Karin Miller and her mom, Sue Rofidal, received the gift of life in the form of a colonoscopy

Karin Miller, a 39 year-old advertising sales executive from Edina, Minnesota, never thought that her greatest inheritance would come in the form of a disease. But the awareness that came from her grandmother’s experience with colon cancer saved Karin’s life. And she now refers to that legacy as a gift.

Karin doesn’t come from a large family, but she and her relatives have always been close. Her grandmother’s diagnosis and subsequent passing from colon cancer was the first real family tragedy that she experienced. Karin was a teenager at the time. Unlike many families, Karin’s talked openly about her grandmother’s experience and about health issues related to the disease. Shortly after her grandmother’s death, Karin’s mother began having symptoms of her own. Physicians assumed that it was stress, related to recent family events and initially did not recommend a colonoscopy. Karin’s mom was 40 years-old, well below the typical screening age. But the symptoms persisted and so did Karin’s mother, who finally went in for the screening procedure. Karin and her mom talked about the colonoscopy prep and also about the fact that Karin would need to begin her own screenings at a young age. The test revealed a cancerous polyp which was removed. Now, at 64, Karin’s mom remains healthy.

Karin went in for her first colonoscopy at the age of 33. The test revealed a healthy colon. For her second screening at age 38, she chose to take a day off work in order to be comfortable during the prep. But to her disappointment, the prep was completely uneventful. “I was actually annoyed,” she says laughing, “I took the whole day off of work and it was really no big deal. There are so many things in life that are harder than colonoscopy prep!”

The second colonoscopy revealed a 3/4 inch abnormal polyp which was removed during the procedure. Her physician told her that if she had waited to get screened, even until age 40, the particular kind of polyp that they removed would have become an aggressive form of cancer. Karin knew, from her grandmother’s experience, that the cancer could have taken her life. Karin talked tearfully about the relief she felt.

“When I got the news that it was not cancer “yet”, I really thought of it as a gift.  A gift of Knowledge that my grandma gave me. A gift that she was never given. And if it were not for her having cancer and going through what she did, I would have had cancer too.“

From now on, Karin will get a colonoscopy every year. She sees the screening procedure as an opportunity. Very few people think of a colonoscopy as a gift, but it is easy to see why it is for Karin, and why she believes it should be for others. “I feel like I have this great chance, a great opportunity that my grandma didn’t have.” She understands the apprehension felt by many others who would prefer to avoid the discomfort of the procedure and the fear of receiving bad news, but she says, “you have to walk into the fire, once you get past it, it’s okay.”

Read more:

• Top four reasons people avoid a colonoscopy
• How to put together a family health history
• Ask the doctor: Should the colon cancer screening age be reduced?
• Ask the doctor: What about virtual colonoscopy?

Consider these stories:

Dylan Cappel, 23 year-old Olympic rower,  lost to colon cancer.

Robyn Hassell, 25 year-old, lost to colon cancer eight weeks after diagnosis.

Dave Shogren, 41 year-old father and rectal cancer patient.

Fran Syverson, 52 year-old mother of two, lost to colon cancer.

Erica Paul, 28 year-old colon cancer survivor.

The faces of colon cancer are diverse and remarkable.   By educating people of all ages about the symptoms of colon cancer, and by promoting colon cancer screening with Get Your Rear in Gear events, the Colon Cancer Coalition seeks to reduce the impact of this disease so that no one loses a son, a daughter, or a parent to colon cancer.  If caught early, 90% of colon cancers are treatable.

The Colon Cancer Coalition recommends that people of all ages know their family health history, understand their risk factors for colon cancer and get screened if necessary.

Honor Colon Cancer Awareness month with us and Get Your Rear in Gear!

• See more faces of colon cancer
  

Read more about:

• Preparing for a colonoscopy
• Top four reasons people avoid a colonoscopy
• Colon cancer risk assessment tool
• Forms for compiling your family health history
• How to get the best colon cancer care
  

Robyn Hassell, New Braunfels, TX

Surviving family:

Danny and Becky Hassell (Mom and Dad), Christie Hassell (sister),  Daniel and Jonathan Hassell (brothers), Joshua Hassell (nephew), Eva (sister-in-law).

