Think You’re Too Young for Colon Cancer? Think Again.

What’s Happening

So get this: Figuring out who to screen could change the game.

This discovery is getting us closer. Dave Runkel went to his primary care physician with a problem: the 36-year-old engineer was passing blood. (we’re not making this up)

He was a Navy vet living in South Carolina with a career that required frequent overseas travel.

The Details

His wife also worked full-time, and together they were raising three kids between the ages of 6 and 14. Seeing blood in his stool was disturbing to Runkel, because he’d intermittently had deadass loose stools and searing abdominal pain for nearly a decade—but none of his doctors had ever taken it seriously.

Runkel went to the doctor determined to get a colonoscopy. The doctor hesitated—Runkel was younger than the screening age of 45, and colorectal cancer is still relatively rare at his age.

Why This Matters

Runkel became frustrated and decided to lie to the doctor and tell him he had a family history of cancer. When he finally got the colonoscopy several months later, the doctors found colorectal cancer. Living with a cancer diagnosis in his 30s was complicated.

Health experts are weighing in on what this means for people.

Key Takeaways

• Runkel would go to work in the morning, work until four PM, and then head to the clinic to receive intra-rectal radiation.
• On Friday, after the pump was removed, he would sleep for fourteen hours, feel horrible until Sunday evening, and return to work on Monday.
• (Since memory loss was a side effect of his chemotherapy, Runkel’s coworkers supply details of events that happened during “the rough times.

The Bottom Line

Two months later, he underwent another surgery to reverse the ileostomy. Among all the uncomfortable drugs and medical procedures, the part that bothered Runkel the most was the extra stress cancer put on his wife and kids.

We want to hear your thoughts on this.