On this episode, Dr. Nicole Saphier speaks with Elizabeth Price, a mother, chiropractor, artist, and stage-four colon cancer survivor who has defied the odds for more than eight years. After being diagnosed unexpectedly during a routine colonoscopy, Elizabeth began a grueling medical journey that has included 144 rounds of chemotherapy, multiple surgeries, and ongoing treatment—all while raising her young children and refusing to let cancer define her life.
Elizabeth shares the emotional moment that inspired her children’s book, “Mom, I Know What You Have: Parenting with Joy Through a Journey with Cancer.” The beautifully illustrated book helps families talk to children about serious illness while preserving hope, faith, and joy during incredibly difficult moments.
In this powerful conversation, Elizabeth opens up about living with stage-four cancer, how faith and community carried her through the darkest days, and why early screening for colon cancer is more important than ever. She also offers advice for parents navigating illness, explains the warning signs she wishes she had recognized earlier, and discusses how her book is now being donated to cancer centers to help other families.
Purchase Elizabeth's AMAZING book HERE
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome back to Wellness un Mass. I'm doctor Nicole Sapphire.
Well today's episode it is a tough one, but it's
a very important one because I'm going to be sitting
down with a mom who is living with stage four
colon cancer metastatic colon cancer, meaning the cancer has gone
beyond the colon and it has spread to distant.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Parts of the body.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
And she's sharing her story with the kind of honesty
that can really change how people pay attention to symptoms,
advocating for yourself when you go to the doctor, and
potentially risk factors, but more importantly, what it's like living
with a cancer diagnosis. Here's the reality. Colon rectal cancer,
meaning colon cancers and rectal cancers. It's absolutely rising in adults,
(00:47):
especially younger adults. In the United States. The incidence is
increasing about three percent per year for those ages twenty
to forty nine. Even as rates are dropping in older adults,
they're actually rising in younger adults. The reason they're dropping
in the older adults is because older adults are getting
colonoscopies and they're finding those pre cancerous polyps and having
(01:11):
them removed. So the rates of polyps turning into colon
cancer in older adults going down because they're getting those
pre cancerous lusions removed. But unfortunately, younger people who are
not getting screened in colonoscopies are being diagnosed with colon
cancer at an increased rate. So people born around nineteen
ninety have about double the risk of colon cancer and
(01:33):
about quadruple the risk of rectal cancer compared to those
born around nineteen fifty. Now, yes, colonoscopies have a part
in it, but it's also due to some other things.
Today we're going to unpack a little bit about why,
what to watch for, and what you can do, including
risk factors, screening recommendations, and some practical things that you
(01:56):
can do. So if you've ever brushed off, I know
you don't want to hear about this, but recteal bleeding,
you know, bright red blood in the toilet, persistent changes
in your bow habits, you've been told that you have
anemia but no one knows why, or you're losing weight.
This is your sign right now to stop ignoring it.
Joining us now is Elizabeth Price. She has put together
(02:17):
a beautiful children's book which I have spent time going over.
Not only did she write it, but she was also
the illustrator, which I was incredibly impressed by, and so
I think everyone will be inspired by her and we'll
learn something.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Just by hearing her story. So I would love to
dive right in. Elizabeth. Thank you so much for joining,
Thank you so much for having me. So I want
to just start first. Let's introduce you.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
You were a chiropractor for over a couple of decades.
You're a mother, but you were also given a pretty
tough diagnoses many years ago. Tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Yeah, So when I turned fifty and decided to do
all the right things and go ahead my mammogram and
went and had my colonoscopy without any family history, I
came out of the colonoscopy with doctors waiting to tell
me that I had Colly cancer. That following shortly after that,
(03:14):
I had found out that it had already spread to
my lungs and that I was stage four And.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
At that time the.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Diagnosis was a two two to five year survival rate.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
And how long ago was that? When was that?
Speaker 3 (03:31):
That was in twenty seventeen, So that was eight and
a half years ago.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
You've already defined.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Yes, I'm on paper, I may not look great, but
mentally and on my every day and to my family
and friends, I'm in a different you know, I don't
feel any different than anyone else most days, and I
just i'm more I'm more considering myself living with it,
with living with cancer than and fighting it.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
But you were given the diagnosis, You're told it was advanced,
and what pursued surgery, chemotherapy, what was your treatment like?
Speaker 3 (04:10):
So for the first thing that they did was they
found out that it was stage four and that I
did have spread to my lungs. And then I started
on a chemotherapy path and radiation and surgery. And at
this moment today, I've had a one hundred and forty
(04:32):
four rounds of chemotherapy. I have had twelve major surgeries.
I've had ten rounds of radiation.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
I have.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Been under anesthesia about twenty two to twenty five times.
I've lost count I am awaiting a liver resection in
three days, and I still have significant disease, and I'm.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Okay with that.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
It's, you know, it's I've almost accepted that this is
my journey. I have to grieve my old life and
I just have to go on living this life and
I have a family and kids, and I have a
very strong faith and an incredible group of friends, and I.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Moved forward day by day.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
So tell us what it's like hearing the words I
have cancer.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
When you have kids at home. How old were they?
How did you so?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
When I was first diagnosed, my children were five and ten,
and it was devastating. It was almost it was almost unreal,
like I because I didn't have any family history, because
I was going to the gym, and I was walking,
and I was very active and very big social life,
(05:52):
very big family life, traveling, and it just seemed very unreal.
And the first thing you do is you look up
and you google stage four cancer and you don't see
anything that you want to hear, and then it is terrifying.
It was terrifying, and I still have days where I'm terrified.
