April 16, 2026 • 56 mins
On this episode of The Hope Table, Erin Brinker sits down with colorectal cancer survivor Cynthia Hernandez and surgeon Dr. Joseph Ruan to talk about the diagnosis Cynthia never saw coming—found during a “check-the-box” colonoscopy with zero symptoms. They share how early screening saved her life, what actually happens during colon cancer surgery, and why so many younger adults are now at risk. Along the way, Erin explores how healing happens not just in hospitals, but around dinner tables and out in nature, and why we can’t afford to wait for a crisis to start truly living—and to start getting screened.
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Episode Transcript
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Erin Brinker (00:00):
Erin, welcome to the hope table. I'm Erin
(00:12):
Brinker. There's a strange trickour brains play on us. We all
know intellectually that life isfinite. We see the leaves
change. We watch our childrengrow out of their shoes. We see
the calendar pages flip, but wedon't actually believe it. We
live live. Rather, we live as ifwe have an infinite bank account
(00:32):
of tomorrow's we spend our lifein what I call the waiting room
of life. We're waiting for theweekend, we're waiting for the
kids to get through school. Orwaiting for that vacation or for
things that at work to finallycalm down. Oh god. How many
times have I said that we treatthe present moment like a hurdle
we have to jump over to get tothe good stuff. But today's show
(00:53):
is a radical invitation to stopwaiting. What a great message.
In a few minutes, you're goingto hear a conversation that
changed the way I look at my ownmorning coffee. I sat down with
two incredible people, Dr JosephErin, a physician who
understands the intricate,microscopic battle of the human
body, and Cynthia Hernandez, awoman who didn't just study that
(01:13):
battle. She lived it and shefought it. Cynthia is a colon
cancer survivor. When you put amedical expert in a survivor in
the same room, the conversationstops being about sickness and
starts being about the sheerterrifying beauty of being
alive. Before we play that tape,I want to talk to you about why
we lose sight of that beauty inthe first place. One of the
(01:36):
things that struck me in talkingwith Cynthia and Dr Erin is how
much healing happens away fromthe hospital, specifically at
the dinner table. Think aboutyour table for a second. In our
modern world, the table hasbecome a pit stop. We eat
standing up over the sink. Wesit on the couch with a laptop
balanced on our knees. We'veturned the act of eating into a
(01:57):
purely mechanical task,refueling a car so it can keep
driving. And I'm not gonna lie,you know, what's on my kitchen
table? I have mail, I have waterbottles, I have Clorox wipes.
It's like a storage right in themiddle of my house, which, you
know, that's not what it wasintended to do throughout human
(02:18):
history, the table was thecenter of the universe. It's
where stories are told. It'swhere we look into the eyes of
the people we love and realize Iam known. These are my people.
Dr Ruan can tell you about thephysiological importance of
nutrition, but Cynthia can tellyou about the spiritual
importance of a shared meal whenyou're facing a diagnosis, a
bowl of soup made by a friendisn't just calories. It's a
(02:39):
message that says you're worthtending to. It's an act of
connection that reminds the bodyit has something worth fighting
for. I want to challenge youthis morning or tonight or this
afternoon, whenever you'relistening, who are you sitting
with? And are you really there,or are you just occupying the
chair we need to reclaim. Thetable. We need to reclaim eye
(03:03):
contact, because at the end ofthe day, we aren't remembered
for our resumes. We'reremembered for how we showed up
for dinner. And I will tell youthat I especially when my kids
were teenagers, and you know, Ijust was busy with work and
whatever other excuse I couldcome up with. I often was
distracted or we didn't eattogether. And, you know, I can
(03:24):
make lots of excuses, but itjust I didn't, didn't make it as
much of a priority as I shouldhave. And then there's the world
outside our windows. We are thefirst generation of humans to
spend 90 of 90% of our livesindoors, crazy, right? We live
in boxes. We work in boxes. Wemove between those boxes in
(03:44):
smaller metal boxes on wheels.
We've disconnected ourselvesfrom the very thing that
sustains us, and that's theEarth itself. When you hear
Cynthia talk about her journey,you'll hear a theme of, well,
reconnecting, what I'll callrewilding. There's something
about the wind in your face andthe smell of rain and a hot
pavement that pulls you out ofyour own head. So much of this
fight against really scarythings like cancer, it's the
(04:08):
people, it's the connection,it's the heart, it's the soul,
it's the medicine, but it's somuch more than that, and getting
outside is a big part of that.
So we step outside, our nervoussystem begins to regulate. Our
perspective shifts. When youlook at an oak tree that has
survived 100 100 storms, yourown storm feels less lonely.
(04:31):
It's easy to think of a walk inthe park as a luxury, something
we do when we have extra time.
But if Cynthia's story teachesus anything, it's that getting
outside is a necessity. It's areminder that the world is vast
and beautiful and it's stillturning regardless of what lab
results say or what the newssays, let's be honest. It's a
way to breathe in theperspective that we're part of
something much larger than ourcurrent struggle. So why are we
here today? We're here becauseCynthia Hernandez and Dr Joseph
(04:53):
Erin have a message that weshouldn't wait for crisis to
hear. We shouldn't wait for aDr. To tell us our time is
limited, to realize our time isprecious. Part of that too, is
don't react. Be proactive aboutyour own body, getting your
checkups, getting thatcolonoscopy, and he's going to
reinforce all of this. And so isCynthia. Get get the mammogram,
get everything, the prostatetest, if you're male, all of it.
(05:16):
Get the test done, and chancesare it'll be nothing, but if
it's something, then you willhave given yourself more time to
heal, more time to fight, moretime to be alive and present in
your life. Life is made of micromoments. It's the steam on your
glasses when you drink tea, it'sthe sound of your partner's keys
in the door, it's the way thelight hits the floor at four
(05:39):
o'clock in the afternoon. Thesearen't the things that happen
between the big events. Theseare the big events as you listen
to this roughly 45 minuteinterview, I want you to do me a
favor. Don't just listen formedical facts. Don't just listen
for survivors timeline. Listenfor the pulse. Listen for the
underlying heartbeat of twopeople telling you that today,
this ordinary, maybe evenfrustrating, mundane day, is a
(06:03):
gift you've already received.
Let's get into that conversationnow. Here are Dr Joseph Erin and
Cynthia Hernandez. You mightremember back in January, we had
a conversation with Dr TimothyJenkins about gastrointestinal
health in general. Today, I'vegot two very, very special
(06:24):
guests to talk about sort of thesame subject, specifically,
colorectal cancer. CynthiaHernandez is a department
administrator in allergy anddermatology with 26 years of
service, and that is at KaiserPermanente. She's a colorectal
cancer survivor, and with her isDr Joseph Erin. He's Assistant
Chief of the department ofgeneral surgery, and she was he
(06:47):
was Cynthia's surgeon as she wasgoing through her journey. Dr
Erin and Cynthia Hernandez,welcome to the show.
