AGE AT DIAGNOSIS

Dx'd at 39. Was told the tumors (2 of them) have been there 2-3 years. Have been violently sick for a year and half, but the doctor did not have the wisdom to give me a colonoscopy. Had there been a guideline on testing younger folks, my cancer would most certainly have been discovered earlier.

Ying

diagnosed at 43. very rare adeno carcinoma but cancer grew down instead of up so i will probaly be loosing my sphcinter muscle. if only my gyno had taken my complaints more seriously in 5/05 i may be in a better situation. this is another topic gyno should be more aware of this cancer because they are the ones who you would most discuss this with. as i said before my gyno didnt seem to think nothing of it.
cherri

32 at diagnosis. Symptoms for about 10 months prior. No clue how long tumor was present. Probably around 5 yrs.
jana

Diagnosed at 37. Tumor there probably 5-10 years also.

Wendy

Diagnosed 3 weeks after turning 50.

you probably already know this, but I was dx'd in Oct/2000, age 63. Tumor probably there for a year..Dr had advised colonoscopy not needed in 1999.

My husband had just turned 40 when dx'd with stage iv (liver met was 18cm). He was showing signs for about a year. Of course, we both thought it was stress and he had ulcers. That "guess" bit us in the booty!! My sons will definately be in the docs office at 25!!
Happy compiling!

Diagnosed at 34. Stage 3b rectal cancer. Symptoms for 5 months during pregnancy. No one took me seriously. Had serious pain. No one will take a guess at how long there.

Dx at age 28, stage 4 with Liver mets. DR's didnt estimate how long tumor had been there since I had been misdiagnosed for over a year due to my young age!

THANK YOU ALL for your responses, and, Emily...you are such a dear for starting this! I will keep fighting till my last breath...any misdiagnosed case is REDICULOUS if the doctor wasn't looking for crc from the start...and, picture this:
Little me...in a room full of health providers, scolding them for not looking at US, the survivors, instead of some statistics. The gal from the California Tumor Registry was there, and when she said that "cases below 50, although tragic, are not a significant number". MAN, did I get HOT at that...ESPECIALLY since her figures were from 2003!!!!!
Hugs to all,
big mouth Kathi

Hi, I was dx with breast cancer at 44 years old Colon Cancer stage 3-2 pos nodes at 46 years old. Doctor said I could have had the colon cancer for 10 years prior large tumor. Then at the ripe old age of 49 years old Colon Cancer that metast. to my liver.

Hey,
I was dx'd at age 57 in April of this year. Polyp was over 2 1/2 inches..no real symptoms. Had a right hemi 4-21-06, staged IA.
Joyce

I was 31 years old when I was diagnosed. Like others they believed that my polyp had been there for 10 years or so......
I was stage III when diagnosed but later found to have mets to liver and lungs. I am 36 years old now!

Hi Emily,
My hubby was 51 when dx stage4 (rectal tumour and liver mets) no family history, his 10 siblings have since had colonoscopys and 3 of them had polyps.
Interesting post ,
jackie.

1 month shy of 47, diagnosed with stage 3. Tumor was huge, so was probably there for a while, 5-10 years.
Age 48 when i was told it had progressed to Stage 4 despite chemo/radiation, surgery, and more chemo.
Mary

Hey Granola momma!

I think we should all copy this thread and post it all over the world!!!!

Stage 3 Rectal CA diagnosed March 2004 at age 42. Had a colonoscopy 3 years prior ( routine- dad had colon CA at age 65 ) which showed nothing. So, either he missed it or it was a very agressive tumor.( more likely).

NED coming up on 2 years.. soon...really soon.

My 3 girls will be in the doc's office in their early 20's.

Barb ( who hates this disease )

Hi!!
Diagnosed at age 52. Signet ring cell in cecum. 2 1/2 cm. Had off and on symtoms of IBS for 15 years. Nothing really bad. Tumor spread to ovaries, tubes, and uterus. The cancer was discovered by accident. I was having heavy periods. By ultra sound they saw masses on my ovaries. They thought I had ovarian cancer. Hysterectomy was done. It took them 3 weeks to determine I had colon cancer. I had severe pain in the cecum area in the late 1980's. Elevated white count. Nothing was done. My guess this cancer has been in me for 10-12 years. Recurrence this past December with two small tumors in my pelvic area. Inoperable. I am stage 4. My granmother was dxes at age 84 with colon cancer. That was in in 1983. This disease makes me sad and angry. But I am alive and kickin!!!

My mom was 61 years old. She had NO symptoms and had been getting flex sig tests regularily. She had one small flat polyp with a small amount of cancer. Six months later she had hundreds of implants in her abdomen and diagphram area and over 20 tumors on her liver. ): Fought like hell but none of the treatments stopped it. Passed away at age 62.

Dx Stage IV April 2005 at the age of 41.

I was 46, dx'd with stage 3, 2 pos. nodes, no family history, tumor was huge.

I am now 3 years, NED. Yippee

Moe

Hi Kathi,

I was dx at 42 but was having symptoms that I thought like others was my IBS for at least 1 year continuously. I had small instances for about 5 years. I didn't ask how long had tumor but it was so big is was almost blocking the colon so it was probably there for a few years. Didn't find out until dx that my uncle had a bowel ubstruction years ago and a colostomy bag for a while. I had my sister go for a colonoscopy and she is clean. Not even polyps. Whoo hoo. One down and now hubby and kids to go. My kids are young but they will get it at 30 if I have a say and will fight to get it done. Great post and I think you should send this to the board that said it is uncommon. I think this is getting more common since people are hearing about colon cancer. Take care.

Lisa

I just read all the posts from dx at age.....??
It makes me sad and mad.....Mad because this "demon" has been around for YEARSSSSSS and now more and more young people get the disease...How come there is no cure yet ???????? HIV patients ( and God bless them to ) are living for ever now.....wweeeeeee....and this new demon came around what.....25 years ago ???
Just cannot understand why arent we doing more....the goverment, the pharmaceuticals...
There is something wrong...more and more people get Dx every day , younger and younger...is it the food ( even though vegetarians get colon cancer ? ), the enviroment, the air ? What ever it is we need a cure NOW and we need to find out where,why, how is coming from.
Sorry...but got upset for a while...I will breath now.....
God bless you all.....