By Becky Hassell

Robyn was a beautiful, vibrant 25 year old girl.

She developed a blood clot in her left shoulder on Sept. 19th, 2008.

After a month in the hospital in Austin, Tx. we moved her to MDA. There they did a colonoscopy and found she had a tumor in her colon. She lived 8 weeks after that diagnosis. We lost her on Dec. 20th, 2008.

Robyn was a precious daughter. She had a smile that literally lit up a room. She was full of life and very outgoing. We had no idea she was so sick. She looked so healthy. We miss her terribly. She was a joy to have as our daughter. She was thoughtful, kind, independent and sweet.

Robyn loved the Lord and was never afraid to share her beliefs with others. Especially while being treated at MD Anderson. She cared very deeply for others and shared her faith often. It didn’t matter who they were..Doctors , nurses, technicians, therapists. I know she left an impression on many who cared for her.

I know that Robyn would want the world to know how much she loved life. She would have been the very last person on this earth that I thought this would happen to. She was so full of life! I hope by sharing her story it might save another young person. It might cause a doctor to do a colonoscopy when otherwise he would not even think of doing one. How I wish we had known.

Visit Robyn’s Caring Bridge Site

Bruce CizekTinley Park, IL

Michele Miritlello (daughter)
Anthony, Andrew & Addyson Miritello (grandchildren)
Michael Cizek (son)
Eric and Charlie (grandchildren)
Jaime cizek (daughter)
Josh Maye (son)

by Michele Miritlello

My dad was 54 years old when he passed. He was retired from the Tinley Park Fire Depatrment where he had been for over 25 years. He loved riding his motorcycle and spending time with his grand kids.

He is special to me because he was always there for me and attended the birth of our first child.

Craig PhinneyAnkeny, IA

Our whole conversation lasted approximately four minutes.  Understand this is a Doctor I have seen for approximately seven years for treating an Ulcertic Colitus (Ulcers of the Colon) problem matter and who knew my background.

Following a week of depression and some very positive conversations with my supervisors at work, I met with Dr. Michael Page, MD Colon & Rectal Surgeon in Des Moines. Prior to this meeting the only thing the two of us had in common was, we both lived in Ankeny and both love to smoke and BBQ meat.

Following a very positive discussion with Dr Page, a decision was made. I DECIDED GAME ON DOC!

From there March 24, 2009 was surgery, with a complete colon removal, I was in the hospital for two weeks with complications and then in the recovery at home for 6 weeks with an ostomy bag. The second surgery was in May for reconnect. I was released from the hospital one week following my second surgery. I was home for 24 hours, when I had complications from severe dehydration and was re-admitted to the hospital for another week.

During my stay in the hospital, I had time to think, past all the drugs or maybe because of the drugs.Anyway, this came to a question I challenged myself during the quiet times.  What would I do with an extra hour today, that special 25th hour?  How could I use it to benefit myself or someone else?

I realize cancer does funny things with time.  #1 it surprises you when you don’t expect it and #2 you’re caught between time moving ever so slowly, giving you too much time to think and time moving so fast you can’t live the life you want to live.

Tonight, I challenge you to commit to arrest time and stop this unfairness this disease has on us, our friends and our family.

I challenge you with one simple question: If you could have one more hour today how would your spend it?

If you are battling cancer presently, walking along side a friend or family member fighting the disease or you just want to ease the pain that cancer causes someone else.  THINK!  WHAT CAN I DO WITH ANOTHER HOUR TODAY

Following my first surgery, I was on an ostomy pouch for six weeks, which was a miserable ordeal.

During this transition, I met a wonderful friend with similar health concerns who is and also will be my pouch partner.  She spoke openly with me about my concerns about the disease and what was ahead of me. Her commitment was for me to understand this disease and that yes, it is a lifestyle change, it’s not ending the enjoyment of living.She encouraged me to attend cancer support and ostomy support groups, which I have and one thing I learned, this disease DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE. Six weeks ago I had my second surgery to attach the J-Pouch.

