Finding Strength, Faith and Purpose

For Anna Cain-Robinson, cancer changed nearly everything but not necessarily in the ways she expected.

It changed how she sees her body, her family, her faith and her priorities. It taught her to advocate for herself, find humor in difficult places and recognize that every cancer journey is different.

Her journey began with a rare diagnosis: Pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP), a cancer so uncommon that Anna had never heard of it before.

A Feeling She Couldn’t Ignore

Anna was feeling well and exercising regularly in preparation for a family trip to France. When she noticed something unusual in her abdomen, she assumed it was simply a muscle.

Four days before the trip, she had an unmistakable feeling that she needed to go to urgent care.

“I listened,” she says.

Imaging revealed a mass approximately 16 by 17 centimeters. Doctors initially suspected ovarian cancer, but her surgery was scheduled for after she returned from France.

She went on the trip with her family, carrying a frightening uncertainty she had not yet shared with her children.

When surgeons operated on July 19, they discovered that it was not ovarian cancer. It was appendiceal cancer that had spread throughout her peritoneum – a rare condition known as Pseudomyxoma peritonei, or PMP.

A Long Road to Recovery

Anna underwent a hysterectomy during her initial surgery. Later, she traveled to Wake Forest for extensive cytoreductive surgery followed by HIPEC, heated chemotherapy delivered directly into the abdominal cavity.

The surgery and recovery were difficult. Surgeons removed visible tumor and cancerous tissue, including scraping mucin from her diaphragm, leaving Anna with lasting pain and physical effects

Yet she approached recovery with determination.

“I trained for it,” she says.

Before surgery, Anna had worked hard to build her physical strength. Her goal was to run a mile before her second surgery. Her family doodle, Huckleberry, became her personal trainer, walking and running with her throughout recovery.

The day before she left for Wake Forest, Anna completed her mile.

“He was my personal trainer,” she says.

Be Your Own Advocate

A rare diagnosis can be isolating. Anna found connection through PMP Pals, a support group for people living with Pseudomyxoma peritonei and related cancers.

The experience reinforced one of the most important lessons she shares with others:

“Do not compare your cancer diagnosis and journey to anyone else’s.”

Anna is equally passionate about another lesson: get multiple opinions. She encourages patients with rare cancers to seek specialists who understand their particular diagnosis and to look beyond their own community if necessary.

“You have to be your own advocate,” she says.

And she offers another piece of advice:

Don’t Google yourself into becoming your own doctor.

Instead, she encourages patients to ask questions, get multiple opinions and rely on their medical team and trusted resources.

Faith, Family and Survivorship

Cancer changed Anna’s entire family. She and her husband, Walter, have a blended family: Millie, a college freshman at Appalachian State University; Collins, a high school sophomore; Lila, an eighth grader; and Mary Ellen, a seventh grader.

The experience brought the family closer and shifted their focus from material things to time together.

“We don’t really worry about gifts,” Anna says. “We worry about what we’re doing together.”

Faith has also played a central role. Anna says John Knox Presbyterian Church in Greenville surrounded the family with support when they needed it most.

For Anna, survivorship means choosing how to live after cancer. She talks openly about her diagnosis and has learned that sharing her experience can motivate others to take their own health seriously.

“That’s what survivorship is for me,” she says. “It’s talking about it.”

Finding the Beacon of Hope

On the first anniversary of being cancer-free, Anna searched for a place that recognized appendix cancer. She discovered that Cancer Survivors Park in Greenville was the only place in South Carolina participating in a special recognition for appendix cancer patients.

That night, Anna and her daughter drove to the park and took selfies beneath the Beacon of Hope, illuminated in amber in honor of appendix cancer patients.

For Anna, it was more than a photograph. After a diagnosis that could feel isolating, she had found a place where her cancer—and her survival—were acknowledged.

That moment sparked her desire to become involved with Cancer Survivors Park.

Today, cancer is part of Anna’s story, but it is not the entirety of her story. She loves traveling internationally with her family, skiing and fishing in both fresh and saltwater.

For Anna, survivorship means moving forward—making memories with Walter and her children, caring for her health, advocating for others and refusing to let a rare cancer diagnosis define her life.

Anna Cain-Robinson is a survivor. And she is still living the story.