Cynthia Hernandez (06:55):
Thank you.
Thank you for having us. Thankyou.
Erin Brinker (06:58):
So we'll start with you, Cynthia, tell me about
your life before your diagnosis.
Cynthia Hernandez (07:05):
Well, I guess I could say, you know, working
26 years at Kaiser, a lot of youknow what we do is we're busy
with work and managing patientcare and our departments. And on
the I guess on the personalside, I do have two daughters
that are currently both incollege right now. I have one
(07:26):
attending nursing school atUCLA, and the other one tending
PA school at UC San Diego.
Erin Brinker (07:33):
Wow, outstanding for both of them.
Cynthia Hernandez (07:34):
Yes, yeah. So I'm very proud of them. And you
know, it's, it's, it's been ajourney for both of them as
well. But, you know, my main joboutside of work is, is being a
mom. Even though they're,they're college age, they still
do need their mother. But, yeah,I'm still very busy with with,
(07:56):
you know, still kind of helpingthem through their journey
through college. And that's, youknow, that's pretty much it,
besides working. And, you know,we do love going to Disneyland
and things like that.
Erin Brinker (08:09):
But because Disneyland,
Cynthia Hernandez (08:13):
yes, it's Disneyland.
Erin Brinker (08:15):
So, so did you just go in for a routine
colonoscopy? Did you have somediscomfort? What was happening?
Cynthia Hernandez (08:22):
So I did. I didn't have any symptoms at all.
What ended up happening was, I,you know, being in healthcare.
It, you know, as crazy as itsounds, we kind of don't go to
the doctor, or don't take careof ourselves.
Erin Brinker (08:38):
You know, Physician, heal Thyself is a
Cynthia Hernandez (08:40):
phrase for a reason. Yeah. And so we tend to
not go and take care of thethings that we need to do, even
though they might be down thehall or, you know, the next
floor down or the next floor up.
And so, at least for me, that's,that's how it was. For me is
like, you know, you're hereevery day, if you if you need
something, you might do an Evisit, or do something like
that. And, you know, I justdecided one, you know, I just
(09:03):
decided one year. So it musthave been 2024, that I was like,
You know what? I'm gonna get allmy screenings done this year.
I'm gonna, you know, check offthose boxes of, you know, all of
my prophylactic things that youknow, I can do to help, you
know, Mammo, mammogram,colonoscopy, pap smears, so all
of those things I wanted to makesure that, you know, I had my
(09:30):
screening done. And I did dothat, and then that that kind of
led me to my colonoscopy and mydiagnosis, but I did not have
any symptoms at all. So it was,it was literally just a check
the box, let me check and makesure that I'm okay. So
thankfully, I went ahead and,you know, scheduled that.
Erin Brinker (09:56):
Wow. So you're just thinking like you said,
check the box. Well, I know I.
Need to be doing this. I hearthese doctors who work around me
all the time talk about goingfor your screening, and I'm sure
it's going to be fine. What apain in the neck, and you had to
go in and do it. Yeah, glad youdid.
Cynthia Hernandez (10:10):
I am and I think one of the things that
also I forgot to mention thatkind of pushed me to do my
screenings is I did have one ofmy best friends in high school
lost her sister, who was 30years old, to colorectal cancer
screening. Actually. I think itwas her funeral actually
(10:33):
occurred right before mycolonoscopy. So it was kind of
fresh in my mind. And so, youknow, it was kind of something I
wanted to do for myself,because, but, you know, for her,
her Her story is her story. Youknow, she had symptoms and
probably had it for a few years.
Was fighting it for a few years,and unfortunately, lost that
(10:55):
fight. But it was kind of adriver for me to go and get
screened as well.
Erin Brinker (11:05):
So Dr Ruan, were you the one who did her
screening, or was she referredto you after her diagnosis?
Dr. Joseph Ruan (11:13):
Yeah, so she was referred after the
diagnosis.
Erin Brinker (11:18):
And so when they when they so, how did you learn
about your diagnosis?
Cynthia Hernandez (11:21):
Cynthia? So I actually had my colonoscopy done
at an outside facility, andthey, they pretty much told me
there, when I was done having mycolonoscopy, and I was waking up
and getting ready to getdischarged, you know, I was
ready to go. I was ready to goget a good meal because, you
(11:42):
know, I had not eaten anythingthe day before, and so I was
kind of excited to be done. And,you know, the the provider that
did perform my colonoscopy didcome and meet with me and just
let me know that they did find amask. So that was, you know,
pretty jarring, because I wasexpecting, you know, you're good
(12:03):
to go, you know, we'll see you,you know, five years, 10 years,
you know. So that's kind of howI found out he didn't, he
basically told me that there wasa mask that was found. I did ask
him, like, you know, hisprofessional opinion. And
obviously he sees these, youknow, day in and day out. So,
(12:25):
you know, pretty much he wasable to tell me that it's, it's
most likely a cancerous mass.
Erin Brinker (12:31):
Wow. Now does cancer run in your family?
Cynthia Hernandez (12:35):
No, not that I know of.
As far as colorectal cancer, no,I would be the first one. My mom
is actually from Thailand, soshe has a lot of, you know,
distant relatives, but I don'treally know their medical
history, but as far as you know,I remember, we don't really have
(12:56):
something like that of runningin the family.
Erin Brinker (13:00):
How terrifying. So you really weren't thinking that
this was even a remotepossibility for you correct.
Wow. All right. So, Dr, Ruan, sohow when did you meet in her
journey? When did you meetCynthia? And then what did that,
you know? How did you tacklethis with her?
Dr. Joseph Ruan (13:17):
Yeah. So after her colonoscopy, then she was
referred, and we met, and wewere able to talk and go over
all the results we did do.
Cynthia also had a staging CTscan to evaluate for to help
finish the evaluation to see ifthere was any evidence of cancer
(13:39):
spread to other parts of thebody, and that, fortunately came
out all negative. Oh, thank god.
Yeah. I remember looking at thatreport, and it was a very short
report, which is always good.
And then after that, we talkedabout treatment, which was
surgery.
Erin Brinker (13:57):
So I'm going to ask a very basic question, do
they do cut out the the just themass, do you cut out, like, the
piece of colon, and so sew theother two pieces together like,
you know, close that that wound.
What does that look like from asurgical standpoint?
Dr. Joseph Ruan (14:16):
Yeah, yeah.
Basically, what you said, it's,we find the area of the cancer
and remove that portion of thecolon along with the lymph
nodes. We get the lymph nodesbecause we need to have a
thorough evaluation. Thepathologists need to look at the
lymph nodes to give us properstaging information. And so
after we take that part out, wetake the two ends and reconnect
(14:39):
it back together.