My second commitment, I saw what this disease was doing to me and what it was doing to my wife. I was determined to prove my colon doctor wrong. My wife and I have taken this disease head on and have reached several goals along the way. It has not been an easy journey, but all of this could not have been made possible without your support, kindness, hospital visits, prayers, phone calls, and encouragement of friends/co-workers, our extended family and our renewed faith in God.

One day while in the hospital, I had 26 visitors – to the point my mother-in-law started keeping a guest book.

You have had a few minutes to think what your commitment to this disease will be. It can simply be talking to your state legislators, volunteering for a Cancer Association event, donating money to one of the local area events promoting cancer prevention, or reminding and encouraging a friend or a family member about their annual checkups and prescreening exams, but do something, COMMIT.

I have mentioned a few things I have committed to. Here are a few more suggestions:

• Keep those date nights going, whether with your wife or your family. Remember to keep telling them how much you love them and remind them you realize what this disease has done to them.
• Keep those special social events going as well, you and a friend taking in a baseball game some afternoon. Keep those lunch plans with friends. If they offer you assistance with a project around the house or at work. Allow them to help you.. Remember it’s their commitment!
• Last keep your faith in God. Whether you speak to him in a concrete church or while floating in your kayak on a river. Talk to him.   I am an example,  GOD LISTENS.
• STAY POSITIVE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE

It has been almost nine months since I heard the most frightening three word statement in my life, “We found Cancer.” Followed by the most encouraging eight word statement I’ve ever heard, “We got it all and no further treatments.”

Since March, 2009, I bounced back sooner than expected after two  surgeries and two separate weeks in the hospital and from the Dr Page’s original plans -earlier than he expected. To say the least, I’ve impressed my Doctor a little. Maybe something one of the Drs previously said made me a little mad and I am determined to prove him wrong.

My wife Shirley and I have taken this disease head on and have reached several goals along the way. It has not been an easy journey, but all of this could not have been made possible without the support, kindness, visits, prayers, phone calls, food delivered and encouragement that has been provided by our family, friends, co-workers and a renewed faith in God.

Last years during the Relay for Life event was a milestone event in my life.  I was asked one week prior to the event to be the guest speaker during the Survivors Fight Back segment. The segment features persons with remarkable results and stories of their struggles with cancer.

During the event and following my presentation, after everything my wife and I had been through, it finally hit.

Craig,  you had cancer.  CRAIG YOU HAD CANCER.   WHOA!!!!!!!  Cancer does
not discriminate.

Well, Wednesday, July 01, 2009, marked another major event this year in my life. At 5:00 in the morning, three and one half weeks earlier than expected, sooner than Dr Page normally allows, I suited up for the first time in four months, 44 lbs lighter with more energy and joyful tears in my eyes, I kissed my wife and thanked her for everything those past four months, she told me to be safe and I went back to a profession I LOVE.

Did I mention what Dr Page’s commitment to me was before surgery?

I’m back on the streets,  protecting the public, making children smile, and Oh yeah, did I mention, BACK CHASING BAD GUYS..

Thanks Dr. Page

I AM A SURVIVOR, in more ways than one…

Amy-Weidner-LaSalaJackson Heights, NY

I’m a high school English Teacher in the New York City Public School System.

There has been a history of cancer in my family. My grandfather had an intestinal cancer- we assume it was colon cancer. He died young, when my father was 18. My father was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2001. His tumor was removed and he is currently cancer free!

I had rectal bleeding for many years. Doctors assumed I had a hemorrhoid. I was told that because I was young and healthy, it was nothing to worry about. After about 5 years of intermittent rectal bleeding, and two doctors telling me it was probably nothing, I decided that *something* was wrong with me, and self-referred to a gastroenterologist in 2005. He preformed a rectal exam as well, agreed that I was probably fine, but seeing how my father had colon cancer it was not unreasonable to get a colonoscopy. That’s when he found my tumor.