(06:13):
I still I have not in the eight and a
half years, I have never heard that I'm in remission.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
I've never heard that there's no sign of disease now.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
So it's something that it takes a long time to
come to terms with it. I am years and years,
but when I do get down, I.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Turned to my faith.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
I talked to my friends and I listen to other
people in my situation who have defied the odds, and
that reminds me that it's not up to the doctors,
it's not up to statistics. And I had a woman
once tell me, only you know, only God determines when
you're terminal.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
So these things keep me going.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Yeah, I mean a lot of our day to day
is so much of our mental and emotional health, just
as much as it is our physical health. And how
you wake up, and you know, kind of the intention
you set for the day certainly helps with how the
day turns out.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Tell us when you were.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Given the diagnosis and kind of through the course of
all of this treatment, what was the biggest thing that
you found that you didn't expect? You know, what everyone
knows someone who has been diagnosed with cancer. Everyone has heard,
you know, one story from another, But what are What's
something that kind of surprised you.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
When I first started chemotherapy and I made it through
the first at that time, my chemotherapy was a seven
hour drip one day and eight hour drip the next day.
I went home with it attached, and I came back
two days later, and I thought, after the first time,
I'm like, wow, I can do this, Like I can
do this.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
And then I went the next time and it was
a little less of a wow, I can do this.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
And I think what surprised me is that chemotherapy gets
harder as you do it, So every time that you
do it, it's a little bit harder.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
It stays in your body, it's a little bit harder.
I think that that was more of the.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Surprise than I was thinking, all right, I have this
because I did it once. I think also there's a
lot of there's so much good and doctors and nurses
that treat you, and there's there are some that are
just so realistic.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
About the disease, and.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
You have to really know yourself and trust in yourself
and trust in what other people are saying to make it.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Through all the hard days.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
What was you, know, for for your friends surrounding you
and once you kind of share your diagnosis with them,
what were some of the things that they did that
you know looking back and are still doing for you.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
I mean this is an ongoing process.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
For you, Like what is like the best thing that
they have done for you that has really helped you through.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
All of this?
Speaker 3 (09:14):
From day one when I was first diagnosed. My children
go to Parochio School, and the mothers of my children,
the class mothers, a bunch of them got together and
started a prayer group, started a rosary group for me,
and eight and a half years later, we are all
still together. And they were actually they were the force
(09:36):
behind this book. Even I brought them my ideas and
I brought them some of the paintings that I did
while watching TV, and they just rallied behind my entire family,
and they rallied behind my kids, and they're because it's scary.
I mean, I had phone calls from moms saying, oh,
my son heard something really bad happened to you, and
you know, with everything on TV and the my mom's
(10:00):
just really took me in and we just became a family.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
And we're still a family.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Like it's just we're like a pack that I don't
think will ever be separated. And I think that's so
important to have people around you that are going to
keep you feeling safe and know that I'll be in
the hospital this coming weekend and my daughter's birthdays this
(10:26):
coming weekend, and I'm not at all worried about how
that's going to go down, because I know that I
have this pack of women who are going to make
sure that my daughter has like the best birthday ever,
and that everyone has food and people are that everyone's
taken care of. It's been an unbelievable gift, Like they're
(10:47):
a blessing. It's really been an amazing gift.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
So you brought up the book. Tell us about this
book that you created. I have a sitting right in
front of me. I mean, it's absolutely stunning. It's called mom.
I know what you have Parenting with Joy through a
Journey with Cancer. Tell us about how you came up
with the idea, the process.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
And what it means to you. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
So one of the big things we did not know
how to talk to our children about cancer at the time.
We didn't use the word in the house, mostly because television,
the commercials, they show people dying or you know, in
horrible situations, and then we didn't want them to think.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
That I was going to die, and we just didn't
use the word.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
My son one time saw on the hospital wall said
cancer center and he asked my husband about it, and
my husband played it off, well that's part of the
hospital here, that's not part of here.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
And then one day. I'm in my room and we
didn't tell them you had cancer. You kind of know
we did in the beginning, we did not. In the beginning,
we did not.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
It was it was a little while in and I
was upstairs laying in bed, and my son was downstairs
and he started yelling, mom, Mom, came here. And I
came out of my room and we have a second
story with that overlooks down.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
To the front hallway, and I started.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
He was standing with his back against the front door,
and I started to go downstairs, and he put up
his hand and he said, Mom, stop.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
I said okay, and.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
He motions for me to go back upstairs. So I'm
standing up at the railing and I'm looking down on him.
I'm like, what's up, kiddo. And he's a long silence
and he's just looking at me and was very serious,
and he said, Mom, I know what you have.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
And it broke me. It just was it was the
moment that it hit I have cancer. And my children
are so young, and I don't want them to not
have a mother. I don't want them. I have a
lot of faith.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
I I walk through life knowing that when I leave
this earth that I am going to feel so good,
and I will have my old body back, and I
will be at peace, and I will be with God, and.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
I will peemp pain, and I won't have trouble walking,
and I won't have trouble sitting, and I won't have
to say to my kids, I'm too tired. But I
want them to have that mom that I had. I
want them to have the mom that has over the
top birthday parties and that will still go on the
roller coaster, and.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Everything I do is so that they won't have.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
The life that I really grew up with great parents
and a great mom.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
So I'm okay with the pain.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
I'm okay with the one hundred and forty four rounds of
chemo as long as it keeps me here long enough
to just be a mom.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
And make sure that they have a mom.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
So I just with every little milestone that they hit
in life, and that they have hit graduations other things,
I'm just so glad that I get to be there.
And I think, Okay, I made it high school graduation,
and I made it to tell my son's prom pictures,
and now I look forward to the weddings and I
(14:07):
just keep thinking I'm gonna be there to dance with
my son, And it definitely is something when you have
cancer and you're diagnosed with how I'm diagnosed. I went
to a wedding and when they had the mother son dance,
I had to run into the bathroom and it hit
me like a ton of bricks. So I have to
fight those moments and just remember and keep telling myself
(14:30):
it's okay, I'm going to be there for that. I'm
going to be there for that.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
You're listening to wellness and mass, We'll be right back
with more. So you're taking your experience and channeling a
lot of that emotion to try and help others, and
that is yes.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
So then because there were things that we did to
stay like I didn't.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
We didn't put me in a room and shut the door.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
One of the things which I show in the book
as my kids put tents in the bedroom and they
slept in my bedroom for years. I mean they really
just and if they weren't sleeping there, they would come
after home after school and read their books and their.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Tents while I was sleeping.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
So it's just some fun activities that we did. And
my husband and I would always make sure that you know,
they saw me as not this is my sick.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Mom in bed.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
And so we did fun things and I thought, if
I can put these in a book and help one
other family make light of some of the trauma, that
it wouldn't be so traumatizing.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
And were the killing these illustrations? Were you an artist
before you made this? Because it's beautiful?