Erin Brinker (14:42):
So with the lymph node, lymph nodes that when you
take those out, those are thegroin lymph node lymph nodes,
Dr. Joseph Ruan (14:49):
aren't they?
Yeah, actually we, so we do havelymph nodes in the groin, but
the lymph nodes that we'retalking about specifically are
the ones that are. Around theintestines. So we do have lymph
nodes all over the body.
Erin Brinker (15:03):
We have them in our intestine, near our
intestine. I didn't know that.
That's right.
Dr. Joseph Ruan (15:06):
We actually have a lot in our intestines.
The intestines are have quite abit of function in terms of our
immune system and the lymphnodes are there part of it.
Erin Brinker (15:19):
Now our patients who undergo that kind of lymph
node surgery, are they atgreater risk for developing
edema? I've seen people withwith lymphedema in their legs,
and it's it looks very painful.
Are they at a greater risk forthat?
Dr. Joseph Ruan (15:33):
Yeah, that's a great question. So with
intestinal surgery, when weremove that part of the
intestines, we're removing thelymph nodes that serve that
section, and so it doesn't havethe same issues of edema like it
does in the legs.
Erin Brinker (15:47):
That's good, because that looks, that looks
really painful. So, so what wasthe prognosis for Cynthia? So
did Cynthia? Did you? And thisis really for both of you all,
and maybe we'll start with DrRuan. Did she? Was she facing
chemotherapy, radiation? Whatwas the was there ongoing
treatment? And what did that?
What did that
Dr. Joseph Ruan (16:07):
look like?
Yeah, so fortunately, insyphilis case, the she was very
early stage, and all her lymphnodes that were removed were all
negative, and so she did notneed to have any chemotherapy.
Oh, thank God. So with surgeryalone, she was able to achieve,
you know, basically a cure.
Erin Brinker (16:26):
So that's that must have been a relief to you,
Cynthia.
Cynthia Hernandez (16:31):
Oh, yes, it was,
Erin Brinker (16:33):
you know, especially since you just
watched a friend go through thatjourney and did not have that
outcome.
Cynthia Hernandez (16:40):
Yeah, I still get, you know, very emotional
Erin Brinker (16:44):
about it. I bet, I bet,
Cynthia Hernandez (16:49):
yeah, very thankful though, you know, Dr
Ruan and his team and, you know,just the whole medical center,
everybody was amazing.
Erin Brinker (16:58):
So it, you know, I so, how old was the friend? This
your friend's sister, who, whenshe passed away of colon cancer,
um,
Cynthia Hernandez (17:09):
she was 30, I believe. Oh my gosh, yeah.
So, you know, I kind of seenlike, you know, through the she
was battling it for probablyabout three or four years, and
you could see, like, just herdecline, you know, just just in
pictures alone, you can see herdecline. So it was very like, I
(17:31):
think that's kind of what scaredme, because I had, like, seen
her, what was going on with her,and, you know, it's, it's a
scary diagnosis, I think, foreverybody. And then maybe I'm
just not strong, becausesomebody could get a diagnosis
like that and be like, you know,let me, let me not worry until I
find out. But I, I kind of wentto the dark place. Sure it was,
(17:55):
I'm sure Dr Ruan can probably,you know that I had to get some
sedatives before, you know,surgery, because I was just
very, you know, I was veryemotional. I still get
emotional, but I have, I am abig advocate, you know, for
colorectal screening, just basedon my story alone. Because, you
(18:17):
know, you're, I was just walkingaround thinking everything was
fine. And I'm pretty sure, youknow, and I'm not sure Dr Wuhan,
but I'm pretty sure that it wasprobably growing for a couple
years, I think,
Dr. Joseph Ruan (18:31):
yeah, yeah. And it is a extremely scary thing,
because these things, you know,the cancers, when they grow,
especially early on, there's nosymptoms at all. We're just
totally unaware that somethinglike that could be growing in
our body, and then to hear allof a sudden. It's very scary.
Erin Brinker (18:52):
And here's the thing, you're allowed to grieve.
And grief is a funny thing. Itit rears its ugly head when
you're least expecting it,something will trigger a memory
or an emotion, and there youare, and then to face that grief
and and not knowing what yourjourney is going to look like.
Yeah, of course, you wereterrified. That's a normal human
(19:12):
reaction. You're allowed to beemotional. That's scary.
Cynthia Hernandez (19:16):
Yeah, I'm just, you know, I'm just really
grateful. You know that, youknow I did have, like, a
positive outcome, but I knowthat there's a lot of young
people who don't. And, you know,I think it's important that we,
you know, listen to your bodiesif you're having symptoms. You
know, obviously, in my case, Ididn't have any. But you know,
just, you know, be an advocatefor yourself. You know, do a fit
(19:39):
kit, you know, screening. Youknow, we get a lot of patients
that will come in and they'reflagging that they're needing to
complete one, and we send two orthree or four to their houses
within a year, and we don'treceive anything back. And, you
know, it's very important, likeit just, just take the kit.
(20:00):
Home, complete it, drop it off,you know, it, it could save your
life. Like I went in there, not,not thinking anything, you know,
I really thought it was justgoing to be a routine screen. I
might have had a couple polypsor two, you know, no way did I
think it was going to kind offlip my world upside down for
those few months. But, you know,mine was a positive story, and
(20:23):
not everybody's is. And so thesooner that you, you know,
screen yourself, the better. Youknow, I still talk about it,
even to my co workers, even toyou know, colleagues. I'm, I
really am an advocate for forscreening, and it's something
like Dr Ruan said, you know, ifit's caught early, it could, it
(20:45):
could save your life. And we'rehearing, even you know, on the
news and with celebrities thatyou know they're getting this
early and and dying from it. Andit's if we can protect the
people we love and our familyand friends by advocating for
it, you know, it's, you know, Iit's gonna save lives if they
(21:07):
can get themselves screened.
Erin Brinker (21:09):
So Chadwick Boseman from Black, Black
Panther and many other things.
He was only 43 when he passedaway in 2020 and James Van Der
Beek, who was 2026 he he diedthis year. Was only 48 correct?
Cynthia Hernandez (21:25):
And I did, I do think that they've said that
Colorectal cancer is the numberone, the number one killer of
like, what ages is it? Ages 40or 30 to 50, or something like
that?
Dr. Joseph Ruan (21:39):
Yeah, it's it's a it's scary. It's actually
alarming. The incidence ofcolorectal cancers has increased
quite a bit since the 1980s upuntil now. And recently, we're
seeing a lot, many, many morepatients under the age of 50.
And so, yeah, Cynthia's right.
It's become the number onecancer killer and people under
(22:01):
50.