I first went to the hospital connected with my gastroenterologist. The course of treatment they recommended was very aggressive. I then got a second opinion at Memorial Salone Kettering Cancer Center. The surgeon I saw there was a specialist in early onset cancers and preservation of the sphincter muscle, both of which were very applicable to my situation, as my tumor was very low and I was only 27. I was looking for the best quality of life as possible afterward, and I felt confident that MSKCC would provide me the best care for my needs.

I had relatively aggressive treatment starting with chemotherapy on a pump- I was connected to chemo 24/7 for about two months. I simultaneously had 30 sessions of radiation. Once a week, I received a new chemo pump and a dose of Herbitux, which was then a clinical trial drug. When I finished my chemotherapy/radiation treatments, I had a two week break, and I had my surgery. I had what is known as a Lower Anterior Resection, where my surgeon removed my rectum and formed a “j-pouch” with some of my intestine to act as a rectum. I was able to avoid having a colostomy.  A few months after my surgery I had another round of chemotherapy, but this time through an oral dosage, which was a relief!

Colon cancer pretty much sucked, but it helped me realize what an amazing community of friends and family I have. My husband (then-fiance) was an amazing support, my friends were always around with cards, phone calls, care packages and trashy magazines. One of my friends drove me to radiation as much as she could. People hung out with me on my “chemo chair” days. My colleagues even donated me sick days! It was an amazing outpouring of love and support.

My doctor put me on a high-fiber, low fat diet. I mostly stick to it, avoiding fatty foods (though sometimes I can’t resist) and taking a fiber supplement in addition to eating whole grains.  When I give into fatty temptation, I have a lot of stomach problems, so I try to avoid it. The only medicine I currently take is Imodium for when my stomach issues strike. I have a normal, active lifestyle. I don’t feel like there’s much of anything I can’t do!

Before I started my chemo and radiation therapies,  I was told that I would become infertile due to my treatments. To have the option of biological children (or heck, even children- who knows if I could adopt with my cancer history) I had to go through fertility treatments, creating embryos with my future (current) husband.

Now, four years later, we’re weighing our options on how to proceed, as the scar tissue in my body will inhibit my ability to carry a child to term. I have no doubt we’re going to complete our family, but loss of my fertility and my inability to carry my children is something that I mourn.

My advice to someone fighting colon cancer is to be as strong as you can, but allow yourself to be sad or scared when you need to be. Let yourself lean on people- your family, your friends- they want to help. They feel helpless- perhaps more helpless than you do. They’re scared too. If they want to help you, let them. You don’t have to protect them, and you don’t have to be strong by doing everything yourself. I know it was weird for me to have to ask for help, but by getting help, I was also giving help.

Kim Ruder

I was born in Hays, Kansas and moved to Austin, Texas when I was 20 years old. I have lived in Austin for 28 years. I manage a doctors office and love what I do. I have two beautiful daughters and a wonderful supportive husband. My hobbies are riding my horse and reading.

I was diagnosed with colon cancer 10 years ago. I thought I had a spastic colon. I had bowel problems off and on for 20 years. I felt a lump in my stomach and then I went to see a doctor. I had surgery to remove three feet of my transverse colon and chemo. My tumor was the size of a large tomato and all my lymph nodes were negative.

Now I live life to its fullest with new meaning. I worry a lot less about the small things. I worry a lot more about getting cancer again though. I constantly try to loose weight and struggle with it every day.

I also try to do something fun at least once a week, like going to a movie. I coped by trying not to think about what the next chemo session was going to be like. I really coped by not letting the cancer be a part of my life. I know it sounds crazy, but if I stayed busy and didn’t talk about cancer, I was happier. I still feel that way today, my husband likes to tell people about it but I just want to forget it ever happened. That is my coping skill.

Going through the chemo and cancer was scary but not as scary as hearing people that were cancer free for several years got it back. I hate what cancer does to your fear factor. I am a 10 year survivor and that is so important for other people to hear, to give them hope. That is why I am writing this. I want to give hope to people. I think more people like me should be shown, it is amazing what it does for people dealing with cancer. Hope is all you have.

