Wellness February 2020

Page 31

Get screened Maplesville resident shares colorectal cancer journey STORY BY MALLORY HILL, AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR | PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED

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Sandy Pearce shares her colon cancer story to encourage others to get screened.

andy Pearce, like so many others, was quite shocked upon hearing the words “you have cancer” in December 2012. “I was feeling so good,” said Sandy. “I never once felt bad, so I was shocked.” At the age of 54, Sandy was experiencing some sporadic bleeding but didn’t think it was anything to be concerned of at the time. At her annual checkup, she mentioned the symptom to her physician who recommended getting a colonoscopy just to be certain it was not anything serious. While in the waiting room, her husband Bill overheard a nurse’s conversation. “I’ve got to tell a family, a patient who is otherwise healthy as a horse, that she has cancer.” He knew immediately that she was speaking of his wife. Immediately following diagnosis, Sandy began chemotherapy and radiation in attempts to shrink the tumor prior to surgery. Her doctor prescribed the chemotherapy drug Fluorouracil (5FU), a commonly-used drug to treat colon cancer, which was synthesized by longtime American Cancer Society research grantee Charles Heidelberger, PhD, in 1958. Sandy’s tumor

Wellness 31


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