Doctors emphasize screening during Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
NEW YORK - March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, a time to bring greater awareness to a disease that every year kills thousands of patients under 50.
That's why guidelines were updated to start screening earlier.
"I'm a Stage 3 colorectal cancer survivor," Jennifer Jones said. "When I was diagnosed at the age of 50, I was shocked. I was told not only do I have cancer, but I have five years to live."
Jones is a former Radio City Rockette who loves fitness and has always been active.
"I always pictured this disease as an old person's disease," she said.
Dr. Steven Lee-Kong said you can do everything right and it won't eliminate your risk of ever getting colorectal cancer.
"It just decreases the risk, and so the importance of screening, particularly in patients who don't think they have risk factors. We'll find cancers and we'll find them early," Lee-Kong said.
The risk is even greater for African Americans. They are about 38% more likely to die from colorectal cancer than non-Hispanic white people.
"The reason for that is multifactoral. It could be related to, in part, access to health care, insurance status, trust in the health care system, other modifiable risk factors like smoking and obesity," Lee-Kong said.
The recommended age for colorectal screening is 45 for everyone.
"I turned 45 last year and the first thing I did was get my colonoscopy," Lee-Kong said.
For some people, even talking about colonoscopy may make them uncomfortable, but health professionals are finding creative ways to make it more accessible and fun.
Community events, like a giant model of what the colon looks like at Cooperman Barnabus Medical Center, help spread the word: Screening saves lives.
"The whole idea of doing a colonoscopy is to prevent something that you don't want from ever occurring. This tool is the most powerful one," said Dr. Mark Gilder, director or robotic surgical services at Cooperman Barnabus Medical Center. " A polyp, by itself, is a benign group of cells. When your doctor removes polyps and takes them out, you take out the risk of getting cancer in that area."
Gilder said there are several symptoms to watch out for.
"Bleeding that you experience and recognize, change in bowel habits, abdominal pain, discomfort, fever, weakness, fatigue," he said.
"I did have symptoms that my stomach was bothering me, but I thought it was maybe irritable bowel syndrome," Jones said.
She was deemed cancer-free in 2019, and shares her story with others.
"I feel like there's a reason for everything in life. Some things we are to know, and some we're not, and if my journey was to have this and use my platform to speak about this, if it's God's will, then I'll do it," Jones said.