Cancer survivor Dave Shogren and his kids

Last summer, I was watching my son’s baseball game and found myself up against a fence with my husband and a couple of other fathers. One dad started talking about a young father we all knew named Dave Shogren. Dave had been recently diagnosed with stage III rectal cancer in June of 2009. There I stood, listening to these dads saying that Dave was “too fit and he was far too young at age 41 to get this disease.

Diet and exercise
Growing up, Dave was very active. He played basketball in college. Later, as he focused on his career, Dave became less active and started gaining weight. He determined that if he wanted to function well on a daily basis, he needed to exercise. So in his mid-twenties, he began to run on a regular basis and play team sports such as basketball and hockey.

Since Dave lived an active life, he ate most of what he wanted but always tried to make the healthier choice. If he was eating red meat, for example, he usually selected a filet because it had less fat. When Dave started a family, his healthy choices stayed in tact and they remain standard operating procedure in the Shogren household today. At home, healthy foods are emphasized and processed foods are kept to a minimum. The kids know that sugary cereals and snacks are not the healthiest choice.

In October 2008, Dave injured his leg and had to limit activity. By June of 2009, when he was diagnosed with cancer, his knee had heeled and he started running and lifting weights. He wanted to be in the best possible condition to be ready for surgery and treatment. Dave is a percentage guy and felt his strive for a healthy lifestyle allowed him to be at 85% two months later while undergoing radiation.

Since being diagnosed, Dave has changed his diet significantly to avoid things such as MSG, aspartame, Splenda, sugar and red meat. He has added more fish and chicken and greatly increased leafy greens and vegetables. His diet during treatment has eliminated some of the foods considered most healthy such as fruits and vegetables in raw form, but he plans on including those foods again after treatment ends in June of 2010.

Diagnosis
Having been in touch with his body, Dave thought something was wrong when he started to see blood in his stool for two to three days. It wasn’t constant. It wasn’t dramatic. He questioned the severity because there was nothing heavy and then the blood went away. He determined it was a fluke and maybe something in his diet causing the issue.

When the blood reoccurred 3-4 days later, he knew he had to make a call and find out if he needed a colonoscopy. He was not going to wait months to get the answer. He knew that it might be nothing, but he also knew it could be something.

With a history of colorectal cancer on both his mother and father’s side of the family (grandmother, grandfather and two great uncles) in their late 60’s and 70’s, Dave had extra reason in his mind to get the answer. During his last physical he had spoken to his doctor about when he should have a colonoscopy and the doctor recommended the standard age of 50.

Dave went in for his first colonoscopy thinking he’d know soon if it was just hemorrhoids or cancer. His father joined him in the surgery room where Dr. Stone immediately found a cancer growth and was going to order a biopsy. Thankfully, Dave was still under sedation which made him relaxed, but he was still aware of the situation. Panic didn’t set in. Instead, he thought to himself, “If this is what it is, it is time to figure out how to beat it.” Dave is always up for a challenge.

Treatment
After the biopsy came back confirming he had cancer, Dave had a handful of exams including CT scans and a rectal ultrasound. The cancer had spread to six lymph nodes which were close to the tumor.

When he went to the staging room to meet with the first surgeon, it was the same staging room section of the hospital where his wife Melissa’s mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer 15 years earlier. Melissa’s mom eventually died of breast cancer at age 44. It was not a very pleasant experience for his wife, to be in that same place. She had always thought she would be the one to get cancer and now she was sitting there watching her husband. Dave could see the fear in both his wife and his parents when it was determined he had stage III rectal cancer. But, he felt blessed because it was stage III and not stage IV.

Dave underwent over five weeks of radiation in conjunction with chemotherapy, starting the first week of July. The second staging session identified surgery would occur to remove part of the rectum as well as all of the infected lymph nodes. He had surgery on October 22 and his doctor was very pleased with the results. Dave will have a temporary ileostomy and 6 months of follow-up chemo as part of his treatment. After his ileostomy is reversed in mid-July of 2010, he is looking forward to a normal lifestyle after battling this awful disease for 14 months.

