A local woman and her doctor are part of the chorus of people raising awareness about an alarming trend.
Colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among adults younger than 50.
At 43, Katie Sheehan is a survivor.
In 2025, she thought her debilitating nausea and appetite loss were due to her pregnancy.
However, an MRI showed an abscess, which was removed two weeks postpostpartum and turned out to be colon cancer.
She underwent six months of chemotherapy and is now doing well with no evidence of disease.
She calls her baby, Molly, a miracle because she was born healthy and helped highlight a problem.
Sheehan had no family history of colon cancer and didn’t experience the typical warning signs.
I talked with Sheehan, who’ll be the mission speaker at this year’s Walk to End Colon Cancer in Cleveland on Sunday, Aug. 23, about her message.
"It's just fighting for those answers because you know your body best and maybe something is going on," said Sheehan. "So, if you have symptoms, all the warning signs for colon cancer, you know, go see a doctor. Get checked. Ask for the colonoscopy because it can really help show a big picture of what's going on."
Dr. David Rosen, Sheehan's colorectal surgeon at Cleveland Clinic, will also be speaking at the walk Sunday.
He explained why colonoscopy is the gold standard for screenings starting at age 45 for average-risk adults.
"The reason for that is you’re able to both visualize the entire colon and see any lesions or polyps where there are precancerous growths and also remove them at the same time," said Dr. Rosen. "Some of these other tests, such as Cologuard, as you mentioned, are decent at detecting a colon cancer but not quite as good at detecting a colon polyp, and a big part of why we do colonoscopies is to find these things while they’re still polyps before they become a cancer. So, then you don’t have to be treated for cancer, but in fact you’re preventing it."
Both Dr. Rosen and Sheehan stressed not to wait until 45 if you have symptoms, like rectal bleeding or change in bowel habits. See your doctor.
Rosen believes that the recommended screening age of 45 will once again be lowered in the future because of the rising number of young people being diagnosed, many with advanced cancer.
Cleveland’s Walk to End Colon Cancer is Sunday, Aug. 23, at the Flats East Bank.
Registration opens at 8 a.m., and the walk starts at 10 a.m.