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
I've never I did not go to art school. I
have my I mean my mother was artistic, her father
was artistic. So maybe it's just something that came down
the line. But I do get cravings to paint and
I get cravings to draw, and uh so I did
(16:06):
them while watching TV and watching the news and and
and then I brought the pictures and my phone, which
I had like just talked to the book and my
phone to the Rosary group. So I kind of had
this idea, but I know, I'll just put it in
a corner of the room and it'll end up there.
And the women just took it and were like, can
(16:28):
we do this, because we need to do this, And
they had it published in like a month and and
we've taken we had they had to go fund me
set up, and we had a bunch of books printed
and now we've donated them to cancer centers. If anyone's listening,
(16:48):
they can reach out. I'm happy to donate from the
books that we have been able to buy.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
With the donations to anyone you need to actually where
can people actually find it if they wanted to go
and find it.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
They can find it Barnes and Noble, Amazon, any major
book platform there are, Mom.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
I know what you have by Elizabeth Price for people
who are watching, and we will put a link when
I post this on social media everyone, So for those
of you who follow me on social media, you will
find it. So now that the book is out and
I'm sure you're getting some feedback, you know, tell us
a little bit about you know, where where are you at?
You just you kind of alluded that you have an
(17:29):
upcoming surgery coming, But how are you doing right?
Speaker 3 (17:34):
So right now I have a significant amount of spread
on my liver and I have about twenty four masses
in my lungs. The biggest, bigger ones are the size
of about golf balls, and because of previous lung surgeries,
I only have oh, probably like one and a half
(17:55):
one and three quarters long left anyway, So surgery to
take those out.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
This is not something that's going to happen.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
But they're gonna try to take the cancer off my
liver within the next week and we're hopeful about that,
and then I'll just continue on whatever the next steps are.
I'm trying to do as best as I can holistically,
(18:24):
and I have a great oncologist who, you know, he
just keeps telling me all you gotta do is make
it till the next chemot comes out, and you know,
we just keep switching that up and I'll get there.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
I'll get there. I'm determined. So he sounds strong. He
looks strong, didn't.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
I mean, I'm sure you notice this, But since your diagnosis,
the American Cancer Society has changed their screening recommendations from oh,
fifty when you got.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Yours to age forty five.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Yes, yes, well, considering that they really determined that I've
had this long. You know that I had it since
I was at least forty five. I mean, there was
no reason for me to think it forty five that
I should go get a colonoscopy. And I'm so thankful
(19:22):
that they have changed it now because I know that
my outcome would be completely different. I mean, if they
catch it early. I mean, it's somewhat curable in most
people if you can catch it early. So I'm a
huge advocate for go get your colonoscopy, and if you
think there's a problem and you're not forty five, go.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
There and demand it anyway.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
I mean, you don't have to wait for a doctor
to tell you you're not forty five yet. If you
have even like the slightest hint that something might be wrong,
don't let anyone tell.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
You that you're just being, you know, a hypochondriac. There's
nothing wrong with you. Just have it checked.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Unfortunately, that happens a good amount, especially in women. We
kind of get told that our belly pains are just
belly pains and we can just deal with them.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Yeah, it's so true. I mean, everyone needs to listen
to their inner self when it comes to their health.
And I've seen a lot of doctors along the way.
I've gone through a lot of doctors. When I see
a doctor who may want to give me an expiration date,
I thank him very much and then I move on
(20:29):
and I get some other opinions, and I think that,
you know, the age being moved back to forty five
is excellent but I don't think that people should be like, well,
I don't have to do it till forty five, because
look at me. I waited because I thought, oh, I
don't have to do it until I'm fifty, and do you.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Have any symptoms looking back?
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Looking back, there were some signs that were there the problem,
or I shouldn't say it was a problem.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
But I had my daughter at forty five and I preclamsy.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
They had to take her a little bit early, and
so some of the symptoms I had afterwards were attributed
to that rather than being checked out. So some things
that I complained about, they were, oh, you know, it's
it's because you had this difficult birth. In hindsight, I
should have gone and acted on the symptoms that I
(21:25):
was having, because.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
So I can educate other people.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Are you talking about possibly some like blood in the
rectum or blood in your stool.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Some blood.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Don't let anyone tell you it's hemorrhoids until they've gone
in and looked to see whether or not it's hemorrhoids.
I had difficulty sometimes passing school.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
And going to the bathroom.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
My tumor was three milimeters inside the rectum, and that's
why I was having difficulty.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Don't let anyone.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Tell you you have a prolapsed rectum without doing a
exam and actually going in and seeing, because most of
the time those are not pro last victums.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Most of the times those are due to tumors. So
there was a looking back on it.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Yes, there was a long list of things that I
just put full trust into, you know, my medical doctors,
who I do. You know, I put full trust into
my doctors now, but I I take accountability for myself
and I you know, you have to not let anyone say, oh,
(22:33):
it's okay, but we don't have to check that it's
not the norm.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Yeah, as you know doctor obviously being a doctor myself,
you know, we definitely have a balance of you know,
chasing the zebras or just assuming the you know, the
hoof steps that we're hearing in the park or a
horse probably they're probably not a zebra. And so when
a woman who had a difficult pregnancy, you know, the
internal hemorrhoids extremely common and so to have you know,
(23:01):
bright red blood per rectum, you know in the toilet.
