35-Year-Old Dad of Two Thought Bowel Issues Were Hemorrhoids; He Has Colon Cancer- “The Last Thing On My Mind’

Colon Cancer: Overview

Johnson said in a recent Instagram post, “I’m running to raise awareness for colorectal cancer, specifically in young people who are most susceptible to it. As we enter black history month, I’d like to encourage my brothers and sisters to go get checked if you have any symptoms.

“This is the most curable cancer when caught early. I thank God everyday for saving my life and I am honored to be on this journey with the doctors at the Cleveland Clinic and Northshore Gastroenterology that were used to save my life!”

Sharing his story with TODAY.com, Johnson admitted, “Not many 36-year-olds talk about cancer or colon cancer. Cancer was the last thing on my mind, to be honest.”

Recounting what led to his 2023 diagnosis, he said he noticed blood in his stool while training for the Cleveland Marathon. He explained to TODAY.com, “I was concerned. I wouldn’t say I was worried. I was in the best shape of my life, and I was a vegetarian at the time. I didn’t drink a lot. I didn’t know that there was anything to worry about.”

He recalled his doctors also thinking he might have hemorrhoids as he seemed healthy and was young, but when the bleeding persisted for a month, he had a colonoscopy, which led to his diagnosis.

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After his colonoscopy, he underwent a CT scan and MRI scan, which revealed he had stage 2 colorectal cancer and a tumor in his rectum. He ultimately underwent 25 rounds of radiation in five weeks.

Weeks after concluding radiation, he underwent eight chemotherapy infusions every two weeks.

RELATED: ‘Black Panther’ Actor Chadwick Boseman’s Colon Cancer Highlighted Health Disparities in the Black Community — A New Study Suggests the Key to Saving Lives & Prevention

Johnson felt an incredible amount of “relief” that the treatment worked and he wouldn’t need any surgery.

As for what it’s been like to share his story, Johnson explained further, “I’ve gotten feedback from friends and people who have heard my story already that it gave them hope.

“It gave them the courage to go and get a colonoscopy, something they may have been afraid of before. I knew what I didn’t have before and I wanted to make sure that people at least had some hope.”

RELATED: Colon Cancer Screening is Extremely Important; Guidelines Now Say to Start at Age 45 if There Is No Family History

He concluded, “Even if you’re in the best shape of your life, you could still have cancer. Those are things I never knew, and I wish I would have heard about more.”

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Colon Cancer Incidence Rates Higher for African Americans

Black Americans have the highest mortality (deaths) related to colorectal cancer among major U.S. racial groups, according to research published in Advances in Cancer Research. Many factors are believed to contribute to this unsettling statistic, including socioeconomic status and lack of adequate health insurance. Other environmental factors such as poor diet and tobacco and alcohol use are also believed to be contributing factors impacting Black Americans facing colorectal cancer at higher rates.

Research published in the American Journal of Pathology found African Americans’ colorectal cancer incidence rate is “20 percent higher than whites” and also have a higher mortality rate.

African Americans are also diagnosed with colorectal cancer at earlier ages, and it tends to be more advanced upon discovery.

“Black people are still more likely to get colorectal cancer at a young age than white people even though the gap is shrinking,” Dr. Nathan Ellis with the University of Arizona Cancer Center said.

Dr. Zuri Murrell, a colorectal cancer surgeon and Director of the Cedars-Sinai Colorectal Cancer Center, previously told SurvivorNet that he does outreach to communities of color, especially African American communities.

WATCH: Closing the Gap with added access to care.

“What I found, especially with my African American patients, is that there’s not a lot of African American GI docs. There’s not a lot of African American colorectal surgeons,” Dr. Murrell said.

“When I go to churches, and I go to a lot of inner-city churches just to, to kind of communicate my message of being your own healthcare advocate, I tell the story, and I try to diminish some of the taboo nature of colon and rectal surgery, anal rectal surgery,” Dr. Murrell added.

RELATED: SurvivorNet holds an annual Close the Gap conference to educate, spread awareness, and ultimately work to eliminate racial disparities in cancer care.

Understanding Colon Cancer

Colorectal cancer happens when polyps are not removed and become cancerous. It can take up to 10 years for a colon polyp to become cancerous, according to SurvivorNet experts.

“We know that colon cancers can be prevented when polyps are found early,” Dr. Heather Yeo, a surgical oncologist who specializes in colorectal cancers at Weill Cornell Medicine, told SurvivorNet.

“Lowering the screening age helps somewhat with this, but access to care is a real problem,” Dr. Yeo added.

Dr. Zuri Murrell, a colorectal cancer surgeon and Director of the Cedars-Sinai Colorectal Cancer Center, previously explained the colonoscopy procedure to SurvivorNet.

