Along Came Cancer

Colon cancer rates are rising fast among young adults. If you are 45 and above (or younger in some cases), and have not already, go get screened.

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

Because I don’t smoke, have no taste for alcohol and have been vegetarian my entire life, I’ve always considered myself relatively healthy. And while I know being a teetotaler vegetarian/occasional vegan (…camembert cheese I wish I knew how to quit you) alone does not a healthy person make, I can’t imagine being any other way. 🤷🏽‍♀️

As for exercise, I tend to be Team All or Team Nothing. For example, a few years after the birth of my twins, I was big into CrossFit, lifting heavy, banging out burpees and chasing PRs at 5 o’clock in the morning WODs. A decade and change later, I’m just doing my best to find a sustainable fitness habit I can commit to that exists somewhere between beast mode and tree sloth.

As for healthcare, I’ve been more fortunate that a great many more of my fellow Americans than you might guess. Sure, there were some zero to spotty-at-best coverage periods in my late teens and early adulthood, but I have always had routine access to medical care. And thankfully, aside from that one time I completely depleted my 401K account to pay for long overdue and staggeringly expensive dental work, often outsized - even with health insurance - medical fees have not bankrupted me, nor have they been a deterrent to care. For many Americans, an unexpected medical expense can be disastrous.¹ Disparities in access to treatment and healthcare only compound the problem. The worst part is, it doesn’t have to be this way. Dozens of countries worldwide, including Japan, have universal public healthcare systems that cover every citizen and resident. In Tokyo for example, medical fees for children are free through to the end of high school. Access to quality healthcare should never be the privilege of a lucky few, rather it is a fundamental human right for all.

Healthcare should never be the privilege of a lucky few, rather it is a fundamental human right for all.

About a year ago, in conversation with a friend in the States who is also a Black woman,² I mentioned I’d not yet had a mammogram. As there is no history of breast cancer that I am aware of in my family, and because I breastfed³ all four of my babies well past their first year,⁴ and do regular self-exams, I always intended to, but never got around to getting a mammogram. Without missing a beat my friend shared that she regularly availed herself to the excellent health benefits provided by her employer, but more importantly she gently chided, she’d be too ashamed to not take advantage of potentially life saving care when so many before her could not. I’d never thought about it quite that way before. And so I had my first mammogram a few weeks later - almost a full decade after doctors recommend an initial screening at age 40. Test results flagged a tiny benign fibroid but otherwise came back cancer free. I’ll have to go for another mammogram later this year. And yes, I already have a date scheduled - smack in the middle of sakura season.

In addition to mammograms, there was another routine health checkup that I routinely put off. I was 44 when we moved to Tokyo and I always schedule my annual check-up around my birthday. At the English-speaking clinic where I get my care, there were two available dates to choose from - the first was for people aged 44 and younger. The second, a week later, was for folks 45 and up. At 45, a stool sample and colonoscopy is recommended. Ewww. Gross! I chose the earlier date. The following years, at age 46 and 47, my doctor urged me to provide a sample. I told her I would, but I never did. At the appointment scheduled for my 48th year, I finally woman’d up. I gave the clinic everything, including the 💩, they asked for. When the results came back positive for microscopic traces of blood, undetectable to the human eye, I rationalized it was some kind of fluke - and summarily dismissed the results. My doctor urged me to get a colonoscopy. I assured her I would. I did not. A year later, at 49, I wasn’t as put off by the required sample. And when the results came back positive a second time for microscopic traces of blood, I scheduled a colonoscopy. Exactly one month to the day after my 50th birthday, I learned the polyps removed from my colon during said colonoscopy were cancerous. At some point during my 40s, I’d developed colon cancer.

Rates of colon cancer have been rising rapidly around the world in young people in their 20s, 30s and 40s since the mid-2000s. Disturbingly, in very early stages of colon cancer, no symptoms are sometimes the only symptoms. In my case, aside from invisible blood detectable only by testing, I too had no symptoms. And many of us assume colon cancer, or any cancer really, is an awful and unfortunate thing, that happens to someone else.

Perhaps one of the most recent high-profile cases shining a light on this phenomenon was the death of actor Chadwick Boseman, best known for portraying the title role in Marvel’s “Black Panther” films, at age 43 in 2020. He was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in his late 30s. His untimely death, much like the death at age 42 of the husband of American journalist Katie Couric in the ‘90s, brought renewed attention to colon cancer awareness and prevention. Shorts like the one filmed by Canadian 🇨🇦 actor Ryan Reynolds go a long way to encourage more folks to get screened:

The good news is, if caught early enough, colon cancer is treatable. Left untreated, cancer can spread to different parts of the body, where it becomes increasingly difficult to combat. Just last week, I had a follow-up colonoscopy and remain cancer-free. 💪🏽 However, I need to repeat the process annually for the foreseeable future.

Despite my instinct to keep my business my business, I think it’s more important to talk about and encourage cancer screenings. I thought limiting my exposure to avoidable risk factors such as alcohol, red meat and tobacco meant I wouldn’t be at risk, but I was wrong. Genetics, environmental toxins, exposure to chemicals or other substances, and as well as a host of other factors known and unknown, all play a role in the “will I,” or “won’t I” get cancer lottery. Too, I now have the added responsibility of talking with my children and family about colorectal cancer as they are at greater risk due to genetic coding. I encourage you to find out your family medical history if you are able. In generations past, discussing illness of any kind was often taboo. If this is the case in your family, be the change, get talking, and get screened.

TL;DR? March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. While it can be deadly, it is highly preventable. Learn more about screening and symptoms at GetScreened.org. P.S. I’m cancer free!

Some Resources:

• Lead from Behind is part of the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, the largest nonprofit organization dedicated to colon cancer.

• A 38-year-old colon cancer surviver talks about her experience here.

• Black Women and Breast Cancer: Why Disparities Persist and How to End Them

• More Young People Than Ever Will Get Colorectal Cancer This Year (NYTimes gift link)

In Case You Missed It:

Newsletter No. 30 was the first in a new interview series called Eleven Questions. Once a month, same questions, different person. Please enjoy.

ELEVEN QUESTIONS: Natalie Love Cruz

TELL ME:

Am I the only one guilty of procrastinating, or prioritizing a million other things, over making an appointment for my health and well-being? 👩🏾‍⚕️ Fellow Gen Xers, have you been getting mammograms and colonoscopy screenings along with those new reading glasses? 🤓

That’s all for now, see you in two weeks. ❤️

Find Occasionally Impervious on Instagram here.

1. The US is one of the only places in the world where medical bankruptcy is a thing.

2. Black women are more likely to die from breast cancer than any other population in the US and the UK.

3. Breastfeeding has been shown to reduce the risk of cancer.

4. I support a parent’s choice to feed their baby, by breast, bottle, pump, feeding tube, formula, breastmilk, or some combination of the above. There is no shaming here.❤️