Country Star Coffey Anderson Opens Up About His Wife's Stage 4 Colon Cancer

Photo credit: Instagram
Photo credit: Instagram

From Prevention

  • Coffey Anderson and wife Criscilla shared an update on Criscilla's health after her recent diagnosis of Stage 4 colon cancer.

  • Criscilla received her diagnosis after a period of remission following a diagnosis of Stage 3C colon cancer in 2018.

  • Criscilla will begin three months of chemotherapy, and the Andersons are remaining optimistic.


Coffey Anderson, 40, is asking for prayers amid his wife Criscilla Anderson's diagnosis of Stage 4 colon cancer. The Andersons opened up to People about Criscilla's health and how their family is coping.

In May of 2018, Criscilla, now 39, felt excruciating pain while she was in Kentucky for a dance event. She went to the emergency room, only to receive a diagnosis of colitis and some antibiotics. But the pain continued.

“As a mom, you always feel like you don’t have the time to deal with things like this,” the dancer told People. “But there came a point when I couldn’t ignore it anymore.”

“The whole time, I had been sharing my story on Instagram, and my girlfriend chimed in and told me that her dad was a GI doctor in Long Beach and that I should go see him,” she continued. “By that time, I was in excruciating pain. I mean, I had stopped going to the bathroom. It was bad.”

Her doctors attempted an emergency colonoscopy and found a tumor, diagnosing her with Stage 3C colon cancer. She spent nearly two weeks in the hospital and had two feet of her colon removed from her body.

Things were looking up as Criscilla went through a brief period of remission. But earlier this year, she received some bad news from her doctors. “The cancer has spread throughout my para-aortic region and has begun growing up my back,” she said, adding that her doctors recently diagnosed her with Stage 4 metastatic colon cancer.

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the U.S., and it's on the rise in younger people. Although the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force recommends getting a colonoscopy at age 50, this type of cancer is seeing an uptick in adults between the ages of 20 and 50.

Stage 4 colon cancer has a five-year survival rate of 14%, but the Andersons are staying optimistic. “My ultimate goal is to be in remission and have it not be chronic but be in a situation where it can be completely healed. The ideal, if that cannot happen, would be to keep it maintained and have it not spread any further for the rest of my life,” Criscilla said.

Criscilla is beginning three months of chemotherapy at City of Hope National Medical Center in California, as well as working with a holistic doctor based in Houston. “I honestly feel like this man is going to change my life,” Criscilla told People. She already eliminated dairy, sugar, pork, red meat, bread, and grains from her diet, according to her Instagram.

"I’ve added a crap load of fruits and veggies. Coconut juice is my 'dessert drink' and I feel SO GOOD," she captioned a mirror shot. "Y’all- don’t wait until your diagnosed with cancer to make these changes. Do it NOW."

Criscilla is leaning on her family for support, especially her three kids. “When they lay their head down on my shoulder, I just feel so lucky to be their mom,” she said. “When we are all together, everything is okay again.”

And Coffey promised to support his wife through everything. “When you say that you will be there for each other through thick and thin and through sickness and health, you have to mean it,” Coffey said. “There are a lot of moments that you can never prepare for. I mean, I never thought I would be helping Criscilla brush her teeth or get to the bathroom in the middle of the night. But we are willing to do it for each other. Each of us are giving 100 percent.”

“Life is not fair, but God is always good,” Coffey said. You can support the family's Go Fund Me here.

View this post on Instagram

I couldn’t ask for more. Seeing them today gave me so much vision for the future. I have a long road to recovery. Months. But I know this is all temporary. And soon I can get back to normal life. I know there r so many people that r wondering what exactly happened. Well it started With abdominal pains. I was diagnosed in Louisville Kentucky emergency room with colitis on May 26. I was sent home with some antibiotics and after two weeks of anabiotic‘s not working and having no pain relief I checked myself into another ER. I was sent home an hour later with a new prescription. It wasn’t until the next day when I finally saw a G.I. doctor that is the father of a friend I Dance with, he immediately admitted me into the hospital saying I needed more attention than what he could do. I am nine days in at the hospital post 3 ct scans, a colonoscopy, an NG tube, nutrients through IV and surgery with having 2 feet of my colon removed and a colostomy bag on my stomach temporarily while my colon heals so they can sew it back together in a few months. There was a blockage in my colon not allowing anything to pass. So to say I was swollen or inflamed was an understatement. Sending an oncologist in my room shook me up a bit but it’s protocol when finding a tumor...and I’ll say right now, the devil is a liar and I do not and will not have cancer. I don’t accept that. Just waiting on pathology reports from surgery to confirm that. No lie, a bag on my stomach to poop and seeing my colon outside of my body is hard to take, but I know it’s temporary. Im glad I’m alive. (The kids think it’s funny that I toot from my tummy) HEY! Im goin with it! I’m glad I have the family village and friends I have that have stepped up to help my home operate. I’ll do my thank you in a separate post cause it will be a long one on its own. But all in all, I’m alive and I’m here and I’m thanking God. Thank you for ALL the love. My goodness u should see my messages and my flowers! As of now, no colitis. in Jesus name just an infection that went really bad. And in Jesus name NOT CANCER. If ur up for pics and details about by ostemy bag, prob in my story...I want to be very open with everyone.

A post shared by Criscilla💗 Anderson (@criscilla) on Jun 16, 2018 at 3:05pm PDT


Like what you just read? You’ll love our magazine! Go here to subscribe. Don’t miss a thing by downloading Apple News here and following Prevention. Oh, and we’re on Instagram too.

You Might Also Like