Erin Brinker (22:05):
So let's, let's kind of explore that a little
bit. You know, you'd think thatthose numbers would be going
down, because, you know, peopleare not smoking as much, not,
certainly not the levels theywere in 1980 where everybody
smoked and in high schools inthe late 70s and, you know, up
to the very early 80s, there wasa smoking section at high school
for the students. I mean,that's, and I know that can
(22:27):
increase your risk of all kindsof cancers. People still ate
bacon back then. They still, youknow, the processed meats were a
thing. You know, why? I, youknow, maybe that's the question
that nobody can answer yet. Butwhy is this on the upswing?
Dr. Joseph Ruan (22:43):
Yeah, that's a great question. I wish we knew
that's that's the question thatall of us are trying to wrap our
heads around, is, what is itthat is going on? Certainly, we
see, you know, we, you know,diet and lifestyle probably have
a huge impact on that, but wehaven't been able to nail down
(23:03):
what specifically it is that'scausing this rise.
Erin Brinker (23:09):
So is being sedentary, which we are, as a as
an as a nation and as a world, alot more sedentary than people
were 40 years ago. Does thatplay a role in colorectal
cancer?
Dr. Joseph Ruan (23:22):
Yeah, it probably does. Certainly we see
more diseases of the colon inpatient in people who are
sedentary, exercise does seem tobe beneficial in lower rates in
people who are very, veryactive. Is exercise alone
enough, you know, it alone. Itisn't. So there is, there is
(23:46):
more than physical activity, butcertainly physical activity is
very, very important.
Erin Brinker (23:52):
You know, did we, I wonder, and I'm just kind of
thinking out loud, did we eatmore fiber back then? I mean, we
were eating meat and potatoesand then the vegetables, maybe a
salad. But dinner, I'm trying tothink, of course, I was a kid,
but, you know, in the 1980s whatwere people eating? I don't
remember, but I don't, I don'tthink, I don't remember it being
so much more healthy than whatpeople are eating now,
Dr. Joseph Ruan (24:12):
fast food, yeah, and certainly there's, I
think we are eating a lot moreprocessed foods now than we have
before, and that may be part ofit,
Erin Brinker (24:26):
well, and I know, I know that that's being studied
right now. It's just, you know,when you see something that's
that's terrifying, like cancer,you want to know, wait a minute,
okay, what do I have to do tomake sure I never get that
because it's terrifying. So,yeah, so, so if somebody I
imagine that, that lots ofpeople, when they go in for
colonoscopies, have polyps, arepolyps always pre cancerous or
(24:50):
malignant?
Dr. Joseph Ruan (24:52):
Yeah, so that's a great question too. So when we
when we talk about polyps, thereare things that I. Might look
like a polyp that we call polyp,but there's also polyps in that
that are that we would calladenomas. So adenomas are tumors
(25:13):
within the colon that have thepotential of turning into a
cancer. So in general, whenpatients go in for a
colonoscopy, anything that lookslike a polyp, it does need to be
removedor sampled if it can't be
removed, so that we know what itis polyps getting removed. Erin
colonoscopy does have an impact,and we saw that with when
(25:35):
colonoscopies first started backin the 80s. Since then that has
that has led to a decreaseoverall in the number of
patients getting colon andrectal cancers every year.
And so that's whythe overall rates have been
decreasing. The overall rates ofcolon and rectal cancer have
(25:58):
been decreasing, except for inpatients under the age of 50,
which has been increasing.
Erin Brinker (26:07):
Oh, interesting.
Wow. So, so the the age forscreening has, has for many
years, it's been age 50. Is thatchanging?
Dr. Joseph Ruan (26:18):
Yeah, yeah.
That recently changed back in2021
the US Preventative ServicesTask Force, just based on the
changing rates, did lower thescreening age to 45 is that
young enough? Well, that's agreat question. So a lot of us
(26:42):
feel that that's not youngenough, and we probably need to
push it down even further. Myfeeling is that probably in a
few years, just with more data,the the task force will
eventually change it to a lowerage. But it takes a live. You
know, it takes a lot to get to anational level where those
(27:05):
things change,
Erin Brinker (27:07):
right, right? So Cynthia, talk about your
daughters and and how they were,what happened in your family
dynamic after you werediagnosed.
Cynthia Hernandez (27:21):
Well, it's interesting because my daughter,
who's who's actually in PAschool now, so I was having
difficulty with the prep, youknow, I couldn't get all of the
go lightly down and, or, youknow, the prep solution down.
Erin Brinker (27:39):
Yes, that's the worst part of the procedure, by
the by the way, is that prep,
Cynthia Hernandez (27:43):
it is and, and I, you know, I was joking
with her, and I was like, youknow, this is medieval, and, you
know, there's got to be aneasier way. And, and I was going
to reschedule, I was like, Ican't do this. Like, feel sick
to my stomach. I can't completeit. And she, you know, she was
very, like encouraging andalmost like scolding me, like
(28:03):
you just, you already halfwaythrough. You just need to get
this done. And you know it'simportant. So, you know,
thankfully for her, if I hadn't,you know, if I hadn't listened
and just stuck through it, Iprobably would have rescheduled,
probably months out, andprobably delayed. You know, my
care further, but, you know, I Iknow that there's a lot of
(28:25):
people, even people that I workwith, that I've been trying to
nudge to get their colonscreening done, and I think
that's the part that kind ofscares them the most, but, or
doesn't scare them the most, butit's not fun, right? It's
unpleasant,
Erin Brinker (28:41):
it is, it is, but I know it's less pleasant. Yes,
it's, it's more it's lessunpleasant than cancer.
Cynthia Hernandez (28:49):
Yes, exactly.
And, you know, and that's, youknow, that's kind of like my
story to them, and, you know, Ijust, I try to encourage it as
much as possible. But, yeah, sothat's, that's kind of what
happened. She was actually withme during my colonoscopy
procedure, so she was there whenthe physician came out and
shared the news. And so we kindof, this was my older one, my
(29:13):
younger one at the time, was inschool. But we kind of had to
navigate it together,
Erin Brinker (29:21):
you know, so you had an advocate.
Cynthia Hernandez (29:24):
I did that's wonderful. I don't know if she
was an advocate or she was like,you know, my you're gonna do
this. Or
Erin Brinker (29:36):
you're like, Okay, nurse, ratchet, that's perfectly
fine.
Cynthia Hernandez (29:39):
Yeah? So, yeah, it's, so, thankfully, she
was there with me, you know,through it all. And it's, it's,
I'm sure it was emotional andscary for her as well. But you
know, it's just, it's the preppart. What, in this grand scheme
of this whole thing is, is theeasiest part? Right? You know,
(30:01):
we get that, you know, that'sthe gonna be the easiest part.
It's just, you know, get that,you know, Fit Kit done. You
know, schedule your colonoscopy.
If you're having any type ofsymptoms, just talk to your
doctor. I just think it's,something that, like Dr Ruan
said, is you don't want to waituntil you have symptoms, right?
