Colorectal cancer in people under 40
1 in 5 new diagnoses of colorectal cancer now occur in people under 50, and 4 out of 5 of those are sadly not detected until it’s reached advanced stages (stage 2, 3, or 4). Colon cancer screening age has dropped to 45 due to the dramatic increase in rates – but many much younger people need to be aware of the easily identifiable symptoms.
Why? Because Kalei Martin is 28 and had been experiencing a lot of symptoms that should have been red flags for cancer. Sadly, her doctors didn’t recognize it until it had already spread. She was young, healthy, and it was chalked up to changes due to pregnancy and other health issues. But in reality – the signs were very clear.
Sadly, by the time someone did recognize the symptoms, she had stage 2 rectal cancer (T3 tumor) and, one year later, stage 4 with metastasis to her lungs (creating a 13-20% 5 year survival rate).
Her story is becoming increasingly common; and many doctors don’t even think of checking because young healthy people shouldn’t have cancer.
It’s worth listening to how what she thought was simple symptoms were actually progression of disease.
- Changes in bowel habits: Using the restroom more frequently, moving from every other day to multiple times daily (2:53).
- Rectal bleeding: Initially thought to be hemorrhoids due to recent pregnancies, but progressed to darker blood and eventually blood clots (3:50).
- Stomach cramping: Intense, sharp pain, different from menstrual cramps, that would progress to lasting 30-60 seconds (5:05).
- Pressure during intercourse: Experiencing pain and pressure, which led to a red flag for her (6:26).
She (like me) also learned you need to be a strong advocate for yourself and ensure your doctors are getting you in for tests and treatments that will give you the best chances of survival.
Sadly, her cancer had already spread and it became Stage 4 just a year later. Still, there seems to be good prognosis based on her most recent video: