Hope for Older Colon Cancer Patients
- Alice Sherman, 87, was taking some iron pills for anemia, which is when you have a low level of healthy red blood cells, when she started experiencing “paralyzing” pain in her midsection. Thankfully she went to get medical help, and was shocked to discover she had stage 3 colon cancer.
- One of the most common signs of colon cancer is a change in bowel habits. This ranges from constipation or diarrhea to changes in the size or shape of bowel movements. A change in stool color, particularly black or tarry stools, can indicate bleeding from a tumor that lies deep in the colon.
- When it comes to colon cancer prevention, screening is now recommended for everyone after the age of 45.
- While catching colon cancer early is optimal, it’s important to know that even people diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, though incurable at this stage, are able to manage it more as a chronic disease, therefore it’s still possible to live an active life.
87-year-old Alice Sherman, in a personal essay for