48-year-old colorectal cancer survivor urges people to screen early
PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — In 2018, Leslie Manners was 42 and she didn't worry about much else besides her two young sons -- not even her own health.
That changed after a regular doctor's visit.
"I had noticed I had blood in my stool, and not really thinking anything of it [and] having a 2-year-old and two children, I just wasn't really concerned," Manners said. "The doctor said, 'This is concerning. You need to go see a GI doctor immediately just to make sure everything's OK.'"
After receiving a colonoscopy, Manners learned she had a large mass. A separate surgery to remove it would reveal some devastating news.
"When I woke up from that procedure, that's when I was told that it was cancer," she said.
Doctors diagnosed Manners with stage three rectal cancer.
A litany of treatments followed, including chemotherapy and something called an ileostomy, which is when a portion of the small intestine is diverted to an artificial opening in the abdominal wall.
Manners also attempted to participate in a clinical trial at Providence. She had to get a PET scan for that, which showed she also had stage one thyroid cancer.
"It was another primary cancer, so it wasn't metastasized from the colon cancer, but they did discover that thanks to the PET scan," she said. "I was kicked out of the trial, but it ended up to be a blessing, because it probably would have been undiagnosed, because I didn't have any symptoms."
A growing body of research shows more adults Manners' age are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
"[It] used to be the average age was sort of late 50s, and now I'm seeing so many patients that are in their 40s and sometimes younger," says Kristina Young, MD, PhD, a radiation oncologist at Providence Medical Center.
Dr. Young says there isn't a clear reason why this trend is emerging, but there are ways people can reduce their individual risk.
- Maintain a healthy diet with fruits and vegetables and limited amounts of red meat.
- Manage weight through exercise.
- Reduce unhealthy behaviors like smoking and excessive drinking.
- Follow current screening guidelines.
"We want people to start screening for colorectal cancer at age 45," Young said. "It used to be age 50, but now since we're seeing colorectal cancer come at younger ages, we're screening earlier."
A patient can always go in earlier if they notice any of the following concerning symptoms:
- Changes in caliber of stool
- Changes in the frequency of bowel movements
- Blood in the stool
If colorectal cancer is in a patient's family, Young says they should get screened 10 years earlier than the age their youngest family member got diagnosed.
In fact, given that Manners' was diagnosed so young, she encouraged her older sister to get screened. It would turn out that her sister had stage one rectal cancer. Thanks to its early detection, her sister would make a full recovery.
Manners is now six years cancer free, and after her experience, she wants to impart this piece of wisdom: "Just listen to your body, and there is screening available, so do it as early as you can."