“When we see a polyp, we actually physically take the polyp out through the colonoscope,” he explained. “What does that mean? That means we basically put a wire through with a little bit of a flange at the end, and we pull the polyp out. Now, note there is no pain with that. Inside the colon, there are no pain fibers. So, there’s no pain.”

The advantage of a colonoscopy is that your doctor can remove any polyps found during the test. Many colon cancers can be caught on colonoscopy before they develop or when the polyps are small enough to be removed without surgery.

Looking for Polyps During Colonoscopy

The American Gastrointestinal Association lowered the recommended initial age for a colorectal screening from 50 to 45.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends guidelines that state colon cancer screenings should begin at 45 years old. This is in response to the increase we see in colon cancer diagnoses in younger adults.

However, many insurance companies still do not cover the cost of screenings for those under 50. In the past, the disease had predominantly been found in adults 50 years or older, but for those predisposed to getting it at a younger age, these new guidelines could help catch it earlier.

What Are the Symptoms of Colon Cancer?

The sneaky thing about colorectal polyps and colorectal cancer, say SurvivorNet’s medical experts, is that they don’t necessarily lead to symptoms, which is why screening is necessary for everyone over age 50 (and sometimes earlier), even people who feel well.

Gastrointestinal oncologist, Dr. Paul Oberstein, describes the most common symptoms of colon cancer

When symptoms do appear, one of the most common is a change in bowel habits. This ranges from constipation or diarrhea to differences in the size or shape of bowel movements. A change in stool color, particularly black or tarry stools, can indicate bleeding from a tumor that lies deep in the colon.

Other symptoms can be harder to pinpoint as cancer, such as abdominal pain and unintentional weight loss. Finally, some tumors bleed a small amount over a long period of time, resulting in anemia (a low red blood cell count) that is picked up on a blood test.

A few other possible symptoms of colon cancer are:

• Cramps
• Gas
• Weakness
• Tiredness

Any symptoms that are new or unusual for you, or that persist for more than a week or two, warrant a call to your doctor.

Understanding Treatment Options

It’s important to understand that your doctor has many ways to treat colon cancer, depending on what stage the cancer is, including:

• Surgery
• Radiation therapy
• Chemotherapy
• Targeted therapy
• Immunotherapy

Surgery

Surgery is the main treatment for most early-stage colon cancers, according to the doctors SurvivorNet spoke with. The surgeon will remove the part of the colon or rectum where there is cancer, along with a small area of healthy tissue around it. Taking out as much of the cancer as possible is important for improving your outcome.

The surgery may be performed through small incisions (laparoscopy), or through a larger incision. Some people may need to wear a special bag (ostomy) to collect wastes after surgery.

Deciding When to Operate on Colon Cancer

Radiation Therapy

This treatment aims high-energy x-rays at the cancer to destroy the abnormal cells. The radiation can come from a machine outside your body, or be placed directly inside your body. Sometimes people get radiation before surgery, to shrink the tumor and make it easier for the surgeon to remove. This is called neoadjuvant radiation.

Chemotherapy

This treatment uses strong medicine to stop cancer cells from dividing, no matter where they are in your body. You may get a combination of chemotherapy drugs as your first treatment. Chemotherapy has been very well studied for colorectal cancer, and it is known to improve survival.

The most common therapy is a combination of chemo drugs called FOLFOX:

• FOL = leucovorin calcium (folinic acid)
• F = fluorouracil
• OX = oxaliplatin

Your doctor may add medications like irinotecan (FOLFIRI) or cetuximab, depending on how well your tumor shrinks with treatment and other specifics about your particular cancer. For FOLFOX, the medications are given through the vein and require regular doctor visits.

To determine exactly which chemotherapy regimen you get, your doctor will consider your age and how well you might tolerate the side effects of chemotherapy. Gene mutations (for example, BRAF and KRAS) and the location of the primary colon tumor also factor into the decision.

You can also get chemotherapy before colon cancer surgery, which is called neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Getting chemo first helps to shrink the tumor, which can make both the surgery and recovery easier, according to SurvivorNet’s experts. Chemo is also a treatment for cancer that returns after therapy.

Targeted Therapy

This treatment targets substances like proteins or genes that the cancer needs to grow. This makes targeted therapy more precise than chemotherapy, and less likely to damage healthy cells. One example of targeted therapy is bevacizumab (Avastin), which stops the growth of new blood vessels that feed tumors. Another group of targeted therapies are called epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors, which block the cancer from growing.

Immunotherapy

This treatment makes your own immune system a more efficient cancer fighter. A group of drugs called checkpoint inhibitors, which includes pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and nivolumab (Opdivo), work by preventing cancer cells from hiding from your immune system. Checkpoint inhibitors may extend the amount of time before the cancer spreads.

Dr. Paul Oberstein, on which treatments doctors use to turn stage 4 colon cancer into a chronic but manageable disease

Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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