Saved by a Colonoscopy, Michigan Journalist Uncovers Family History of Cancer
The doctor walked into the room; the blood had drained from his face.
“Tell me again who had cancer in your family?” he asked.
He shared the news: they had found a tumor during a routine colonoscopy. After surgery, it was confirmed: stage III colon cancer.
To the patient – Julie Mack, a veteran Michigan journalist in for her first colonoscopy just after her 50th birthday – the news was a shock.
“I had no symptoms: no abdominal pain, no rectal bleeding, nothing; the doctor was flabbergasted to find this,” Mack said. “There’s no question that had I waited – even another year or two, it would have gone to the liver. That’s curtains. If it went to the liver, they said ‘Write your will. Think about how you want to spend your time.’”
That was 2009. In the 12 years since the diagnosis and treatment, Mack has recovered but has not moved on: after recently documenting the story for MLive in 2018 of her young, late niece who was also diagnosed with colon cancer, Mack found a striking pattern throughout her family tree.
Julie Mack and her sisters in 2015.
“In my family, starting with my maternal grandmother and her siblings, colon cancer has been diagnosed in five of 33 people in three generations. That’s a cancer rate three times higher than the national average,” Mack wrote in her column for MLive in 2018.
Mack also learned her mother and her mother’s sister both had precancerous polyps removed during routine colonoscopies.
“In retrospect, it should have been a huge red flag,” Mack said. “Regular colonoscopies saved that generation of the family.”
In the U.S., 1 in 23 men and 1 in 25 women are at risk of colorectal cancer, and it’s the second leading cause of cancer death. However, deaths from colon cancer have been declining among older adults – due in part to screening measures.
Additionally, the five-year survival rate for localized colon cancer is 91%. This means if colon cancer is caught early enough that it has not moved from the part of the body where it started, a person has almost the exact same chance as someone without cancer of being alive in five years.
For Mack, a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan member, the importance of colonoscopies could not be clearer – but she also advocates knowing your family history and pushing doctors to consider emerging trends and research.
Julie Mack and her extended family.
“It took us literally years and years to connect the dots and realize the risk factors for our family – and honestly people died as a result of that,” Mack said. “The whole knowledge is power thing really resonates in this situation with my family.”
Mack wrote about her cancer diagnosis, treatment and her family’s losses due to colon cancer for MLive. Throughout her treatment, Mack continued to work as a journalist – covering government, public education and policy for MLive and The Kalamazoo Gazette. She structured her work schedule around her chemotherapy treatments and did not take sick time.
“It was a good lesson for my children, who were teenagers at the time: you can have a devastating diagnosis and pick up and keep going. This doesn’t have to totally derail your life,” Mack said.
Now, Mack is preparing to retire from a 40-plus year career as a journalist; but she’s still seeking answers about her family’s history to see if more colon cancers can be prevented among her loved ones.
“This is the one cancer you can catch before it’s even cancer,” Mack said.
Learn more about screening and resources at www.bcbsm.com/colorectal.
More from MIBluesPerspectives.com:
- Top 5 Myths About Cancer
- Cancer Screenings 101: What You Need at Every Age
- Colorectal Cancer is on the Rise in Younger People
Photo credits: Courtesy of Julie Mack.
I too was diagnosed with colon cancer but stage IV with NO symptoms, no family history, worked as a nurse in the ICU and clinical instructor, so I know how important it is to take good care of yourself and preventative measures so at age 50 I obtained a routine colonoscopy. The cancer was in the lymph nodes and liver, but the tumor was so large that if I waited it would have obstructed my colon. I eat healthy, worked out with a trainer, had no health issues, and felt great. Well, I made the 15% window of survival with aggressive chemo, colon resection, liver wedge resection, multiple radiation therapies, I just was in the ICU with COVID, had a stent put in my ureter, and am still enduring ongoing chemo, but I just got back from the gym after doing an hour on the bike! I’m NOT giving up hope and continue to pray for remission or a cure.
Go Judy! You’ve really been up against some major hurdles and seem to be taking them in stride.
Fortunately, my doctor gave me one of those simple stool sample kits each year that last November divulged blood in the stool. That led to a colonoscopy that showed I had a tumor that was cancerous. I was lucky as it was only diagnosed as Stage 1 colon cancer and did not require further treatment. I never had any of the symptoms associated with colon cancer. I feel blessed!
Hi Judy, glad to hear the screening did its job! Best wishes for your continued health.
So glad you have written about your cancer journey and shared it with others. Lives will be saved. Cancer scares us all but seeking early detection and treatment is the first big step. Thank you for helping others make that a priority.
I also am a cancer (sarcoma) carrier who had it in 2009, then a recurrence in 2019. My life and family is more precious every day. I too try to share with others how to keep on doing all I can and helping others get through the difficulties cancer can cause.
Aren’t we blessed to be able to tell our stories…
(From your former family neighbor and “babysitter”, now a retired Jackson County educator)