Common things being common, it is a bleeding internal hemorrhoid
because you don't really feel them, But you're absolutely right,
I mean, and significantly less common.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
It's colon cancer.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Unfortunately, it's becoming more common these days, especially in younger people.
But the reality is, you know, you can tip the
scale either way every person who shows up with a
little bit of blood. We can't send everyone for a colonoscopia.
That probably doesn't make sense, however, the reality is, you know,
people know their bodies better than anyone else, and if
(23:35):
they're telling you there's something wrong, you should probably do
your due diligence to look into it. And I think
as colon cancer is becoming more and more common, you know,
I really do hope that women are dismissed less.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Than historically we have been. It would be wonderful if
that ends up being the case. If we talk loud enough,
it will more.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Coming up on Wellness Unmasked with doctor Nicholson fire, are
there any like takeaways that you have been finding just
on a day to day like things that you do
that make you feel good, whether physically or mentally, you know,
kind of despite everything that's going on.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Honestly, I mean, if anyone is in my position right now,
and there are going to be bad days and they're
going to be you know, good days, and on my
bad days, sometimes it helps for me to listen to
podcasts and listen to others in my position who have
beat the odds, and it's so encouraging to hear people
(24:39):
who have staged four and are living life, and who
have stage four and have beat it and are not
stage four anymore and have no size of disease.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
There's going to be bad days.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
I mean, I definitely there is a physical toll of
having cancer, but you just have to you have to
just I think once I got to the point of
acceptance and this is who I am, and you have
faith in that it's what it's supposed to be. I
(25:16):
think it makes life a little bit easier. And if
you have children, they know more and they see more
than you think they do, and it's better to talk
to them when you can and include them in as
much as you can so that they're not scared, so
(25:37):
they don't go to bed at night thinking, oh, my
mom's going to die, because that's the last thing you
want them to think.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
If anything, you want them just to know, Okay, my mom's.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Sick, but she's going to get better and one and
have faith and absolutely have faith.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Well, thank you so much for creating this beautiful children's book.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Mom, I know what you have.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I think I think it was cathartic for you, and
it was wonderful that your friends all helped you. But
this book will obviously help so many others who are
potentially going through the same journey as you are.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Thank you, thank you so much for having me. All right.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Well, if today's conversation, you know, hit you in the
gut like it did mine and you got a little emotional,
all I can say is good, because this is one
of those moments where awareness can literally change outcomes and
it can save your life. Coal a rectal cancer. It's
not an older person's disease anymore. Like I said, rates
are rising in younger adults, and deaths have been creeping
(26:33):
up in people under fifty. As I mentioned when I
was talking to Elizabeth. When Elizabeth was fifty, the recommendation
was to get your first colonoscopy if you don't have
family history, at the age of fifty. So that's what
she did. She was following the rules, she was doing
everything right. She had her colonoscopy at fifty, but she
already had advanced.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Coal and cancer.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Well, we've gotten smart to the fact that these rates
are rising, which is why in the last few years
the new recommendations are even without family history of colon cancer,
you should be getting a colonoscopy at the age of
forty five. I have a feeling that's going to go
a little bit lower. If you have a family history
of colon cancer at all, I think you will definitely
(27:14):
should be getting your colonoscopy before forty five. Really, it
should be about ten years younger than when your family
member was diagnosed. So if your parent was diagnosed with
colon cancer at fifty, you should be getting a colonoscopy
at forty. And if you have any symptoms, whether you
have respectors like family history or not, those symptoms rectal bleeding,
(27:35):
bowel changes like constipation, unexplained anemia, unexplained weight loss, not
because you're on a GLP one, but all of a
sudden you're just losing weight. Do not let anyone dismiss you.
You have to advocate for yourself. Yes, we all need
to be increasing our fiber, we all need to be
increasing our hydration. These can affect your bowl habits too.
(27:56):
But if you've already tried to increase your fiber and
increase hydration, and you're still having issues, you absolutely need
to go to a doctor.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Why are more.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Young people getting colon cancer. It's a really good question,
and they're certainly not an easy answer. It's going to
be multifactorial. We have some ideas. We know that our
gut flora is completely disrupted. We've taken far too many antibiotics,
we ingest far too many microplastics. We're not eating enough
fermented food, and we eat way too much processed sugary foods.
(28:27):
All of this is disrupting our gut and that natural flora,
those good bacteria in our gut that keeps it healthy.
The first thing you can do to try and lower
your risk of colon cancer is absolutely get a better diet.
If the majority of what you're consuming is sitting in
your pantry and it has an expiration date of like
(28:47):
twenty twenty eight, that's probably not a good thing. Fresh
fruits and vegetables, decreasing smoked meats, and increasing more lean
proteins and like white fish, salmon, all these things can
actually decrease your risk of colon cancer. Taking probiotics, prebiotics
and increasing the amount of fermented foods like kimchi and
(29:11):
pickles and sour krau. All these things can help restore
that gut flora. And do not take antibiotics every time
you have the sniffles. You don't need a Z pack
all the time, I promise you. Not only does it
create antibiotic resistance in the bacteria and everything else and
your body not being able to fight off these infections
(29:32):
and take normal antibiotics, but it's also destroying your gut flora,
and that is increasing your risk of colon cancer. So
only take antibiotics when they're truly necessary, when your doctor
absolutely recommends them. Don't just take a Z pack or
whatever it is because you have an upper respiratory infection.
The reality is the far majority of them are viruses,
and you don't need the antbiotics. Even if you think, oh,
(29:55):
I got better after taking a Z pack, well you
probably would have gotten better anyway, because it's just the norm,
of course, the disease of the virus. So now I
will get off my soapbox. You have heard me. I
just want to again say I'm so grateful that Elizabeth
Price joined us. She shared her story. I have a
copy of her book mom, I know what you have
parenting with Joy through a journey with cancer. As she said,
(30:17):
It's available Barnes and Noble, Amazon, everywhere you get books.
