Theirs is an old-fashioned love story: country music singer, Coffey Anderson, 42, and his wife Criscilla, 39, met in church in 2008 and married a year later. Now, with three young children between them, the couple is facing Criscilla's stage 4 colon cancer diagnosis, together.
“Made it to Spain to accompany this champion to treatments this week,” Anderson posted on Instagram next to a photo with Criscilla. “She's so positive, so focused, and excited for a new week of treatments. These treatments will test the body and mind. That's where I come in,” he said, referring to his popular song: “I'll be the tacos, she'll be the Margaritas. We are a team.”
Treatable, Not Curable
Read More"When you say that you will be there for each other through thick and thin and through sickness and health,” Coffey told People in a 2019 interview. “You have to mean it.”
Criscilla, a choreographer, shows her dance moves in this version of Yellow Lights, featuring an appearance by her husband, country singer, Coffey Anderson.
"'I hate the smell of hospitals," Anderson, whose mother died of lung cancer, told People. "I was 10 years old when my mom was going through her treatments, and I can still remember that smell. But I can also remember how my dad took care of my mom, and how he was the one carrying her to the bathroom and washing her back. So now, I'm taking care of my wife."
After a brief remission, Criscilla reported a stage 4 metastatic colon cancer diagnosis in November, 2019. "The cancer has spread throughout my para-aortic region and has begun growing up my back," she explained in an emotional video posted on Instagram.
"My ultimate goal is to be in remission and have it not be chronic but be in a situation where it can be completely healed. The ideal, if that cannot happen, would be to keep it maintained and have it not spread any further for the rest of my life."
Why Are Young People Getting Colon Cancer?
The American Cancer Society guidelines for colon cancer recommend that average-risk adults begin getting colonoscopies at age 45. For those who are given clear scans, they should go back for additional colonoscopies once every 10 years. With regular screening, colon cancer is preventable.
However, even with these nation-wide screening recommendations, the rate at which younger adults are being diagnosed with colon cancer has been going up. In a previous interview, Dr. Heather Yeo, a colorectal surgeon at Weill Cornell, said that the reason colon cancer is becoming more common among people under 50 is hard to pin down, but these cancers tend to have some unique characteristics.
Dr. Heather Yeo, Colorectal Surgeon and Surgical Oncologist Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian, says colon cancer in younger people is on the rise.
“We don’t know exactly why it’s increasing,” Dr. Yeo said. “It’s a different type of cancer. 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, they are more likely to be kind of aggressive tumor types.”
Dr. Yeo also explained that any number of lifestyle factors could be contributing to colon cancer developing in younger adults.
“It may be something environmental. Our group actually tried to look at some of the kind of common risk factors,” she 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
For people under the age of 45 — the need to undergo colon cancer screening varies. Some people are considered high-risk and may need to get colonoscopies earlier and more frequently. Another important aspect in the fight against this disease is symptoms. 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
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