Quote:
Originally Posted by zx10guy
Sad to hear and I had no idea.
Maybe something positive can come from this from his celebrity. Colon Cancer is something I'm intimate with and was also Stage 3. Stage 3B to be exact. Many people don't know this. Colon Cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the US. In the past, it was thought of as an old person's disease. This has been changing and more needs to be done. Only recently has the recommended screening age been lowered from 50 to 45. I, fellow CRC survivors, and many medical professionals feel this age should be lowered even more to 40. There has been a significant increase in ever younger people getting this disease. There hasn't been an identified cause yet but many feel it's the processed foods and chemicals in the environment that have made it into our food supply. Chadwick was in his late 30s when he was diagnosed. This disease is thought of as a slow developing disease so it probably developed in his early to mid 30s.
The sad part about this disease is that for the vast majority of people it's highly preventable and curable if caught early. Colonoscopies are the #1 tool in diagnosing and treating this disease. The goal is to catch polyps before they grow and turn tumors. If caught as a polyp and removed, the cure rate is almost 100%.
For those that have been skipping out on your colonoscopies, let this be a stark reminder to you. Because trust me, you don't want to deal with the alternatives. Chemo and the surgeries (if your condition hasn't been too far advanced that surgery is an option) is no fun. And more needs to be done to get the screening age down along with research into treating/curing this disease. 50 to 60,000 people die from CRC every year. And who knows what this number will be going into the coming years due to everything shutting down with this virus thing. All the missed screenings. All the postponed treatments. These are the stats which are not going to be captured in the death tolls that are a result of COVID-19.
Two other people who have had prominence in the CRC community are Tom Marsilje and Gloria Borges. Tom Marsilje was a cancer drug researcher at Novartis. On the day a drug he worked on got FDA approval for lung cancer, he was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer. He eventually progressed to Stage 4. He's done so much for the CRC community with his collaboration in creating a tool for people to identify clinical trials. He also helped digest all the medical jargon and news into something a lay person would understand. Gloria was a young attorney that was diagnosed stage 4 Colon Cancer. She put up a blog of which I drew hope and strength from when I was going through my journey with cancer. Her positivity remained as she struggled through her disease where she created the Wunderglo Foundation. The passing of both of these individuals was a gut punch to everyone in that has been touched by CRC.
This is what we face everyday as cancer survivors. Seeing people such as Chadwick, Tom, Gloria pass away and some times wondering when it will be our turn. This will be our "cross" to bear long after this COVID-19 thing is over.
Hopefully some good can come out of Chadwick's passing. If one person gets screened and dodges the cancer bullet, all the pain and suffering may have been worth it. I think Chadwick would be happy.
|
Great post! Very true,colon cancer is all time high. I have taken care of pregnant women(healthy young women) that are struggling with their husband(also very young) being treated for colon cancer.