'It Was A Lifesaver': New Treatment For Those Diagnosed With Colorectal Cancer Improving Quality Of Life For Many
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A growing number of young people are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Main Line Health has a treatment that makes the surgery a whole lot easier on patients.
March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month. Treatments can be difficult -- not just surgery but what patients are left with after surgery. That's changing now.
Whitney Necaise and her husband, who live in North Carolina, are frequent visitors to Lankenau Hospital.
She is 29 years old and is among a growing number of young Americans diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
"It was really hard to sort of to be hit with that out of the blue," she said.
She started having symptoms -- pain and bleeding -- when she was pregnant, and after the baby was born, it was chalked off as hemorrhoids.
"I specifically asked the question, 'Could this be something more?' And it was always because of my age, being pregnant," Necaise said.
"Doctors were saying to you, 'You're too young to have cancer?'" CBS3's Stephanie Stahl asked.
"I think I had three different doctors tell me there's no way," Necaise said.
But it was and then came another devastating blow.
"We were basically told after my surgery, I would have a permanent ostomy," she said. "It was sort of a weighty diagnosis for somebody at 26."
That's how they ended up here with Dr. John Marks, who developed a laparoscopic surgery to safely remove the cancer while keeping everything internal.
"By coming from below, we're able to make sure we have a margin, then we're able to do the dissection and create a new rectum from the intestine up higher," Dr. Marks said. "This allows one to avoid a permanent colostomy bag."
"It was a lifesaver, one, but also a quality of lifesaver," Necaise said.
She says it was a rough journey that also included radiation and chemotherapy. But she's fine now, back enjoying her children and wishing she had better doctors sooner.
"I feel like if I had made more of a stand to say, 'No, something is really not right. I really want this to be looked at,' maybe I could have caught it sooner," she said.
Doctors say it's unclear why young people like Necaise are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer -- maybe too much processed food or obesity.
Early detection usually comes with a colonoscopy, but those aren't recommended until age 45.
That's why it's important to watch for symptoms and get them checked.