(30:25):
So this is something that can bescreened and caught early
without by the time you havesymptoms, it's, it's probably
been there for quite a bit, youknow. So just encouraging
everybody to, you know, just dothe simple thing. If you don't
want to do your colonoscopy, dothe fit kit. You know, at least
have that screening done.
Erin, welcome to the hope table. I'm Erin
(00:12):
Brinker. There's a strange trickour brains play on us. We all
know intellectually that life isfinite. We see the leaves
change. We watch our childrengrow out of their shoes. We see
the calendar pages flip, but wedon't actually believe it. We
live live. Rather, we live as ifwe have an infinite bank account
(00:32):
of tomorrow's we spend our lifein what I call the waiting room
of life. We're waiting for theweekend, we're waiting for the
kids to get through school. Orwaiting for that vacation or for
things that at work to finallycalm down. Oh god. How many
times have I said that we treatthe present moment like a hurdle
we have to jump over to get tothe good stuff. But today's show
(00:53):
is a radical invitation to stopwaiting. What a great message.
In a few minutes, you're goingto hear a conversation that
changed the way I look at my ownmorning coffee. I sat down with
two incredible people, Dr JosephErin, a physician who
understands the intricate,microscopic battle of the human
body, and Cynthia Hernandez, awoman who didn't just study that
(01:13):
battle. She lived it and shefought it. Cynthia is a colon
cancer survivor. When you put amedical expert in a survivor in
the same room, the conversationstops being about sickness and
starts being about the sheerterrifying beauty of being
alive. Before we play that tape,I want to talk to you about why
we lose sight of that beauty inthe first place. One of the
(01:36):
things that struck me in talkingwith Cynthia and Dr Erin is how
much healing happens away fromthe hospital, specifically at
the dinner table. Think aboutyour table for a second. In our
modern world, the table hasbecome a pit stop. We eat
standing up over the sink. Wesit on the couch with a laptop
balanced on our knees. We'veturned the act of eating into a
(01:57):
purely mechanical task,refueling a car so it can keep
driving. And I'm not gonna lie,you know, what's on my kitchen
table? I have mail, I have waterbottles, I have Clorox wipes.
It's like a storage right in themiddle of my house, which, you
know, that's not what it wasintended to do throughout human
(02:18):
history, the table was thecenter of the universe. It's
where stories are told. It'swhere we look into the eyes of
the people we love and realize Iam known. These are my people.
Dr Ruan can tell you about thephysiological importance of
nutrition, but Cynthia can tellyou about the spiritual
importance of a shared meal whenyou're facing a diagnosis, a
bowl of soup made by a friendisn't just calories. It's a
(02:39):
message that says you're worthtending to. It's an act of
connection that reminds the bodyit has something worth fighting
for. I want to challenge youthis morning or tonight or this
afternoon, whenever you'relistening, who are you sitting
with? And are you really there,or are you just occupying the
chair we need to reclaim. Thetable. We need to reclaim eye
(03:03):
contact, because at the end ofthe day, we aren't remembered
for our resumes. We'reremembered for how we showed up
for dinner. And I will tell youthat I especially when my kids
were teenagers, and you know, Ijust was busy with work and
whatever other excuse I couldcome up with. I often was
distracted or we didn't eattogether. And, you know, I can
(03:24):
make lots of excuses, but itjust I didn't, didn't make it as
much of a priority as I shouldhave. And then there's the world
outside our windows. We are thefirst generation of humans to
spend 90 of 90% of our livesindoors, crazy, right? We live
in boxes. We work in boxes. Wemove between those boxes in
(03:44):
smaller metal boxes on wheels.
We've disconnected ourselvesfrom the very thing that
sustains us, and that's theEarth itself. When you hear
Cynthia talk about her journey,you'll hear a theme of, well,
reconnecting, what I'll callrewilding. There's something
about the wind in your face andthe smell of rain and a hot
pavement that pulls you out ofyour own head. So much of this
fight against really scarythings like cancer, it's the
(04:08):
people, it's the connection,it's the heart, it's the soul,
it's the medicine, but it's somuch more than that, and getting
outside is a big part of that.
So we step outside, our nervoussystem begins to regulate. Our
perspective shifts. When youlook at an oak tree that has
survived 100 100 storms, yourown storm feels less lonely.
(04:31):
It's easy to think of a walk inthe park as a luxury, something
we do when we have extra time.
But if Cynthia's story teachesus anything, it's that getting
outside is a necessity. It's areminder that the world is vast
and beautiful and it's stillturning regardless of what lab
results say or what the newssays, let's be honest. It's a
way to breathe in theperspective that we're part of
something much larger than ourcurrent struggle. So why are we
here today? We're here becauseCynthia Hernandez and Dr Joseph
(04:53):
Erin have a message that weshouldn't wait for crisis to
hear. We shouldn't wait for aDr. To tell us our time is
limited, to realize our time isprecious. Part of that too, is
don't react. Be proactive aboutyour own body, getting your
checkups, getting thatcolonoscopy, and he's going to
reinforce all of this. And so isCynthia. Get get the mammogram,
get everything, the prostatetest, if you're male, all of it.
(05:16):
Get the test done, and chancesare it'll be nothing, but if
it's something, then you willhave given yourself more time to
heal, more time to fight, moretime to be alive and present in
your life. Life is made of micromoments. It's the steam on your
glasses when you drink tea, it'sthe sound of your partner's keys
in the door, it's the way thelight hits the floor at four
(05:39):
o'clock in the afternoon. Thesearen't the things that happen
between the big events. Theseare the big events as you listen
to this roughly 45 minuteinterview, I want you to do me a
favor. Don't just listen formedical facts. Don't just listen
for survivors timeline. Listenfor the pulse. Listen for the
underlying heartbeat of twopeople telling you that today,
this ordinary, maybe evenfrustrating, mundane day, is a
(06:03):
gift you've already received.
Let's get into that conversationnow. Here are Dr Joseph Erin and
Cynthia Hernandez. You mightremember back in January, we had
a conversation with Dr TimothyJenkins about gastrointestinal
health in general. Today, I'vegot two very, very special
(06:24):
guests to talk about sort of thesame subject, specifically,
colorectal cancer. CynthiaHernandez is a department
administrator in allergy anddermatology with 26 years of
service, and that is at KaiserPermanente. She's a colorectal
cancer survivor, and with her isDr Joseph Erin. He's Assistant
Chief of the department ofgeneral surgery, and she was he
(06:47):
was Cynthia's surgeon as she wasgoing through her journey. Dr
Erin and Cynthia Hernandez,welcome to the show.
Cynthia Hernandez (06:55):
Thank you.
Thank you for having us. Thankyou.
Erin Brinker (06:58):
So we'll start with you, Cynthia, tell me about
your life before your diagnosis.
