‘My Greatest Win Is You’: College Football Coach Gushes over the Strength of His Cancer Warrior Wife

“My greatest win is you,” he said looking at his wife, Tiffany. “Period.”

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Grateful for more than the love they share, Jeff will plainly state that his wife has shown the greatest of strength for herself and their family of five. Her perseverance was put to the ultimate test when she was diagnosed with stage three colorectal cancer at age 37 in June of 2011. The mother of three young children had no family history of the disease.

Given her young age, she was able to undergo an aggressive treatment regimen consisting of more than 50 rounds of radiation and a 24-hour chemotherapy pack.

"Essentially like you're killing yourself in order to live," she said of her treatment. "I had radiation five days a week and they literally have these lasers that attack where the tumor was."

Thankfully, the treatment was successful. And she’s been cancer-free for about 10 years.

"I'm 10 years this month," she said. "I'm proof that this is treatable and curable. Now, the treatments helped. We can talk about that, but I'm here and I'm alive."

Nowadays, the family is tighter than ever and Jeff says it’s all thanks to Tiffany.

"You want to know why our family is strong? It's because of her strength," Jeff said. "It's her strength that pulled her through it. We were there to help, but it was her strength."

Understanding Colorectal Cancer

The term colorectal cancer is used to describe cancers that begin in the colon or the rectum so some people just use the term colon cancer if that's where the disease began.

Colorectal cancer, like all cancers, presents its own unique challenges for patients on the road to recovery. But Dr. Heather Yeo, a surgical oncologist and colorectal surgeon at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, wants to remind people how far the treatment of this disease has come.

Living with Colorectal Cancer

"One of the most exciting things about my job is that we've made a lot of progress on treatment options," Dr. Yeo says in a previous interview with SurvivorNet. "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."

Symptoms

Colorectal cancer might not immediately cause symptoms, but these are possible symptoms to look out for:

• A change in bowel habits, such as diarrhea, constipation or narrowing of the stool that lasts for more than a few days
• A feeling that you need to have a bowel movement that's not relieved by having one
• Rectal bleeding with bright red blood
• Blood in the stool, which might make the stool look dark brown or black
• Cramping or abdominal (belly) pain
• Weakness and fatigue
• Unintended weight loss

It is important to note, however, that displaying some of these symptoms does not mean you have colorectal cancer. You could also have colon cancer and not display any of these symptoms. Regardless, it is important to bring up any symptoms to your doctor should they arise.

Screening

Dr. Yeo also emphasizes the importance of colorectal cancer screenings such as colonoscopies because most colorectal cancers can be prevented early with screening.

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"In the United States, on a national level, colorectal cancer has been decreasing for the last 20 years," Dr. Yeo says. "And much of that is thought to be directly due to screening for colon cancer."

RELATED: All Americans Should Begin Colorectal Cancer Screening at Age 45, According to New Guidelines; Previous Age Was 50

Even still, colorectal cancer cases are rising among younger people. And in the United States alone, rates have increased every year from 2011 to 2016 by 2 percent among people younger than 50. Because of this increase, the United States Preventive Services Task Force has recently updated its colorectal cancer screening recommendations to begin at age 45 instead of 50.

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"We know that colon cancers can be prevented when polyps are found early," Dr. Yeo said. "Lowering the screening age helps somewhat with this. But access to care is a real problem."

And increasing access is crucial to making sure that we don't see racial disparities within the world of colorectal cancer. Whites and Asians are significantly more likely to be up to date with their colonoscopies than African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans.

RELATED: Why Do So Few Black Men Get Colon Cancer Screenings?

Research suggests that tailoring colon cancer screenings to each person's individual risk may be beneficial. If you are not yet 45 but have concerns about your risk, talk to your doctor. Ask about your individual risk based on your lifestyle and family history and find out when screenings would be right for you.

The Resilience of Cancer Warriors

At SurvivorNet, we get to share stories of strength and resilience all the time because there's no shortages of brave cancer warriors holding onto hope in the face of adversity.

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Danielle Ripley-Burgess, a two-time colon cancer survivor, is another resilient cancer survivor like Parrot. She was first diagnosed with colon cancer in high school and proceeded to beat the disease not once, but twice. Understandably so, Ripley-Burgess has had to work through a lot of complex emotions that came with her cancer journey. Even still, she's always managed to look at life with a positive attitude.

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"As I've worked through the complex emotions of cancer, I've uncovered some beautiful things: Wisdom. Love. Life purpose. Priorities," she previously told SurvivorNet. "I carry a very real sense that life is short, and I'm grateful to be living it! This has made me optimistic. Optimism doesn't mean that fear, pain and division don't exist they do. Our world is full of negativity, judgment, and hate. Optimism means that I believe there's always good to be found despite the bad, and this is what my life is centered around."

She moves through life with a sense of purpose unique to someone who's been faced with the darkest of times. Happily in remission today, she's determined to, one day, leave the world better than she found it.

"We can choose to stay positive, treat others with respect and look for the light in spite of the darkness," she said. "This type of attitude and behavior will lead to the kind of legacies I believe all of us hope to leave."

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