March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

I have recently been asked to talk to a group of hospital employees about my experience with colon cancer. I had thought that I wanted to try to forget this part of my life, to put it "behind" me so to speak ;) (a little colon cancer humor). I don't want to be a poster child for cancer. I just want to be me. If I have to have cancer, why can't it be a bit more glamorous, or romantic? Like in the movies when the heroine just slowly wastes away. Why does it have to be the one that no one wants to talk about? No pretty pink ribbons, and paint the town pink for us colon folks!
Colon cancer is just plain gross, and hateful. It will hit you when you aren't looking, and try it's hardest to take you down. It messes with your mind, tangles up your life, and for some it will eventually win out. In February, it got Pam, and just yesterday it got Shawndra. I met both of them soon after I was diagnosed, and have followed their blogs for over a year now.
I always thought that colon cancer was just for old people. I have learned that it doesn't care how old you are. My tumor was slow growing. By the time I had my first colonoscopy at 51, the doctor said that I had probably had it for at least 5 years. So, had I paid attention to the symptons I was having, and done something about them, I could have been diagnosed at 46. I didn't even know what a colonoscopy was at 46, and I sure wasn't going to go to the doctor and tell him I was bleeding out of my bum! I warned you--colon cancer is gross.
Could have, should have, would have, it no longer matters. This is my life now, and the road I'll take has been chosen for me. I'll continue to be scanned-prodded, and stuck on a regular basis. We were told by an oncologist that most stage IV colon cancer patients only live 2 years. That was a real wake up call. It's now been 1 year and 9 months since surgery. I've been off chemo for 1 year and 2 months, and am still clear. So far, I've been one of the lucky ones. I've had 2 doctors that have told me I would be cured, but they are in the minority. Most think that I'll be on some form of treatment for the rest of my life. Colon cancer seldom gives up. If you are 50 or older, get a colonoscopy if you haven't already had one. If you are 50 or under and have any strange things going on- blood in stools, anemia, abnormal stools, abdominal pain or cramping, get to your doctor and demand a colonoscopy.
Colon cancer kills as many Americans as breast cancer and aids combined. Every 9 minutes someone dies of the disease. 1 out of 18 Americans will get the disease. Colorectal cancer is highly preventable and treatable if caught early. Yet it is the nation's second leading cancer killer due to lack of screening.