Cynthia Hernandez (07:05):
Well, I guess I could say, you know, working
26 years at Kaiser, a lot of youknow what we do is we're busy
with work and managing patientcare and our departments. And on
the I guess on the personalside, I do have two daughters
that are currently both incollege right now. I have one
(07:26):
attending nursing school atUCLA, and the other one tending
PA school at UC San Diego.
Erin Brinker (07:33):
Wow, outstanding for both of them.
Cynthia Hernandez (07:34):
Yes, yeah. So I'm very proud of them. And you
know, it's, it's, it's been ajourney for both of them as
well. But, you know, my main joboutside of work is, is being a
mom. Even though they're,they're college age, they still
do need their mother. But, yeah,I'm still very busy with with,
(07:56):
you know, still kind of helpingthem through their journey
through college. And that's, youknow, that's pretty much it,
besides working. And, you know,we do love going to Disneyland
and things like that.
Erin Brinker (08:09):
But because Disneyland,
Cynthia Hernandez (08:13):
yes, it's Disneyland.
Erin Brinker (08:15):
So, so did you just go in for a routine
colonoscopy? Did you have somediscomfort? What was happening?
Cynthia Hernandez (08:22):
So I did. I didn't have any symptoms at all.
What ended up happening was, I,you know, being in healthcare.
It, you know, as crazy as itsounds, we kind of don't go to
the doctor, or don't take careof ourselves.
Erin Brinker (08:38):
You know, Physician, heal Thyself is a
Cynthia Hernandez (08:40):
phrase for a reason. Yeah. And so we tend to
not go and take care of thethings that we need to do, even
though they might be down thehall or, you know, the next
floor down or the next floor up.
And so, at least for me, that's,that's how it was. For me is
like, you know, you're hereevery day, if you if you need
something, you might do an Evisit, or do something like
that. And, you know, I justdecided one, you know, I just
(09:03):
decided one year. So it musthave been 2024, that I was like,
You know what? I'm gonna get allmy screenings done this year.
I'm gonna, you know, check offthose boxes of, you know, all of
my prophylactic things that youknow, I can do to help, you
know, Mammo, mammogram,colonoscopy, pap smears, so all
of those things I wanted to makesure that, you know, I had my
(09:30):
screening done. And I did dothat, and then that that kind of
led me to my colonoscopy and mydiagnosis, but I did not have
any symptoms at all. So it was,it was literally just a check
the box, let me check and makesure that I'm okay. So
thankfully, I went ahead and,you know, scheduled that.
Erin Brinker (09:56):
Wow. So you're just thinking like you said,
check the box. Well, I know I.
Need to be doing this. I hearthese doctors who work around me
all the time talk about goingfor your screening, and I'm sure
it's going to be fine. What apain in the neck, and you had to
go in and do it. Yeah, glad youdid.
Cynthia Hernandez (10:10):
I am and I think one of the things that
also I forgot to mention thatkind of pushed me to do my
screenings is I did have one ofmy best friends in high school
lost her sister, who was 30years old, to colorectal cancer
screening. Actually. I think itwas her funeral actually
(10:33):
occurred right before mycolonoscopy. So it was kind of
fresh in my mind. And so, youknow, it was kind of something I
wanted to do for myself,because, but, you know, for her,
her Her story is her story. Youknow, she had symptoms and
probably had it for a few years.
Was fighting it for a few years,and unfortunately, lost that
(10:55):
fight. But it was kind of adriver for me to go and get
screened as well.
Erin Brinker (11:05):
So Dr Ruan, were you the one who did her
screening, or was she referredto you after her diagnosis?
Dr. Joseph Ruan (11:13):
Yeah, so she was referred after the
diagnosis.
Erin Brinker (11:18):
And so when they when they so, how did you learn
about your diagnosis?
Cynthia Hernandez (11:21):
Cynthia? So I actually had my colonoscopy done
at an outside facility, andthey, they pretty much told me
there, when I was done having mycolonoscopy, and I was waking up
and getting ready to getdischarged, you know, I was
ready to go. I was ready to goget a good meal because, you
(11:42):
know, I had not eaten anythingthe day before, and so I was
kind of excited to be done. And,you know, the the provider that
did perform my colonoscopy didcome and meet with me and just
let me know that they did find amask. So that was, you know,
pretty jarring, because I wasexpecting, you know, you're good
(12:03):
to go, you know, we'll see you,you know, five years, 10 years,
you know. So that's kind of howI found out he didn't, he
basically told me that there wasa mask that was found. I did ask
him, like, you know, hisprofessional opinion. And
obviously he sees these, youknow, day in and day out. So,
(12:25):
you know, pretty much he wasable to tell me that it's, it's
most likely a cancerous mass.
Erin Brinker (12:31):
Wow. Now does cancer run in your family?
Cynthia Hernandez (12:35):
No, not that I know of.
As far as colorectal cancer, no,I would be the first one. My mom
is actually from Thailand, soshe has a lot of, you know,
distant relatives, but I don'treally know their medical
history, but as far as you know,I remember, we don't really have
(12:56):
something like that of runningin the family.
Erin Brinker (13:00):
How terrifying. So you really weren't thinking that
this was even a remotepossibility for you correct.
Wow. All right. So, Dr, Ruan, sohow when did you meet in her
journey? When did you meetCynthia? And then what did that,
you know? How did you tacklethis with her?
Dr. Joseph Ruan (13:17):
Yeah. So after her colonoscopy, then she was
referred, and we met, and wewere able to talk and go over
all the results we did do.
Cynthia also had a staging CTscan to evaluate for to help
finish the evaluation to see ifthere was any evidence of cancer
(13:39):
spread to other parts of thebody, and that, fortunately came
out all negative. Oh, thank god.
Yeah. I remember looking at thatreport, and it was a very short
report, which is always good.
And then after that, we talkedabout treatment, which was
surgery.
Erin Brinker (13:57):
So I'm going to ask a very basic question, do
they do cut out the the just themass, do you cut out, like, the
piece of colon, and so sew theother two pieces together like,
you know, close that that wound.
What does that look like from asurgical standpoint?
Dr. Joseph Ruan (14:16):
Yeah, yeah.
Basically, what you said, it's,we find the area of the cancer
and remove that portion of thecolon along with the lymph
nodes. We get the lymph nodesbecause we need to have a
thorough evaluation. Thepathologists need to look at the
lymph nodes to give us properstaging information. And so
after we take that part out, wetake the two ends and reconnect
(14:39):
it back together.
Erin Brinker (14:42):
So with the lymph node, lymph nodes that when you
take those out, those are thegroin lymph node lymph nodes,
Dr. Joseph Ruan (14:49):
aren't they?
Yeah, actually we, so we do havelymph nodes in the groin, but
the lymph nodes that we'retalking about specifically are
the ones that are. Around theintestines. So we do have lymph
nodes all over the body.
