hi friends
i usually don't make videos actually
this is the first one i've ever made
but i have some really important
information that i want to get out there
and i just thought it'd be more
effective to reach people
through video and more personable that
way
so i wanted to let you know i was
diagnosed with colon cancer
about a month ago and it still doesn't
feel real to say i have cancer
it's something that i never obviously
imagined would happen especially
in my 30s um
so my treatment plan is things are
looking really
positive i'll be having my surgery on
december 18th and there's a really good
chance that i won't need
additional treatments after that um it
seems to be caught
fairly early so i'm extremely extremely
thankful for that
i wanted to get the word out about early
onset colon cancer
and it's really alarming
the trends of young people
getting colon cancer i know a lot of
people
when i tell them i have it they think
is not an old man's disease and they
know
that's a conception people have but
in reality it's really scary
that like the past decade in particular
the number of people in their 20s 30s
and 40s getting it
so i want to let you know it's really
hard to catch
this young because we're not at that age
where we're going for
colonoscopies and screenings and
different tests
and a lot of the time medical
professionals think
we're too young to get this so
they might chalk it up to you know
having hemorrhoids or
crohn's disease or colitis or ibs
and dismiss it and i just want to put it
out there that wasn't my
situation at all i'm very thankful
that my doctor referred me for a
colonoscopy
as soon as i was having some signs and i
had some other indications
to get my butt to the doctor so
i was really thankful for that but
unfortunately
the reality is most young people that do
go
in they get dismissed and
by the time they find out
they have colon cancer it spread through
their body
so i want to tell you what science you
should be looking for
for one thing if you notice any change
in your bowel movements
if you've been constipated or have
diarrhea
or have
a lot of bloating and you just don't
feel right
those are some main signs and another
sign
that i had was blood in my stool
and that was kind of a red flag for me
and i could have easily dismissed that
as hemorrhoids
but i know my body really well and we
all know our body so well
that i just felt something was not right
and i want you to listen to that inner
voice
and i want you to be your own advocate
because a lot of the time
we know something's not right we might
ignore it
because life is busy you have kids you
work full time
but don't ignore it please go in and see
your doctor if you're having any of
the symptoms that i've mentioned and be
your own advocate
if something doesn't feel right just
push and push
to have tests done because if you find
this
early it's very treatable and curable
and i want you to avoid
not finding it soon enough and like i
said it's
about 70 of young people my age don't
discover it until
it spread through their body so please
watch for
the signs go get checked out
and if you're 50 or over i encourage you
to go get a colonoscopy done
it's a very unpleasant experience but
it is also a life-saving procedure
so please listen to your body and
be your own advocate that's my main
message and i just
the goal is to raise awareness about
this so more people
can get it treated before it actually
gets to a stage where it's too late
um i'll keep everyone posted on my
next journey and my surgery um
i've had an army of people supporting me
and i love and appreciate all of you
and i'm gonna fight at the main thing
that
i have control over right now is my
mindset
we all know that we have no control over
anything in this life and
when you're having health issues that's
especially apparent
but we do have control over our minds
and i chose to be positive
and i'm continuing to be positive
through this journey
there's no other option and i'm gonna
just give it everything i have and i'm
going to
be a survivor so please
get checked out that's all i'm asking of
you it's
it doesn't take long but it
listen to your body and be your own
advocate
thank you