It's a beautifully illustrated book that talks about what she
has done with her children to somewhat normalize cancer and
make it a part of their life. I think that
this book will help so many people, so I recommend
getting your copy, giving it as a gift to someone,
(30:40):
just having it on your shelf, whatever you want to do.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
It's a beautiful book.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
I'm doctor Nicole Safire and this is Wellness un Mass.
Please share this episode with someone you love and if
this story reminded you to stop postponing your help, let
today be the day that you make the appointment. Thank
you so much for listening. Be sure to listen to
Wellness sun Mass with doctor Nicole Sapphire on iHeartRadio, Apple
Podcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
And I'll see you next time.
Welcome back to Wellness un Mass. I'm doctor Nicole Sapphire.
Well today's episode it is a tough one, but it's
a very important one because I'm going to be sitting
down with a mom who is living with stage four
colon cancer metastatic colon cancer, meaning the cancer has gone
beyond the colon and it has spread to distant.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Parts of the body.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
And she's sharing her story with the kind of honesty
that can really change how people pay attention to symptoms,
advocating for yourself when you go to the doctor, and
potentially risk factors, but more importantly, what it's like living
with a cancer diagnosis. Here's the reality. Colon rectal cancer,
meaning colon cancers and rectal cancers. It's absolutely rising in adults,
(00:47):
especially younger adults. In the United States. The incidence is
increasing about three percent per year for those ages twenty
to forty nine. Even as rates are dropping in older adults,
they're actually rising in younger adults. The reason they're dropping
in the older adults is because older adults are getting
colonoscopies and they're finding those pre cancerous polyps and having
(01:11):
them removed. So the rates of polyps turning into colon
cancer in older adults going down because they're getting those
pre cancerous lusions removed. But unfortunately, younger people who are
not getting screened in colonoscopies are being diagnosed with colon
cancer at an increased rate. So people born around nineteen
ninety have about double the risk of colon cancer and
(01:33):
about quadruple the risk of rectal cancer compared to those
born around nineteen fifty. Now, yes, colonoscopies have a part
in it, but it's also due to some other things.
Today we're going to unpack a little bit about why,
what to watch for, and what you can do, including
risk factors, screening recommendations, and some practical things that you
(01:56):
can do. So if you've ever brushed off, I know
you don't want to hear about this, but recteal bleeding,
you know, bright red blood in the toilet, persistent changes
in your bow habits, you've been told that you have
anemia but no one knows why, or you're losing weight.
This is your sign right now to stop ignoring it.
Joining us now is Elizabeth Price. She has put together
(02:17):
a beautiful children's book which I have spent time going over.
Not only did she write it, but she was also
the illustrator, which I was incredibly impressed by, and so
I think everyone will be inspired by her and we'll
learn something.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Just by hearing her story. So I would love to
dive right in. Elizabeth. Thank you so much for joining,
Thank you so much for having me. So I want
to just start first. Let's introduce you.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
You were a chiropractor for over a couple of decades.
You're a mother, but you were also given a pretty
tough diagnoses many years ago. Tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Yeah, So when I turned fifty and decided to do
all the right things and go ahead my mammogram and
went and had my colonoscopy without any family history, I
came out of the colonoscopy with doctors waiting to tell
me that I had Colly cancer. That following shortly after that,
(03:14):
I had found out that it had already spread to
my lungs and that I was stage four And.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
At that time the.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Diagnosis was a two two to five year survival rate.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
And how long ago was that? When was that?
Speaker 3 (03:31):
That was in twenty seventeen, So that was eight and
a half years ago.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
You've already defined.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Yes, I'm on paper, I may not look great, but
mentally and on my every day and to my family
and friends, I'm in a different you know, I don't
feel any different than anyone else most days, and I
just i'm more I'm more considering myself living with it,
with living with cancer than and fighting it.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
But you were given the diagnosis, You're told it was advanced,
and what pursued surgery, chemotherapy, what was your treatment like?
Speaker 3 (04:10):
So for the first thing that they did was they
found out that it was stage four and that I
did have spread to my lungs. And then I started
on a chemotherapy path and radiation and surgery. And at
this moment today, I've had a one hundred and forty
(04:32):
four rounds of chemotherapy. I have had twelve major surgeries.
I've had ten rounds of radiation.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
I have.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Been under anesthesia about twenty two to twenty five times.
I've lost count I am awaiting a liver resection in
three days, and I still have significant disease, and I'm.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Okay with that.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
It's, you know, it's I've almost accepted that this is
my journey. I have to grieve my old life and
I just have to go on living this life and
I have a family and kids, and I have a
very strong faith and an incredible group of friends, and I.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Moved forward day by day.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
So tell us what it's like hearing the words I
have cancer.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
When you have kids at home. How old were they?
How did you so?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
When I was first diagnosed, my children were five and ten,
and it was devastating. It was almost it was almost unreal,
like I because I didn't have any family history, because
I was going to the gym, and I was walking,
and I was very active and very big social life,
(05:52):
very big family life, traveling, and it just seemed very unreal.
And the first thing you do is you look up
and you google stage four cancer and you don't see
anything that you want to hear, and then it is terrifying.
It was terrifying, and I still have days where I'm terrified.
(06:13):
I still I have not in the eight and a
half years, I have never heard that I'm in remission.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
I've never heard that there's no sign of disease now.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
So it's something that it takes a long time to
come to terms with it. I am years and years,
but when I do get down, I.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Turned to my faith.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
I talked to my friends and I listen to other
people in my situation who have defied the odds, and
that reminds me that it's not up to the doctors,
it's not up to statistics. And I had a woman
once tell me, only you know, only God determines when
you're terminal.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
So these things keep me going.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Yeah, I mean a lot of our day to day
is so much of our mental and emotional health, just
as much as it is our physical health. And how
you wake up, and you know, kind of the intention
you set for the day certainly helps with how the
day turns out.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Tell us when you were.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Given the diagnosis and kind of through the course of
all of this treatment, what was the biggest thing that
you found that you didn't expect? You know, what everyone
knows someone who has been diagnosed with cancer. Everyone has heard,
you know, one story from another, But what are What's
something that kind of surprised you.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
When I first started chemotherapy and I made it through
the first at that time, my chemotherapy was a seven
hour drip one day and eight hour drip the next day.