Erin Brinker (15:03):
We have them in our intestine, near our
intestine. I didn't know that.
That's right.
Dr. Joseph Ruan (15:06):
We actually have a lot in our intestines.
The intestines are have quite abit of function in terms of our
immune system and the lymphnodes are there part of it.
Erin Brinker (15:19):
Now our patients who undergo that kind of lymph
node surgery, are they atgreater risk for developing
edema? I've seen people withwith lymphedema in their legs,
and it's it looks very painful.
Are they at a greater risk forthat?
Dr. Joseph Ruan (15:33):
Yeah, that's a great question. So with
intestinal surgery, when weremove that part of the
intestines, we're removing thelymph nodes that serve that
section, and so it doesn't havethe same issues of edema like it
does in the legs.
Erin Brinker (15:47):
That's good, because that looks, that looks
really painful. So, so what wasthe prognosis for Cynthia? So
did Cynthia? Did you? And thisis really for both of you all,
and maybe we'll start with DrRuan. Did she? Was she facing
chemotherapy, radiation? Whatwas the was there ongoing
treatment? And what did that?
What did that
Dr. Joseph Ruan (16:07):
look like?
Yeah, so fortunately, insyphilis case, the she was very
early stage, and all her lymphnodes that were removed were all
negative, and so she did notneed to have any chemotherapy.
Oh, thank God. So with surgeryalone, she was able to achieve,
you know, basically a cure.
Erin Brinker (16:26):
So that's that must have been a relief to you,
Cynthia.
Cynthia Hernandez (16:31):
Oh, yes, it was,
Erin Brinker (16:33):
you know, especially since you just
watched a friend go through thatjourney and did not have that
outcome.
Cynthia Hernandez (16:40):
Yeah, I still get, you know, very emotional
Erin Brinker (16:44):
about it. I bet, I bet,
Cynthia Hernandez (16:49):
yeah, very thankful though, you know, Dr
Ruan and his team and, you know,just the whole medical center,
everybody was amazing.
Erin Brinker (16:58):
So it, you know, I so, how old was the friend? This
your friend's sister, who, whenshe passed away of colon cancer,
um,
Cynthia Hernandez (17:09):
she was 30, I believe. Oh my gosh, yeah.
So, you know, I kind of seenlike, you know, through the she
was battling it for probablyabout three or four years, and
you could see, like, just herdecline, you know, just just in
pictures alone, you can see herdecline. So it was very like, I
(17:31):
think that's kind of what scaredme, because I had, like, seen
her, what was going on with her,and, you know, it's, it's a
scary diagnosis, I think, foreverybody. And then maybe I'm
just not strong, becausesomebody could get a diagnosis
like that and be like, you know,let me, let me not worry until I
find out. But I, I kind of wentto the dark place. Sure it was,
(17:55):
I'm sure Dr Ruan can probably,you know that I had to get some
sedatives before, you know,surgery, because I was just
very, you know, I was veryemotional. I still get
emotional, but I have, I am abig advocate, you know, for
colorectal screening, just basedon my story alone. Because, you
(18:17):
know, you're, I was just walkingaround thinking everything was
fine. And I'm pretty sure, youknow, and I'm not sure Dr Wuhan,
but I'm pretty sure that it wasprobably growing for a couple
years, I think,
Dr. Joseph Ruan (18:31):
yeah, yeah. And it is a extremely scary thing,
because these things, you know,the cancers, when they grow,
especially early on, there's nosymptoms at all. We're just
totally unaware that somethinglike that could be growing in
our body, and then to hear allof a sudden. It's very scary.
Erin Brinker (18:52):
And here's the thing, you're allowed to grieve.
And grief is a funny thing. Itit rears its ugly head when
you're least expecting it,something will trigger a memory
or an emotion, and there youare, and then to face that grief
and and not knowing what yourjourney is going to look like.
Yeah, of course, you wereterrified. That's a normal human
(19:12):
reaction. You're allowed to beemotional. That's scary.
Cynthia Hernandez (19:16):
Yeah, I'm just, you know, I'm just really
grateful. You know that, youknow I did have, like, a
positive outcome, but I knowthat there's a lot of young
people who don't. And, you know,I think it's important that we,
you know, listen to your bodiesif you're having symptoms. You
know, obviously, in my case, Ididn't have any. But you know,
just, you know, be an advocatefor yourself. You know, do a fit
(19:39):
kit, you know, screening. Youknow, we get a lot of patients
that will come in and they'reflagging that they're needing to
complete one, and we send two orthree or four to their houses
within a year, and we don'treceive anything back. And, you
know, it's very important, likeit just, just take the kit.
(20:00):
Home, complete it, drop it off,you know, it, it could save your
life. Like I went in there, not,not thinking anything, you know,
I really thought it was justgoing to be a routine screen. I
might have had a couple polypsor two, you know, no way did I
think it was going to kind offlip my world upside down for
those few months. But, you know,mine was a positive story, and
(20:23):
not everybody's is. And so thesooner that you, you know,
screen yourself, the better. Youknow, I still talk about it,
even to my co workers, even toyou know, colleagues. I'm, I
really am an advocate for forscreening, and it's something
like Dr Ruan said, you know, ifit's caught early, it could, it
(20:45):
could save your life. And we'rehearing, even you know, on the
news and with celebrities thatyou know they're getting this
early and and dying from it. Andit's if we can protect the
people we love and our familyand friends by advocating for
it, you know, it's, you know, Iit's gonna save lives if they
(21:07):
can get themselves screened.
Erin Brinker (21:09):
So Chadwick Boseman from Black, Black
Panther and many other things.
He was only 43 when he passedaway in 2020 and James Van Der
Beek, who was 2026 he he diedthis year. Was only 48 correct?
Cynthia Hernandez (21:25):
And I did, I do think that they've said that
Colorectal cancer is the numberone, the number one killer of
like, what ages is it? Ages 40or 30 to 50, or something like
that?
Dr. Joseph Ruan (21:39):
Yeah, it's it's a it's scary. It's actually
alarming. The incidence ofcolorectal cancers has increased
quite a bit since the 1980s upuntil now. And recently, we're
seeing a lot, many, many morepatients under the age of 50.
And so, yeah, Cynthia's right.
It's become the number onecancer killer and people under
(22:01):
50.
Erin Brinker (22:05):
So let's, let's kind of explore that a little
bit. You know, you'd think thatthose numbers would be going
down, because, you know, peopleare not smoking as much, not,
certainly not the levels theywere in 1980 where everybody
smoked and in high schools inthe late 70s and, you know, up
to the very early 80s, there wasa smoking section at high school
for the students. I mean,that's, and I know that can
(22:27):
increase your risk of all kindsof cancers. People still ate
bacon back then. They still, youknow, the processed meats were a
thing. You know, why? I, youknow, maybe that's the question
that nobody can answer yet. Butwhy is this on the upswing?
