My Journey With Colorectal Cancer Awareness
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Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women in the United States, and rates are increasing among young people. Living with Crohn’s disease puts me at an increased risk for colorectal cancer, and I’ve felt a strong pull to raise awareness of colorectal cancer screening after the unexpected loss of my father to cancer in 2020.
The Abrupt Unraveling of My Father’s Cancer Journey
My story begins with a devastating blow — the unexpected cancer diagnosis of my father in July of 2020. While living through a global pandemic, I was faced with the words no one ever wants to hear. I vividly remember receiving the text message from my dad that said, “I have cancer.” Originally from Peru, my father had returned to our homeland to live later in life, so he was sharing this news while we were oceans apart. I found myself feeling a sense of helplessness at learning he was facing a complex diagnosis of both liver cancer and colorectal cancer, which had metastasized.
Summer turned to fall, his health worsened, and we very suddenly lost my dad in September 2020 — just two months after his initial diagnosis. It still feels surreal as I write this, realizing how quickly he was taken from us.
In the aftermath of his passing, I found myself navigating uncharted territory, having never lost an immediate family member. I was battling with my own physical challenges due to my Crohn’s disease, along with the mental challenge that comes with processing profound loss. The suddenness of it all left me questioning so much. While I’ve been under constant medical care for my IBD, I kept wondering why he chose never to seek care. Although his prognosis was so poor at diagnosis, I kept thinking about whether he could have lived longer had it been caught and treated sooner.
The Weight of Awareness
As a Crohn’s disease patient and an IBD patient-advocate, I have extensive medical knowledge. I am fortunate to have an IBD multidisciplinary care team who monitor me routinely. Considering my father’s health, conversations with my healthcare team began to focus on the sobering statistics I face having both a family history of colorectal cancer and a personal IBD history.
Knowing these statistics has given me a stronger sense of urgency to be proactive with my care and to ask specific questions related to my case. I know that my routine IBD screening entails a colonoscopy, MRE and lab work, but I began to wonder whether that now needed to be more comprehensive or occur more often. I asked my gastroenterologist about other screening mechanisms that may be available, as well as whether we needed to adjust timing for my routine screening. Although I may go through periods of clinical remission, there’s a concern about dysplasia, the abnormal growth or development of a tissue or an organ, that cannot be ignored, especially now with my family history.
The Vital Role of Regular Screening
Screening is crucial for early detection and prevention, and can significantly reduce the risk of death from colorectal cancer. Precancerous polyps can be found at an earlier and more treatable stage, which can prevent disease progression. The American Cancer Society recommends the average healthy individual begin screening at age 45, with options varying from stool-based tests to visual exams, such as colonoscopy.
Considering my heightened risk factors, regular screening is an essential part of my healthcare plan. I’ve had countless colonoscopies throughout my lifetime, along with abdominal CT scans and abdominal MREs, all utilized to monitor my Crohn’s disease activity. While this has been ongoing since my diagnosis, I began to wonder much more about whether I’d need to be monitored more often. And although colorectal cancer has always been a reality for me as an IBD patient, it does feel like the risk I carry now, after my father’s diagnosis, is greater, so there is much more anxiety after each screening.
Embracing the screenings, and sharing my story publicly, has empowered me, because I know these are aspects of disease management within my control.
Embracing the screenings, and sharing my story publicly, has empowered me, because I know these are aspects of disease management within my control. I choose to confront the reality of my personal increased risk through proactive healthcare. I know that by doing so, I’m not only protecting myself, but also honoring the legacy of those impacted by colorectal cancer.
Redefining the Narrative of Colorectal Cancer Stigma
Within the Hispanic and Latino community, the stigma surrounding any medical diagnosis is compounded by cultural taboos and misconceptions. Conversations about health, particularly those involving sensitive topics such as colorectal screenings, rarely occur. My own father, a Hispanic man, refused any screening throughout his life. We’ll never understand his internal rationale, but it is not lost on me that I could have pushed him more to get screened. I realize his choice, rooted in cultural stigma and fear, altered his diagnosis and outcome. After my dad’s passing, it took a lot of persistence on my part for my older brother, also a Hispanic man, to get a screening colonoscopy. As he is healthy and does not live with IBD, his risk is inherently lower, but still one of concern.
I know it will take continued effort, awareness, and advocacy to increase colorectal cancer screening, particularly for the Hispanic/Latino population. I do believe the more we openly discuss the importance of screenings within our communities, and share our personal stories, the more we can transform the stigma associated with it. Collectively, we have the power to change perceptions and rewrite the narrative surrounding colorectal cancer.
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