Colon Cancer kills about 1,000 Americans every week. But it doesn’t have to.
As a young father, Mark Seguin was only 35 years old when he felt abdominal pain. But cancer didn’t cross his mind.
“I just thought I'd eaten something bad. Something that didn't agree with my stomach.”
Then he thought it was appendicitis. But his theories weren’t as important as his willingness to listen. First to himself.
“One thing I like to say about that concept is the concept of listening to your body while it's whispering to you, so you don't have to deal with it when it's screaming at you,” said Seguin.
FOX 13 caught up with Mark at Alta View Hospital where Intermountain Health displayed a memorable prop – as funny as it is important.
“During the month of March, the giant inflatable colon will be touring around Utah, and I think some parts of Idaho,” said physician assistant Teran McCormick.
This digestive bouncy house broaches a topic no one loves to talk about.
“This year, it's estimated that 53,000 Americans will lose their life to colon cancer,” she said.
Medical experts will tell you – they can help you survive colon cancer, but only if you take the first step. For Mark, it was into the ER.
“I'll never forget…as the ER doctor was going over the discharge stuff, he said, ‘Do you have a history of cancer in your family?’ And it really caught me off guard. I'm talking about like a stomach issue...like...that's not cancer.”
There wasn’t a history of colon cancer in Mark’s family, but he didn’t ignore the possibility, and he wouldn’t avoid the discomfort.
“My kid the other day? He goes, so they just roll you over and put a camera up your butt? I’m like like, yes, yes, they do.”
McCormick said, “The prep is not as bad as it used to be. There are different options that include choosing your own flavor of Gatorade with the laxative. It’s still not the most pleasant part, but then you get rewarded with a nice, you know, 15-to-20-minute nap.”
It was December of 2020 when Mark learned that he did have cancer. And he made another decision.
“I decided pretty early on that I wanted to be vocal about my experience and put it out there. Help people know, like, this isn't just something that ‘old people’ get colon cancer. It's getting younger and younger,” he said.
Mark made it through surgery and months of difficult chemotherapy with a simple goal in mind. Getting outside with his family.
“We planned a trip to Goblin Valley for early June. So, I had that to look forward to. And so, while I was going through treatment, it was a lot of looking forward to getting back outside and going on hikes,” he said.
March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. As this disease hits people at younger ages, it’s more important than ever to get screened. If you suffer continued abdominal pain, asl your doctor about it. And if you’re 45 or older, you need to schedule that colonoscopy.
