A Surgery Setback
- FOX anchor Lindy Thackston, 40, has had a bit of a setback after celebrating the end of her chemotherapy treatment for stage 3 colorectal cancer.
- The Indy car announcer rang the chemo bell on Monday and then wound up in the hospital for an unexpected gall bladder surgery.
- A leading expert explains how easy it is to screen for colorectal cancer; there is nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about when getting a colonoscopy.
“Make that 5 surgeries,” Thackston tweeted, referencing her celebratory post earlier this week at how far she’s come after “4 surgeries, 15 rounds of chemo pills and radiation. 10 rounds of IV chemo. 24-day hospital stay. Countless ER visits. More pain than I can put into words, but also more joy. Time to heal now!”
Read MoreMake that 5 surgeries… after I rang the #chemo bell, I unexpectedly had surgery to get my gallbladder removed and I'm in the hospital! So this week's #LifeWithLindy podcast will be a little late 🤓 https://t.co/hPtKCjx4mj
Lindy Thackston (@lindythackston) April 15, 2021
Lindy’s Colon Cancer Diagnosis
Diagnosed last spring with rectal cancer, which starts in the lining of the rectum, a part of the large intestine, the Indiana-born reporter has taken some time off work due to cancer and the pandemic, shifting her focus to raising awareness about the disease, which she initially thought was colitis, a chronic, inflammatory bowel disease.
Thackston's husband, Christian Hogue, first noticed the IndyCar expert's fatigue on a family trip to Disney World early last year (the couple met at the races where he worked as a crew member and have a 5-year-old son named Lachlan). Fatigue wasn't unusual for the morning anchor considering her intense hours. She would often get up at 2 a.m. and sometimes work until 11 p.m. She was feeling pressure in her tailbone and had a constant feeling of having to go to the bathroom. She had cramps and pain in her abdomen, then found blood in her stool.
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"I'm just hoping if you notice anything like this in yourself or someone you love, you can do something quickly enough to have a fighting chance here," she said in Episode 1 of her podcast.
Living with Colorectal Cancer
While many patients understandably have a hard time navigating a colorectal cancer diagnosis, it is valuable to know how far treatment of this disease has come. Early stage patients and even advanced stage patients have a chance for a good outcome.
Dr. Heather Yeo, a surgical oncologist and colorectal surgeon at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, tells SurvivorNet how rewarding her role is in light of recent advancements. "One of the most exciting things about my job is that we've made a lot of progress on treatment options," Dr. Yeo says. "However, patients are still while they're living longer, they are still living with colon cancer, and so I think it's really important that we talk about how some of the things in your life affect you."
Dr. Yeo addresses the top issues that a patient should focus on improving while living with this type of cancer, and what to address with their doctors and loved ones. "So talk a little bit about diet, talk a little bit about the environment, talk about what you can do to improve your length of life, and improve kind of how you interact with your disease," she says.
Navigating a Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis
Don’t Be Scared of a Colonoscopy
One of the best pieces of advice that nearly all experts and people living with this disease can agree on, is not to let perceived embarrassment stop you from getting screened. A colonoscopy is painless, and medical professionals are doing them multiple times per day, business as usual for them.
Dr. Zuri Murrell from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center tells SurvivorNet that there is nothing to feel awkward about. "I always like to make everybody say the words colon, rectum, and anus," he says. "And often people laugh and people giggle, but then I tell them that you shouldn't die from fear, and you shouldn't die from embarrassment. And that's really the only two reasons that people are dying from this disease today."
Dr. Murrell says that colorectal cancer in America is the "third most common cancer and it's now the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths," and can almost be completely prevented.
He stresses healthy eating, and one of the top things he suggests for prevention is getting in 20-25 grams of fiber per day in order to have healthy, regular bowl movements.
"This is a toilet conversation that needs to be brought out to the dinner table," he says, stressing the importance of a colonoscopy. "A colonoscopy is still the only test that prevents and can diagnose colon cancer. It is something that I encourage my patients, and I tell patients all the time, when I do their colonoscopy, we find a polyp. We take that polyp out. I say, congratulations. We prevented cancer."
‘You Shouldn't Die From Embarrassment’ Colon Cancer Can Be Prevented, Says a Leading Expert
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