Cathy Hall, 62, is an inspiration. This married mother of three and grandmother of six talks about how a surprising cancer diagnosis changed her perspective on treatment and the value of preventative wellness.
The warning signs
“I didn’t know what I was dealing with when I started having symptoms,” Cathy said. “It didn’t register as possible cancer.” Cathy had spent her life committed to an active lifestyle and healthy eating. As a retired Pilates Instructor, personal trainer and fitness instructor, she still practiced what she had preached for years to her clients.
“Then, I experienced two stomach viruses fairly close together,” she shared, “and started having digestive issues.” Thinking these complications were a result of a disrupted gut microbiome, Cathy began eliminating foods and adjusting her eating habits to get back on track. “It was at this point that I should have gotten medical help. But, I waited, and I started losing weight, unintentionally. Then, I noticed blood in my stool.
“I then called Dr. Ottenweller’s office here in Angola, explained my symptoms, and they got me in quickly. I was so thankful. Pretty soon after that, I was in to see to Dr. Simon Peter Crass, gastroenterologist.
“Dr. Crass ordered a colonoscopy, as I was overdue for one. I had the test on June 30, 2025, and when the results came back, Dr. Crass told my husband and myself that he saw a very suspicious tumor. He recommended a call to Parkview Packnett Family Cancer Center right away.”
Diagnosis and treatment
Cathy was connected with Dr. Ga-Ram Han at the cancer institute, a colon and rectal surgeon, who did her testing to confirm a diagnosis. There was a three-week period when she knew she had cancer, but had to wait on tests to see how bad it was. On her 61st birthday, she found out that it was stage 3 rectal cancer. “This was a very scary number to me. But I was advised this was potentially curable with a treatment of chemo, chemo-radiation and finally, surgery.”
Cathy then met Oncologist, Dr. Joseph McCollom and his team, at the Parkview Packnett Family Cancer Institute. “While being educated on what all was to be involved in treatments, timelines, side effects, etc., the care team provided so much support and a feeling of having the best medical staff caring for me. I left that day feeling like I just had the hugest hug! My husband and I felt very confident that we were in the best place for me to get cared for, treated and cured.”
On August 18, 2025, Cathy began chemotherapy treatments, then transitioned to chemo-radiation on January 5, 2026. “Dr. Brian Chang was my Radiation Oncologist; he and his staff were all fantastic. The final part of treatment was surgery in April, 2026. “Dr Han performed my surgery, and she did an exceptional job. She and her staff were not only supportive, but they kept me educated through my whole journey, as well.”
Cathy feels that her doctors and all their staff, were incredible in keeping her feeling confident that these steps would be worth it. “All of my doctors kept me informed of everything. I never doubted that I was going to be ok. I felt that I just had to get through treatment.”
Support
Cathy said the navigational team was the best resource. She knew she could contact them at anytime through MyChart with any question, fear, side effect, etc.
Part of Cathy’s positive experience was the management of her comfort throughout the treatment journey. “I knew I wasn’t going to feel great. Our joke was that I wanted to feel ‘appropriately miserable’, and no worse than that. I could take a lot, but chemotherapy was pretty tough. Every two weeks, they would check on me and do a blood draw, and make adjustments on chemo meds so that my body could continue to handle treatment. If things were too tough, we were able to back off some.
“The team always asked how I did with previous treatment. I don’t like to complain, but I’d tell them how I felt. They had so many solutions to help me not feel the worst. When I did experience side effects, there was always a solution or suggestion to lessen my discomfort. I even had nutritional help on what to eat to help my body rebound after infusions.”
The team was also clued in to Cathy’s overall goals and always checked in with her to see how she was doing with those. “Once I knew I had a curable cancer, my biggest fear was losing my strength and fitness level, and they were all very caring of that. They all gave me so much encouragement that I was doing great with treatment.”
Her message to others
Today, Cathy is feeling great. “It took a while to bounce back after the treatments and surgery, but I’m mostly back. It has been a rough road for not only me, but my husband and family as well.”
Cathy shared that she misses her care team. “I hope others don’t have to experience the fear of cancer, but if you do, I can tell you that the people at Packnett are not only great at what they do, but they are all extraordinary people.”
One of the biggest takeaways Cathy wants to share is the power of being proactive with your health. “My background and education around fitness was so helpful in my treatment journey. I didn’t want to lose ground with my strength, so I did what I could, on the days that I could. I was so proud of that, and so were my kids. They call me a rockstar, which means so much. That helps me every day as I work hard getting back to normal.”
“When I first met with Dr. McCollom, I learned there were two treatment roads I could pick from for my situation. One was more aggressive and brought the chance of recurrence way down. He told me I was a good candidate for that, and thought I could handle it. I didn’t have comorbidities and wasn’t on medication, so I could take the stronger approach.” This has inspired Cathy’s whole family to take a closer look at their own habits, putting themselves in the best position possible in case the worst should happen.
From her contagious optimism to her inspiring health journey, Cathy has taken a frightening diagnosis and turned it into a message of hope. “My family keeps praising me for how I handled it, but I didn’t really have a choice. My family has no idea of how much they helped me by just being supportive for anything and everything, always checking in. My only job was to take care of myself.
“I will be connected to my Parkview family, as Dr. McCollom says, for another 5 years as they keep a check on my cancer free health. I am so grateful to everybody there. I want to give back for what they gave me. So, I will say, if I can help anyone, by inspiring them to get a colonoscopy or get up and move so they’re in better health going into a diagnosis, I want to do that. I’m willing to use my story to hopefully help others.”
