OAK HILL, WV (WOAY) – According to the American Cancer Society colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in both men and women. In fact, about 1 in 23 men and 1 in 25 women will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer in their lifetime, but the disease is treatable provided you get diagnosed in time.
“It can be preventable if they have colonoscopies,” said Cancer Patient Bruce Edwards. “Of course I did not have one and in the end it resulted with having a polyp that was cancerous. Your whole world just comes crashing down on you. It’s hard to explain to anybody unless they’ve actually lived through it. Inside you don’t quite understand it, but yet at the same time you’ve seen it you’ve heard it and you’ve talked to people and it’s real and there is no getting around it.”
Edwards says one of the most difficult parts of the treatment is seeing the other cancer patients in different stages of their battle with cancer.
“The struggle that you have there is that you have that everyday,” Edwards said. “I am hooked up to a machine for my chemo and I wear that five days a week day in and day out. At the same time I have to go to the hospital and have radiation done too.”
To overcome the hardships of the treatment a good support group of family and friends is always important, but so is sticking to your daily routine.
“What I do is just continue to do my daily life,” said Edwards. “Fortunately I’m retired so my daily life sometimes means sitting in my chair, but other than that I like working in my yard and doing things like that and trying to stay as normal with your life as it was before you found out.”
The American Cancer Society recommends getting routine screenings and maintaining a healthy weight and diet to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.