I went home with it attached, and I came back
two days later, and I thought, after the first time,
I'm like, wow, I can do this, Like I can
do this.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
And then I went the next time and it was
a little less of a wow, I can do this.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
And I think what surprised me is that chemotherapy gets
harder as you do it, So every time that you
do it, it's a little bit harder.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
It stays in your body, it's a little bit harder.
I think that that was more of the.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Surprise than I was thinking, all right, I have this
because I did it once. I think also there's a
lot of there's so much good and doctors and nurses
that treat you, and there's there are some that are
just so realistic.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
About the disease, and.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
You have to really know yourself and trust in yourself
and trust in what other people are saying to make it.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Through all the hard days.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
What was you, know, for for your friends surrounding you
and once you kind of share your diagnosis with them,
what were some of the things that they did that
you know looking back and are still doing for you.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
I mean this is an ongoing process.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
For you, Like what is like the best thing that
they have done for you that has really helped you through.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
All of this?
Speaker 3 (09:14):
From day one when I was first diagnosed. My children
go to Parochio School, and the mothers of my children,
the class mothers, a bunch of them got together and
started a prayer group, started a rosary group for me,
and eight and a half years later, we are all
still together. And they were actually they were the force
(09:36):
behind this book. Even I brought them my ideas and
I brought them some of the paintings that I did
while watching TV, and they just rallied behind my entire family,
and they rallied behind my kids, and they're because it's scary.
I mean, I had phone calls from moms saying, oh,
my son heard something really bad happened to you, and
you know, with everything on TV and the my mom's
(10:00):
just really took me in and we just became a family.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
And we're still a family.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Like it's just we're like a pack that I don't
think will ever be separated. And I think that's so
important to have people around you that are going to
keep you feeling safe and know that I'll be in
the hospital this coming weekend and my daughter's birthdays this
(10:26):
coming weekend, and I'm not at all worried about how
that's going to go down, because I know that I
have this pack of women who are going to make
sure that my daughter has like the best birthday ever,
and that everyone has food and people are that everyone's
taken care of. It's been an unbelievable gift, Like they're
(10:47):
a blessing. It's really been an amazing gift.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
So you brought up the book. Tell us about this
book that you created. I have a sitting right in
front of me. I mean, it's absolutely stunning. It's called mom.
I know what you have Parenting with Joy through a
Journey with Cancer. Tell us about how you came up
with the idea, the process.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
And what it means to you. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
So one of the big things we did not know
how to talk to our children about cancer at the time.
We didn't use the word in the house, mostly because television,
the commercials, they show people dying or you know, in
horrible situations, and then we didn't want them to think.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
That I was going to die, and we just didn't
use the word.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
My son one time saw on the hospital wall said
cancer center and he asked my husband about it, and
my husband played it off, well that's part of the
hospital here, that's not part of here.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
And then one day. I'm in my room and we
didn't tell them you had cancer. You kind of know
we did in the beginning, we did not. In the beginning,
we did not.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
It was it was a little while in and I
was upstairs laying in bed, and my son was downstairs
and he started yelling, mom, Mom, came here. And I
came out of my room and we have a second
story with that overlooks down.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
To the front hallway, and I started.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
He was standing with his back against the front door,
and I started to go downstairs, and he put up
his hand and he said, Mom, stop.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
I said okay, and.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
He motions for me to go back upstairs. So I'm
standing up at the railing and I'm looking down on him.
I'm like, what's up, kiddo. And he's a long silence
and he's just looking at me and was very serious,
and he said, Mom, I know what you have.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
And it broke me. It just was it was the
moment that it hit I have cancer. And my children
are so young, and I don't want them to not
have a mother. I don't want them. I have a
lot of faith.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
I I walk through life knowing that when I leave
this earth that I am going to feel so good,
and I will have my old body back, and I
will be at peace, and I will be with God, and.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
I will peemp pain, and I won't have trouble walking,
and I won't have trouble sitting, and I won't have
to say to my kids, I'm too tired. But I
want them to have that mom that I had. I
want them to have the mom that has over the
top birthday parties and that will still go on the
roller coaster, and.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Everything I do is so that they won't have.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
The life that I really grew up with great parents
and a great mom.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
So I'm okay with the pain.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
I'm okay with the one hundred and forty four rounds of
chemo as long as it keeps me here long enough
to just be a mom.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
And make sure that they have a mom.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
So I just with every little milestone that they hit
in life, and that they have hit graduations other things,
I'm just so glad that I get to be there.
And I think, Okay, I made it high school graduation,
and I made it to tell my son's prom pictures,
and now I look forward to the weddings and I
(14:07):
just keep thinking I'm gonna be there to dance with
my son, And it definitely is something when you have
cancer and you're diagnosed with how I'm diagnosed. I went
to a wedding and when they had the mother son dance,
I had to run into the bathroom and it hit
me like a ton of bricks. So I have to
fight those moments and just remember and keep telling myself
(14:30):
it's okay, I'm going to be there for that. I'm
going to be there for that.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
You're listening to wellness and mass, We'll be right back
with more. So you're taking your experience and channeling a
lot of that emotion to try and help others, and
that is yes.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
So then because there were things that we did to
stay like I didn't.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
We didn't put me in a room and shut the door.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
One of the things which I show in the book
as my kids put tents in the bedroom and they
slept in my bedroom for years. I mean they really
just and if they weren't sleeping there, they would come
after home after school and read their books and their.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Tents while I was sleeping.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
So it's just some fun activities that we did. And
my husband and I would always make sure that you know,
they saw me as not this is my sick.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Mom in bed.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
And so we did fun things and I thought, if
I can put these in a book and help one
other family make light of some of the trauma, that
it wouldn't be so traumatizing.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
And were the killing these illustrations? Were you an artist
before you made this? Because it's beautiful?
