Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne Leave California
- Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne are leaving their California home to move back to their other abode in England.
- The couple will celebrate 40 years of marriage later this year, and they’ve supported each other through thick and thin including Sharon’s colon cancer battle.
- Colorectal cancer screenings have made a big difference in colorectal cancer prevention. But with colorectal cancer cases in younger people on the rise, the recommended age for beginning screening has been moved from 50 to 45.
Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne’s Big Move
Rockstar Ozzy, of Black Sabbath fame, recently told the Mirror that California taxes were to blame for the pair’s departure from ‘The Golden State.’ They’ll be moving to their other home in Buckinghamshire, England, indefinitely.
Read MoreSharon, 69, did not comment on the move. But she recently celebrated 20 years since the premiere of her family’s reality television show, The Osbournes.
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“20 years ago today…we welcomed your family into our home, thank you all for being the perfect house guests,” she wrote in an Instagram caption.
Sharon Osbourne’s Cancer Battle
Needless to say, the couple has stuck together through thick and thin. And that was a big help for Sharon when she received her colon cancer diagnosis in 2002.
Ozzy even called up Robin Williams hoping the comedian would visit and help cheer up his wife when she was undergoing chemotherapy and struggling both physically and emotionally.
“I just remember sitting at the bottom of the stairs and we went from crying, not knowing what to do, to just peeing ourselves laughing because we could hear Mom upstairs in her room laughing with Robin,” one of Osbourne daughters, Kelly, said of the visit. “And, the next day it changed everything and Mom went back to chemo.”
Sharon’s chemotherapy treatments lasted for three months. Thankfully, they were successful, and the television personality is still cancer-free today.
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.
"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.
"You Shouldn't Die From Embarrassment": Colon Cancer Can Be Prevented
"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."
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.
"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.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
