SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Bobby Day has a new appreciation after a terrifying prognosis in March 2021. He was changing healthcare providers, his new doctor ordered a colonoscopy. He knew right away the news wasn't good.
"The doctor saw it when he was in there and he said oh, and I immediately got scared," said Day.
He gets choked up thinking about the day he had to share the news with his two daughters and wife. At age 53 he was diagnosed with colon cancer and would need a foot of his colon removed. "It was stage one and they got it all," said Day. He credits his doctors at Scripps MD Anderson Cancer Center who ordered his colonoscopy and operated on his colon.
Dr. Walter Coyle with Scripps MD Anderson Cancer Center and Scripps Clinic says in 2021 national guidelines shifted the screening age from 50 to 45. He says more and more young people are dying from colon cancer and researchers and not entirely sure why. There were over 143 thousand cases of colon cancer this year in the United States and 53 thousand deaths. Colon cancer is the second leading cancer cause of death in both men and women in the country.
"We don't know if it's environmental or something we are eating but more and more young people are being diagnosed with colon cancer. Colonoscopy is the best preventative along with avoiding red and processed meat and taking vitamin D," said Coyle.
Bobby says he's not embarrassed to talk about the testing or his prognosis. "I post in on social media, I scream it from the rooftops. If you are waiting for symptoms then it may be too late. I feel like an idiot because I was so afraid of the test and it was so easy. I tell everyone I know to get screened. Do it when you are 40 if you can," said Day. He is now cancer-free.