Dr. Joseph Ruan (22:43):
Yeah, that's a great question. I wish we knew
that's that's the question thatall of us are trying to wrap our
heads around, is, what is itthat is going on? Certainly, we
see, you know, we, you know,diet and lifestyle probably have
a huge impact on that, but wehaven't been able to nail down
(23:03):
what specifically it is that'scausing this rise.
Erin Brinker (23:09):
So is being sedentary, which we are, as a as
an as a nation and as a world, alot more sedentary than people
were 40 years ago. Does thatplay a role in colorectal
cancer?
Dr. Joseph Ruan (23:22):
Yeah, it probably does. Certainly we see
more diseases of the colon inpatient in people who are
sedentary, exercise does seem tobe beneficial in lower rates in
people who are very, veryactive. Is exercise alone
enough, you know, it alone. Itisn't. So there is, there is
(23:46):
more than physical activity, butcertainly physical activity is
very, very important.
Erin Brinker (23:52):
You know, did we, I wonder, and I'm just kind of
thinking out loud, did we eatmore fiber back then? I mean, we
were eating meat and potatoesand then the vegetables, maybe a
salad. But dinner, I'm trying tothink, of course, I was a kid,
but, you know, in the 1980s whatwere people eating? I don't
remember, but I don't, I don'tthink, I don't remember it being
so much more healthy than whatpeople are eating now,
Dr. Joseph Ruan (24:12):
fast food, yeah, and certainly there's, I
think we are eating a lot moreprocessed foods now than we have
before, and that may be part ofit,
Erin Brinker (24:26):
well, and I know, I know that that's being studied
right now. It's just, you know,when you see something that's
that's terrifying, like cancer,you want to know, wait a minute,
okay, what do I have to do tomake sure I never get that
because it's terrifying. So,yeah, so, so if somebody I
imagine that, that lots ofpeople, when they go in for
colonoscopies, have polyps, arepolyps always pre cancerous or
(24:50):
malignant?
Dr. Joseph Ruan (24:52):
Yeah, so that's a great question too. So when we
when we talk about polyps, thereare things that I. Might look
like a polyp that we call polyp,but there's also polyps in that
that are that we would calladenomas. So adenomas are tumors
(25:13):
within the colon that have thepotential of turning into a
cancer. So in general, whenpatients go in for a
colonoscopy, anything that lookslike a polyp, it does need to be
removedor sampled if it can't be
removed, so that we know what itis polyps getting removed. Erin
colonoscopy does have an impact,and we saw that with when
(25:35):
colonoscopies first started backin the 80s. Since then that has
that has led to a decreaseoverall in the number of
patients getting colon andrectal cancers every year.
And so that's whythe overall rates have been
decreasing. The overall rates ofcolon and rectal cancer have
(25:58):
been decreasing, except for inpatients under the age of 50,
which has been increasing.
Erin Brinker (26:07):
Oh, interesting.
Wow. So, so the the age forscreening has, has for many
years, it's been age 50. Is thatchanging?
Dr. Joseph Ruan (26:18):
Yeah, yeah.
That recently changed back in2021
the US Preventative ServicesTask Force, just based on the
changing rates, did lower thescreening age to 45 is that
young enough? Well, that's agreat question. So a lot of us
(26:42):
feel that that's not youngenough, and we probably need to
push it down even further. Myfeeling is that probably in a
few years, just with more data,the the task force will
eventually change it to a lowerage. But it takes a live. You
know, it takes a lot to get to anational level where those
(27:05):
things change,
Erin Brinker (27:07):
right, right? So Cynthia, talk about your
daughters and and how they were,what happened in your family
dynamic after you werediagnosed.
Cynthia Hernandez (27:21):
Well, it's interesting because my daughter,
who's who's actually in PAschool now, so I was having
difficulty with the prep, youknow, I couldn't get all of the
go lightly down and, or, youknow, the prep solution down.
Erin Brinker (27:39):
Yes, that's the worst part of the procedure, by
the by the way, is that prep,
Cynthia Hernandez (27:43):
it is and, and I, you know, I was joking
with her, and I was like, youknow, this is medieval, and, you
know, there's got to be aneasier way. And, and I was going
to reschedule, I was like, Ican't do this. Like, feel sick
to my stomach. I can't completeit. And she, you know, she was
very, like encouraging andalmost like scolding me, like
(28:03):
you just, you already halfwaythrough. You just need to get
this done. And you know it'simportant. So, you know,
thankfully for her, if I hadn't,you know, if I hadn't listened
and just stuck through it, Iprobably would have rescheduled,
probably months out, andprobably delayed. You know, my
care further, but, you know, I Iknow that there's a lot of
(28:25):
people, even people that I workwith, that I've been trying to
nudge to get their colonscreening done, and I think
that's the part that kind ofscares them the most, but, or
doesn't scare them the most, butit's not fun, right? It's
unpleasant,
Erin Brinker (28:41):
it is, it is, but I know it's less pleasant. Yes,
it's, it's more it's lessunpleasant than cancer.
Cynthia Hernandez (28:49):
Yes, exactly.
And, you know, and that's, youknow, that's kind of like my
story to them, and, you know, Ijust, I try to encourage it as
much as possible. But, yeah, sothat's, that's kind of what
happened. She was actually withme during my colonoscopy
procedure, so she was there whenthe physician came out and
shared the news. And so we kindof, this was my older one, my
(29:13):
younger one at the time, was inschool. But we kind of had to
navigate it together,
Erin Brinker (29:21):
you know, so you had an advocate.
Cynthia Hernandez (29:24):
I did that's wonderful. I don't know if she
was an advocate or she was like,you know, my you're gonna do
this. Or
Erin Brinker (29:36):
you're like, Okay, nurse, ratchet, that's perfectly
fine.
Cynthia Hernandez (29:39):
Yeah? So, yeah, it's, so, thankfully, she
was there with me, you know,through it all. And it's, it's,
I'm sure it was emotional andscary for her as well. But you
know, it's just, it's the preppart. What, in this grand scheme
of this whole thing is, is theeasiest part? Right? You know,
(30:01):
we get that, you know, that'sthe gonna be the easiest part.
It's just, you know, get that,you know, Fit Kit done. You
know, schedule your colonoscopy.
If you're having any type ofsymptoms, just talk to your
doctor. I just think it's,something that, like Dr Ruan
said, is you don't want to waituntil you have symptoms, right?
(30:25):
So this is something that can bescreened and caught early
without by the time you havesymptoms, it's, it's probably
been there for quite a bit, youknow. So just encouraging
everybody to, you know, just dothe simple thing. If you don't
want to do your colonoscopy, dothe fit kit. You know, at least
have that screening done.
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