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
I've never I did not go to art school. I
have my I mean my mother was artistic, her father
was artistic. So maybe it's just something that came down
the line. But I do get cravings to paint and
I get cravings to draw, and uh so I did
(16:06):
them while watching TV and watching the news and and
and then I brought the pictures and my phone, which
I had like just talked to the book and my
phone to the Rosary group. So I kind of had
this idea, but I know, I'll just put it in
a corner of the room and it'll end up there.
And the women just took it and were like, can
(16:28):
we do this, because we need to do this, And
they had it published in like a month and and
we've taken we had they had to go fund me
set up, and we had a bunch of books printed
and now we've donated them to cancer centers. If anyone's listening,
(16:48):
they can reach out. I'm happy to donate from the
books that we have been able to buy.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
With the donations to anyone you need to actually where
can people actually find it if they wanted to go
and find it.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
They can find it Barnes and Noble, Amazon, any major
book platform there are, Mom.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
I know what you have by Elizabeth Price for people
who are watching, and we will put a link when
I post this on social media everyone, So for those
of you who follow me on social media, you will
find it. So now that the book is out and
I'm sure you're getting some feedback, you know, tell us
a little bit about you know, where where are you at?
You just you kind of alluded that you have an
(17:29):
upcoming surgery coming, But how are you doing right?
Speaker 3 (17:34):
So right now I have a significant amount of spread
on my liver and I have about twenty four masses
in my lungs. The biggest, bigger ones are the size
of about golf balls, and because of previous lung surgeries,
I only have oh, probably like one and a half
(17:55):
one and three quarters long left anyway, So surgery to
take those out.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
This is not something that's going to happen.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
But they're gonna try to take the cancer off my
liver within the next week and we're hopeful about that,
and then I'll just continue on whatever the next steps are.
I'm trying to do as best as I can holistically,
(18:24):
and I have a great oncologist who, you know, he
just keeps telling me all you gotta do is make
it till the next chemot comes out, and you know,
we just keep switching that up and I'll get there.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
I'll get there. I'm determined. So he sounds strong. He
looks strong, didn't.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
I mean, I'm sure you notice this, But since your diagnosis,
the American Cancer Society has changed their screening recommendations from oh,
fifty when you got.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Yours to age forty five.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Yes, yes, well, considering that they really determined that I've
had this long. You know that I had it since
I was at least forty five. I mean, there was
no reason for me to think it forty five that
I should go get a colonoscopy. And I'm so thankful
(19:22):
that they have changed it now because I know that
my outcome would be completely different. I mean, if they
catch it early. I mean, it's somewhat curable in most
people if you can catch it early. So I'm a
huge advocate for go get your colonoscopy, and if you
think there's a problem and you're not forty five, go.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
There and demand it anyway.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
I mean, you don't have to wait for a doctor
to tell you you're not forty five yet. If you
have even like the slightest hint that something might be wrong,
don't let anyone tell.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
You that you're just being, you know, a hypochondriac. There's
nothing wrong with you. Just have it checked.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Unfortunately, that happens a good amount, especially in women. We
kind of get told that our belly pains are just
belly pains and we can just deal with them.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Yeah, it's so true. I mean, everyone needs to listen
to their inner self when it comes to their health.
And I've seen a lot of doctors along the way.
I've gone through a lot of doctors. When I see
a doctor who may want to give me an expiration date,
I thank him very much and then I move on
(20:29):
and I get some other opinions, and I think that,
you know, the age being moved back to forty five
is excellent but I don't think that people should be like, well,
I don't have to do it till forty five, because
look at me. I waited because I thought, oh, I
don't have to do it until I'm fifty, and do you.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
Have any symptoms looking back?
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Looking back, there were some signs that were there the problem,
or I shouldn't say it was a problem.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
But I had my daughter at forty five and I preclamsy.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
They had to take her a little bit early, and
so some of the symptoms I had afterwards were attributed
to that rather than being checked out. So some things
that I complained about, they were, oh, you know, it's
it's because you had this difficult birth. In hindsight, I
should have gone and acted on the symptoms that I
(21:25):
was having, because.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
So I can educate other people.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Are you talking about possibly some like blood in the
rectum or blood in your stool.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Some blood.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
Don't let anyone tell you it's hemorrhoids until they've gone
in and looked to see whether or not it's hemorrhoids.
I had difficulty sometimes passing school.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
And going to the bathroom.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
My tumor was three milimeters inside the rectum, and that's
why I was having difficulty.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Don't let anyone.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Tell you you have a prolapsed rectum without doing a
exam and actually going in and seeing, because most of
the time those are not pro last victums.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Most of the times those are due to tumors. So
there was a looking back on it.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Yes, there was a long list of things that I
just put full trust into, you know, my medical doctors,
who I do. You know, I put full trust into
my doctors now, but I I take accountability for myself
and I you know, you have to not let anyone say, oh,
(22:33):
it's okay, but we don't have to check that it's
not the norm.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Yeah, as you know doctor obviously being a doctor myself,
you know, we definitely have a balance of you know,
chasing the zebras or just assuming the you know, the
hoof steps that we're hearing in the park or a
horse probably they're probably not a zebra. And so when
a woman who had a difficult pregnancy, you know, the
internal hemorrhoids extremely common and so to have you know,
(23:01):
bright red blood per rectum, you know in the toilet.
Common things being common, it is a bleeding internal hemorrhoid
because you don't really feel them, But you're absolutely right,
I mean, and significantly less common.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
It's colon cancer.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Unfortunately, it's becoming more common these days, especially in younger people.
But the reality is, you know, you can tip the
scale either way every person who shows up with a
little bit of blood. We can't send everyone for a colonoscopia.
