Jacqueline Rush

Jacqueline Rush died of colorectal cancer (CRC) on March 30, 2014 at the young age of 23. Her legacy is one of living life fully and with generosity. We tell her story in the hope that the information we’ve learned will save the lives of others.

Jacqueline was diagnosed with Stage 3 CRC in 2010 at the unexpected age of 20. She started having symptoms when she was just 16, and her symptoms continued and worsened over the next several years, to the point that she went to the emergency room twice while she was in college. Her symptoms included rectal bleeding, constipation and abdominal pain; common symptoms of CRC. Jacqueline’s grandfather had also died of colon cancer, although at an older age. Despite these warning signs, Jacqueline never received a rectal exam nor was a colonoscopy ordered until much too late.  Because CRC is uncommon in very young people, Jacqueline’s doctors assumed her symptoms were due to hemorrhoids, constipation, or gluten/lactose intolerance.

One missed diagnosis after another tragically cost Jacqueline her life. 

Knowledge is power. We too, had never heard of a young person having colorectal cancer. If we had known that Lynch Syndrome was in our family’s genes, we would have pressed her doctor to order a colonoscopy much sooner.

When a colonoscopy was finally ordered, it indicated that Jacqueline had Stage 3 CRC. She was a sophomore in college.  

Treatment began immediately, including chemotherapy, radiation and three surgeries.  Jacqueline fought hard and at the end of 8 months of treatment, her doctors felt that she was cancer-free.

During Jacqueline’s treatment it was discovered that the underlying cause of her cancer was a genetic condition known as Lynch Syndrome, caused by an inherited gene mutation. It was also discovered that the gene mutation was passed down from from her father’s side. Lynch Syndrome is a common, but under-diagnosed hereditary genetic condition believed to be present in 1 in 279 people living in the United States. Despite how common Lynch syndrome is, it is not well known in the medical community nor the general public.

Having Lynch Syndrome results in a significantly higher than usual risk of colorectal, endometrial/uterine and many other cancers, often at a much younger than average age. We, nor most of Jacqueline’s doctors, had never heard about Lynch Syndrome.

Jacqueline’s father’s family history also wasn’t suspicious for a genetic cause of colorectal cancer.Her paternal grandfather died of CRC, but he was over the age of 50, when it is considered more likely to get CRC. No one else in the family had died of cancer that we knew of. It was the perfect storm—Jacqueline’s young age, a family history that didn’t raise red flags, and our and the medical community’s lack of awareness of Lynch Syndrome. Earlier awareness of her risk could have saved her life.

In March 2013, during her senior year of college, the cancer returned, spreading to Jacqueline’s liver.  She fought every day, never giving up. Jacqueline decided to complete the final few months of her studies and graduate with her class, despite resuming chemotherapy treatment to keep the cancer at bay. In May 2013, she proudly graduated Cum Laude with a double major in Marketing and Spanish from the University of San Diego.  After graduation, Jacqueline worked as a marketing communications associate at the headquarters of the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, quickly fitting into the team and demonstrating the same passion that she put into everything she did. She lived life to the fullest, but it was tragically cut short.

Jacqueline passed away on March 30, 2014 at the age of 23. 

Jacqueline was a bright, intelligent, caring young woman bursting with dreams and aspirations. Her story of missed diagnosis and lack of awareness does not stand alone. Our goal is to change the narrative for other families, and to impact those we encounter.

JACQUELINE IS AN INSPIRATION TO ALL OF US

Jacqueline inscribed her Life Mission in a book titled “Where Will You Be Five Years From Today?” that we gave her for Christmas her freshman year of college. 

“To love living my life and have a positive impact on the lives of those I know and cherish, but also to those who I simply encounter. To believe that mistakes are made to learn and to embrace all knowledge.”

Jacqueline truly lived by those words. She taught us more about how to live life in her 23 years on this earth than we ever could have taught her. Jacqueline never wanted her latest and bravest battle to define who she was. She wanted people to see her for who she really was and what she was capable of accomplishing. She didn’t ask to be a role model and didn’t see herself as “the strongest person” others claimed, but she reached down deeper and found strength she didn’t know she had. She truly appreciated the people who never defined her by her illness, who saw and loved the real Jacqueline. “Those people make me, just an ordinary person, feel extraordinary,” she wrote. 

In the coming years, by using this knowledge we know about Lynch Syndrome, we can all honor Jacqueline’s memory by adopting her life mission as well; to impact the lives of those we know and cherish, and also those we simply encounter. 

Jacqueline would love that.

Joan and Allen Rush