her cancer. Mikisha is an advocate for early detection and screening and educates her patients when it is appropriate to seek screening. She states, “It doesn’t matter how old you are. If you think colon cancer is something only old people get, you’re wrong—young people are getting it too. If something doesn’t seem right, it doesn’t hurt to ask to be tested. It may save your life. You know your body best.” Mikisha is a living example of the importance and effectiveness of screening. She tells her patients, “Screening isn’t as bad as it seems. If I can do it, you can do it!”
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Mikisha Longie, BSN, RN, is a Public Health Nurse at the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Public Health Department, Belcourt, ND.
