Colon cancer survivor has a new outlook on life

When Barbara Karinshak travels now with her husband, Steve, whether to the Christmas markets in Germany that she always wanted to see or to Hawaii for an annual getaway, it’s hard to remember the despair she felt as she struggled through treatment for stage 3 colon cancer and subsequent complications.

Thinking back, she remembers the support she received from Steve, from friends and from her medical team at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center.

“What helped me through was prayers, friends and people having confidence in me.”

“But when I said, ‘I think I always had a positive attitude,’ my husband said, ‘You begged me to let you die,’” she recounted recently. “That part I had forgotten.”

There’s no doubt that Karinshak’s life is different now. She has a colostomy bag, for example. And, like many cancer survivors, she lives with the nagging fear that the slightest pain or discomfort could mean that the cancer has returned.

But she also thinks she’s become a better person, more grateful for what she has.

“I was a spoiled brat, and the glass was always half empty,” she said. “But now, everything’s half full. I appreciate life. I appreciate the quality of life, and I enjoy each day.”

Colon cancer symptoms

Karinshak’s first hint that something was wrong came in October 2017, when she noticed blood when she went to the bathroom. But it seemed to be a one-time thing, so she dismissed it. When it happened again the following January, she called her doctor.

She and Steve were about to leave for their annual trip to Hawaii, so the doctor told her to go ahead and come in when she got back. But she couldn’t stop thinking about it. She called from Hawaii to make an appointment for a colonoscopy as soon as they returned.

The colonoscopy revealed that she had colon cancer.

Karinshak underwent surgery with Hollings surgeon Virgilio George, M.D., the director of the Division of Colorectal Surgery.

The surgery itself went well. But then the complications began to build up.

“Basically, for two years, I was unbelievably sick,” she said. “I was in the hospital over 100 days total. I just had one complication after another.”

Among those was infection with MRSA, or Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, sepsis, an overactive response to infection that can be life-threatening, and the need for two lung biopsies when it appeared the cancer might have spread. Thankfully, it had not.

Still, the unrelenting sickness wore her down.

“I didn't want to talk. For months, I didn't even talk to my children. I had my husband do it all. I was very depressed in the beginning,” she said.

But there were words of comfort and prayer that stuck with her, nonetheless. Her eye doctor, for example, who she happened to have an appointment with the day after she learned she had cancer.

“He pulled up a chair. He took my hands, and he looked me in the eyes. He said, ‘You're going to have the fight of your life. But you're strong. You can do it.’ And I never forgot that,” she said.

 

At some point, she said, she turned a corner psychologically. The encouragement and prayers from friends and neighbors; the care from George, radiation oncologist Graham Warren, M.D., Ph.D., and Hollings nurses; and even the fact that she survived a night that Steve was told might be her last – it all added up.

“From then on, I looked the doctors in the eye, and I said, ‘Let me tell you about what living is. I don’t sit on a rocking chair. I go, go, go. And that’s how I want to live.’ And then it was determination from then on.”

Cancer-free

Karinshak’s determination extends to all aspects of her new life, including embracing the freedom that the colostomy bag gives her. Her attitude changed when she was planning a trip to visit her granddaughter.

“I said, ‘I can't go – because I didn't know how to change a bag.’ I realized I couldn't even go on a trip by myself. So right then and there, I learned, and I've been doing it ever since myself,” she said.

 

Now, it’s just part of life. “My fate was a minor inconvenience,” she said.

“Once I made up my mind that this was my life, now I do everything. It's no big deal. I go swimming. I go in the ocean. I do whatever I want to.”

And she is officially, as of August 2024, cancer-free.

Everyone’s cancer journey is different, but Karinshak has a few words of wisdom from someone who’s been through the wringer.

“You can't get through this without help. Accept it. Don't be stubborn,” she said. Steve was her caregiver and guardian throughout.

“Go by your gut. Be your own advocate. When you see something that you don't think is right, speak up. Don't say, ‘Well, he's the doctor. She's the nurse. They know it all.’ You know – they're all humans.”

And, she added, “Have faith. You can get through this.”

Related Links

More MUSC Hollings Cancer Center news

Subscribe to our newsletter

Hollings Horizons magazine