The Anderson family sure does clean-up. It’s amazing to see them looking so great after such a challenging year. Hip-hop dancer, Criscilla Anderson, 39, and her husband, Coffey, have faced her colon cancer — first diagnosed in 2018 — together while raising their three children. Anderson’s disease reflects a disturbing trend in young-onset colorectal cancer, which has risen by 51% since 1996, even as cases in adults over age 50 decline, according to the ASCO Post.
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“The colon cancers that are in the younger age group are more likely to be on the left side, they’re more likely to be rectal cancers,” says Dr. Yeo.”They are more likely to be kind of aggressive tumor types.”
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“It may be something environmental,” Dr. Yeo explained. “We looked at maps of the United States. We looked at smoking rates, and we looked at obesity. If you compare that to colon cancer, you’ll see, yes, where there’s obesity in the United States, there’s higher colon cancer. However, it didn’t quite match with younger age groups. So there are some different risk factors for these early colon cancers.”
Be Aware of Symptoms
Because colon cancer is no longer an “older person’s cancer” young people need to recognize its symptoms. “Many young people … wait a long time to see a doctor,” says Dr. Ng of Dana-Farber, “this often leads to late-stage diagnosis, which is a tragedy because this cancer is very curable if found early.”
If you’re experiencing any of the following symptoms, a conversation with your doctor about screening may be in order:
- Change in bowel habits
- Change in the color of stool
- Abdominal pain
- Unintended weight loss
- Anemia
Criscilla Anderson’s Cancer Diagnosis
Anderson first started noticing symptoms in May of 2018. Stomach pains would hit, leaving her doubled-over in pain. "As a mom, you always feel like you don't have the time to deal with things like this," says Anderson, who has three children. "But there came a point when I couldn't ignore it anymore."
When the pains worsened, she went to the emergency room and was diagnosed with colitis. But a prescribed antibiotic didn't help. "My girlfriend chimed in and told me that her dad was a GI doctor in Long Beach and that I should go see him," says Criscilla who had danced in music videos with Katy Perry and Rhianna. "By that time, I was in excruciating pain … It was bad," An emergency colonoscopy revealed a blockage, which landed her in the hospital for emergency surgery.
"By that time, I was in excruciating pain … It was bad," she said. An emergency colonoscopy revealed a blockage, which landed her in the hospital for emergency surgery. Doctors removed a two-foot length of her colon and diagnosed stage 3 colon cancer. After a brief remission, she was found to have stage 4 metastatic colon cancer: "The cancer has spread throughout my para-aortic region and has begun growing up my back," she said on Instagram.
The couple sought alternative treatment in Spain and, in April, Anderson said her tumors were shrinking her oncologist noted her tumors were shrinking. "The smallest one of all of them, he couldn't see," she said, getting teary, in an Instagram video.
"So, I'll take it. Because I know that God has healed me. And I know the next time I go in for another scan, they're going to be gone. I know this is my miracle. This is so great."
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