Think you're too young to have cancer?

The TL/DR sum-up:
You're not too young. Get checked.

The longer version:

A few years ago, my friend Jason threw a totally hilarious 33rd birthday party. Its theme was "Over the Top," a Sylvester Stallone arm-wrestling movie.

Everyone was encouraged to dress the part, with truck-driver hats, plaid shirts with the sleeves ripped off, aviator glasses worn inside...

I didn't go because I had something else to do. I can't for the life of me remember what it was. I remember thinking, "I'll go next year."

I called him soon after and asked about getting together to give him his birthday present. The day we were going to hang out, he let me know he was going in to the doctor - he thought he might have kidney stones.

Later that day, I got a text from him to the effect of "****, I have cancer."

Seven weeks after he was diagnosed, he had died of colon cancer.

He had not experienced previous symptoms. He was too young for cancer screening.

Jason was an incredibly vivacious person. He was a cartographer, a photographer, an avid traveller; he'd been planning a trip to Vietnam with friends.

But suddenly, there was no 'next year.'

I certainly learned a life lesson about prioritizing events and time with friends, but that conversation is for another day.

I also learned that cancer is NOT an old person's disease.

You probably know someone young who has been affected by this as well. One of my high school classmates discovered he had testicular cancer at only 19 years old. I recently found out that a young woman in my social circle - also only 19 years old - has stage 4 colon cancer. (The link goes to a break-down of cancer stages, but think 'Oh holy **** that's really bad.')

Why, then, are people encouraged to begin screening at age 50 if they are considered to be at 'average risk'?

I don't know.

As a woman, I was expected to begin annual Pap tests as a teenager. I had no family history of cervical cancer, I was not sexually active and so the chances of finding HPV were pretty darn small, and I was, what, 16 years old? Part of that annual exam includes the health care worker palpating my breasts to check for lumps.

I mention these things because I want to point out that societally, we already accept the importance of early screening for various medical concerns, including STDs/VDs (even if the patient is not yet sexually active [yes, I do understand that sexual contact is not the only way to transmit many of those diseases]). When will we begin to expect proper screening for colorectal cancer? What other cancers or auto-immune disfunctions should we, as patients, be demanding tests for?

If you have a change in your normal health, please, please, please don't ignore it. Go in and discuss it with a health care provider. If your health care provider doesn't listen, see a different provider. You are the client, and you deserve good care in return for your money.

There are many websites devoted to information about this. Here's a good one to start with.

Please spread the word. It might save someone's life.