Christina Gianoplus - "There are no ifs"

Christina Gianoplus, Wilmington, NC

Severe abdominal pain sent 38-year-old Christina Gianoplus of Wilmington, NC, to the Emergency Room on New Year's Eve 2007. She thought she had a severe bladder infection, but after a few tests, she was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer with metastasis to the liver. On January 2, she had major surgery that left her with a temporary ostomy.

Christina and her husband, Greg, sought out Dr. Richard Goldberg, a specialist at UNC who could provide Christina with the post-surgery treatments she needed. They wanted her care to be local since they have four children. "The resource that is available to us here in our own state is a blessing beyond words," says Greg.

As part of the clinical trial Christina participates in, she receives chemotherapy every two weeks. "My results are miraculous," says Christina. "I had very, very large tumors in my liver that were the size of 8 centimeters - they are now down to two centimeters."

Participating in a clinical trial is something Christina feels called to do, to help find a cure and to help others. She also feels called to make people more aware of cancer and its symptoms. "I want people to learn that cancer looks different. It's not an older person's disease. It's me. I'm living with it." She wants people to understand that cancer plays no favorites, that it can come at any age and that screenings are vital.

To other cancer patients, she says, "Tackle it with everything you've got... I try to find what cancer can't do, and cancer can't do a lot of things. It can't destroy love and it can't destroy your spirit. You've got to fight with everything that you've got. I try every day to think about when I'm going to be done with this cancer, not if, there are no ifs."

Christina raves about her care at UNC. "My care at UNC is unsurpassed. It's excellent. They treat me as a human being and not just a number or a cancer patient. I'm fun loving and a mom, and they really bring that out when I'm being treated with chemotherapy. It's wonderful. Sometimes we laugh. I'm very thankful and very grateful to have found UNC-Chapel Hill and Dr. Goldberg."