That probably doesn't make sense, however, the reality is, you know,
people know their bodies better than anyone else, and if
(23:35):
they're telling you there's something wrong, you should probably do
your due diligence to look into it. And I think
as colon cancer is becoming more and more common, you know,
I really do hope that women are dismissed less.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Than historically we have been. It would be wonderful if
that ends up being the case. If we talk loud enough,
it will more.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Coming up on Wellness Unmasked with doctor Nicholson fire, are
there any like takeaways that you have been finding just
on a day to day like things that you do
that make you feel good, whether physically or mentally, you know,
kind of despite everything that's going on.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
Honestly, I mean, if anyone is in my position right now,
and there are going to be bad days and they're
going to be you know, good days, and on my
bad days, sometimes it helps for me to listen to
podcasts and listen to others in my position who have
beat the odds, and it's so encouraging to hear people
(24:39):
who have staged four and are living life, and who
have stage four and have beat it and are not
stage four anymore and have no size of disease.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
There's going to be bad days.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
I mean, I definitely there is a physical toll of
having cancer, but you just have to you have to
just I think once I got to the point of
acceptance and this is who I am, and you have
faith in that it's what it's supposed to be. I
(25:16):
think it makes life a little bit easier. And if
you have children, they know more and they see more
than you think they do, and it's better to talk
to them when you can and include them in as
much as you can so that they're not scared, so
(25:37):
they don't go to bed at night thinking, oh, my
mom's going to die, because that's the last thing you
want them to think.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
If anything, you want them just to know, Okay, my mom's.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
Sick, but she's going to get better and one and
have faith and absolutely have faith.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Well, thank you so much for creating this beautiful children's book.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
Mom, I know what you have.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I think I think it was cathartic for you, and
it was wonderful that your friends all helped you. But
this book will obviously help so many others who are
potentially going through the same journey as you are.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Thank you, thank you so much for having me. All right.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Well, if today's conversation, you know, hit you in the
gut like it did mine and you got a little emotional,
all I can say is good, because this is one
of those moments where awareness can literally change outcomes and
it can save your life. Coal a rectal cancer. It's
not an older person's disease anymore. Like I said, rates
are rising in younger adults, and deaths have been creeping
(26:33):
up in people under fifty. As I mentioned when I
was talking to Elizabeth. When Elizabeth was fifty, the recommendation
was to get your first colonoscopy if you don't have
family history, at the age of fifty. So that's what
she did. She was following the rules, she was doing
everything right. She had her colonoscopy at fifty, but she
already had advanced.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Coal and cancer.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Well, we've gotten smart to the fact that these rates
are rising, which is why in the last few years
the new recommendations are even without family history of colon cancer,
you should be getting a colonoscopy at the age of
forty five. I have a feeling that's going to go
a little bit lower. If you have a family history
of colon cancer at all, I think you will definitely
(27:14):
should be getting your colonoscopy before forty five. Really, it
should be about ten years younger than when your family
member was diagnosed. So if your parent was diagnosed with
colon cancer at fifty, you should be getting a colonoscopy
at forty. And if you have any symptoms, whether you
have respectors like family history or not, those symptoms rectal bleeding,
(27:35):
bowel changes like constipation, unexplained anemia, unexplained weight loss, not
because you're on a GLP one, but all of a
sudden you're just losing weight. Do not let anyone dismiss you.
You have to advocate for yourself. Yes, we all need
to be increasing our fiber, we all need to be
increasing our hydration. These can affect your bowl habits too.
(27:56):
But if you've already tried to increase your fiber and
increase hydration, and you're still having issues, you absolutely need
to go to a doctor.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Why are more.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
Young people getting colon cancer. It's a really good question,
and they're certainly not an easy answer. It's going to
be multifactorial. We have some ideas. We know that our
gut flora is completely disrupted. We've taken far too many antibiotics,
we ingest far too many microplastics. We're not eating enough
fermented food, and we eat way too much processed sugary foods.
(28:27):
All of this is disrupting our gut and that natural flora,
those good bacteria in our gut that keeps it healthy.
The first thing you can do to try and lower
your risk of colon cancer is absolutely get a better diet.
If the majority of what you're consuming is sitting in
your pantry and it has an expiration date of like
(28:47):
twenty twenty eight, that's probably not a good thing. Fresh
fruits and vegetables, decreasing smoked meats, and increasing more lean
proteins and like white fish, salmon, all these things can
actually decrease your risk of colon cancer. Taking probiotics, prebiotics
and increasing the amount of fermented foods like kimchi and
(29:11):
pickles and sour krau. All these things can help restore
that gut flora. And do not take antibiotics every time
you have the sniffles. You don't need a Z pack
all the time, I promise you. Not only does it
create antibiotic resistance in the bacteria and everything else and
your body not being able to fight off these infections
(29:32):
and take normal antibiotics, but it's also destroying your gut flora,
and that is increasing your risk of colon cancer. So
only take antibiotics when they're truly necessary, when your doctor
absolutely recommends them. Don't just take a Z pack or
whatever it is because you have an upper respiratory infection.
The reality is the far majority of them are viruses,
and you don't need the antbiotics. Even if you think, oh,
(29:55):
I got better after taking a Z pack, well you
probably would have gotten better anyway, because it's just the norm,
of course, the disease of the virus. So now I
will get off my soapbox. You have heard me. I
just want to again say I'm so grateful that Elizabeth
Price joined us. She shared her story. I have a
copy of her book mom, I know what you have
parenting with Joy through a journey with cancer. As she said,
(30:17):
It's available Barnes and Noble, Amazon, everywhere you get books.
It's a beautifully illustrated book that talks about what she
has done with her children to somewhat normalize cancer and
make it a part of their life. I think that
this book will help so many people, so I recommend
getting your copy, giving it as a gift to someone,
(30:40):
just having it on your shelf, whatever you want to do.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
It's a beautiful book.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
I'm doctor Nicole Safire and this is Wellness un Mass.
Please share this episode with someone you love and if
this story reminded you to stop postponing your help, let
today be the day that you make the appointment. Thank
you so much for listening. Be sure to listen to
Wellness sun Mass with doctor Nicole Sapphire on iHeartRadio, Apple
Podcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
And I'll see you next time.
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