Living with colorectal cancer: Mark’s story
Living with colorectal cancer: Mark’s story
A colorectal cancer diagnosis can feel like your world has stopped, but there’s hope. With improved diagnosis and treatments, the survival rate for colorectal cancer is higher than ever before.
Meet Mark. He was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at the age of 44. Watch the video above to hear his story first-hand and see how he reacted to his colon cancer diagnosis.
My name is Mark.
I’m 44, married, two kids, 14 and 10.
I did some tests for colitis, Crohn’s, some bacterial tests, then finally did two colonoscopies.
He just said, “We’d like to go over the results,” and that’s when I knew, okay, something’s not right.
Right from the beginning, the doctor said, “it’s stage four colon cancer.” He said, “It’s not something that’s going to be fixed in a short period of time. It’s going to take a while.”
So I just said, “Whatever I have to do.”
It was a few days of quietness, waited a couple days to tell the kids.
You never think you’re the one who’s going to get cancer. But it happened.
You get scared. Am I going to be here in six months? Am I going to be here in a year? How will it impact my wife and my kids if I’m not here?
So thinking about that, that’s when you say that. “No, it’s just not going to happen. I’m not going to let it happen.”
I’m treating it as, like I have a cold, to tell you the truth.
Every day is, wake up every day, and say, “this is what I’m going to do today,” and not let it get to me.”
In six months’ time … I’ll still be here.
Talk to your doctor about finding a treatment plan that works for you.