On Monday, November 16, after eight days in the hospital, Dave was released after a set-back with a blockage in his bowel He told me he still wanted to attend a fundraiser as a speaker two days later benefiting the Colon Cancer Coalition. But, Dave’s mind over matter attitude didn’t win this time. He still wasn’t feeling well on Wednesday. He had to decline our invitation to attend the fundraiser so he can reach his goal: to finish and survive his cancer marathon.

Dave’s perseverance over these last six months is proof that he has been up for the challenge he spoke of on the first day he knew he had cancer. His mindset has not changed. In fact, it is more steadfast. Dave speaks openly about his rectum cancer in circles where conversations are usually centered on hockey. He is a role model to hundreds of parents. He truly believes that what does not kill him will make him stronger!

• Visit our Stories page to read about other cancer survivors.

Mike Dellosso and his daughters Hanover, PA

Sometimes, blessings come in strange little boxes.

It was March of 2008 and I was busy preparing for the release of my first novel in June. As is the case with any writer who has spent months, even years, finishing a novel, “shopping it” to agents and editors, dealing with rejections and self-doubt and a steadily declining will-power, these were exciting days, a regular dream-turned-reality.

But there was something else going on too. I had been having some rectal bleeding, a nuisance more than anything that had hung around for the better part of three weeks. Finally, at the urging of my wife, I saw a doctor. A colonoscopy followed and on March 17th I was given the grim news—“I’m very sorry, but you have colon cancer.”

At thirty-five with a wife and three daughters and a hopefully budding career as a novelist I had to ask, “Lord, in my head I know you’re in control, but my heart is wondering what’s going on here. You sure you know what you’re doing?” My biggest fear was that this cancer was going to take my life and leave my wife a widow and my children fatherless. I remember praying early on, “Lord, I don’t care how hard this is going to be, but please don’t let it take my life.”

A whirlwind of a month later I went in for surgery to remove the tumor and eighteen inches of my colon. A month after that (and just weeks before the big release) I started on a six-month chemotherapy regimen.

As you can imagine, all this was cause for a little reflection on life and living. I started evaluating my priorities, separating the wheat from the chaff, if you will, drawing a line between the things that really matter and those things that only seem to matter. Eventually, the microscope found my writing, and I took a good hard look at what I was writing and why I was writing it.

Now, what we write and our motives for writing is a highly personal affair for authors and each of us needs to wrestle with it sooner or later. After much reflection, much searching, and much wrestling, and in the words of the Preacher of Ecclesiastes, here is the conclusion of the matter: I want my writing to matter; I want it to move, to convict, to change. I want my words to be more than mere stories; I want them to be reflections of life, reflections of the heart, reflections of issues that matter.

So what does all this look like? Where is the point at which idea and practicality intersect? Well, for me, being a Christian author, it begins at the feet of my Savior, placing my writing before Him and saying, “Take it Jesus, it’s all yours. I surrender it to you.” And it fleshes itself out by approaching everything I write with an eternal perspective. Does my writing bleed with issues of eternal weight? Is it meant for more than smiles and temporal fuzzies? Do my stories house themes that are truly life-changing and perspective-altering?

I sure hope so. I sure hope what I write–the stories, the characters, the themes–are worth more than fleeting sentiments and momentary feelings. I hope readers walk away from my stories truly impacted and provoked to really think. In my book, that’s success as an author, that’s writing what really matters.

This is just one of the many blessings this strange little box has produced, but it is oh so important. Life is too short and too much is at stake to be spending time producing words that only seem to matter. At the end of my life, no matter how short or long it may be, I want to look back and be satisfied that I got it and in getting it I wrote stories that mattered. Really mattered.

Cancer. What a strange little box, indeed.

Visit Mike’s website: www.mikedellosso.com
Visit Mike’s blog: www.mikedellosso.blogspot.com