Joyce Baskin

Story: "At age 58, Dan (my husband) had nerve pain in his feet. The infectious disease doctor ran diagnostic tests in order to discover the reason for the pain.

"The colonoscopy was overdue so that was one of the tests on the list. I was very annoyed that the test took so long as I was trying to get back to work.

"The diagnosis of stage III rectal cancer was a complete surprise. Dan thought the blood he was seeing was from hemorrhoids. Dan went from a carefree guy to a worried man. I became a 52 year old caregiver on that day."

Advice: "Dan's life is forever changed from the harsh surgery, chemo, and radiation treatments. Basically he has been in misery for 20 years (and he has had three other primary cancers). If he had gone for his screening at age 50, our lives would be very different. Do the screening for the people you love."