Craig Melvin Stays Hopeful
- The “Today” co-host and MSNBC anchor stays hopeful during the pandemic by remembering that “This too shall pass.”
- Melvin has been a vocal advocate for colon cancer awareness since his brother, Lawrence, was diagnosed with the disease in 2017.
- Melvin previously told SurvivorNet that it’s important to have those potentially uncomfortable conversations about family medical history; it could save your life.
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For all the challenges this year has brought, Melvin says that “we are going to be better off” for having fought through the COVID-19 pandemic, as it has taught us to be grateful for every good thing in life.
Melvin previously sat down with SurvivorNet to discuss another issue close to his heart: colon cancer awareness, especially for younger men. His brother Lawrence was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2017 at only 39 years old.
Lawrence’s diagnosis is part of a broader trend of more colon cancer cases in people under 45, even as rates of the disease overall continue to fall. Doctors are unsure why cases are in increasing in younger adults.
Once his brother was diagnosed, Melvin discovered that he had a long family history with the disease. When members of your family have colon cancer it puts you at greater risk. Melvin told SurvivorNet that he never would have known about this history if he didn’t ask uncomfortable questions and have conversations that most people avoid.
Related: “You Shouldn’t Die From Embarrassment”: Colon Cancer Can Be Prevented
“When you start to have conversations like that with family members and family history becomes apparent … then that leads to other conversations with primary care physicians,” he told SurvivorNet in a previous interview. “If one person does it and goes to their primary care physician, who then refers them to someone and they get a colonoscopy and they find something, we may have saved one life.”
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