埃文-科南特

故事。 "当我第一次被确诊时，我非常害怕。我首先想到的是我长期患病的配偶和我正值青春年华的女儿。 在我治疗期间谁来照顾她们，如果我死了怎么办？我和我的家人承受着巨大的压力，因为有一段时间我们虽然得到了诊断结果，但却不知道疾病的阶段和预后。这是一个冰冷而艰难的过程。我的肠胃科医生在我做完结肠镜检查并得出结论后，立即给了我诊断。然后，我又等了好几天才拿到病理报告，得知我得的是结肠癌。 类癌 在我的直肠里。这时，我被告知整理好自己的东西，去找一位肿瘤内科医生，然后 "祝你好运"。  

"为了找到最好的综合癌症中心来帮助我渡过难关，我投入了我所知道的一切。具有讽刺意味的是，我非常喜欢从事医疗保健行业的专业销售工作。在过去的 25 年里，我一直从事尖端手术器械和疾病调节疗法的销售工作。最近，我的职业生涯进入了肿瘤学领域。在最近的专业培训中，我了解到结肠直肠癌常规筛查的重要性。这促使我安排了一次年度体检，并与我的主治医生讨论了适合我年龄的检查项目。我并不担心体检或结肠镜检查的结果，因为我非常喜欢运动。我喜欢跑步、山地和公路自行车、登山和滑雪。此外，当时我认为自己没有任何症状或家族病史。但是，自从确诊后，我发现我的哥哥在 50 岁时接受了筛查，发现他患有大的管状腺瘤息肉，这使我患结直肠癌的风险更高。这凸显了家庭之间共享个人健康记录的重要性。如果关系紧张或距离遥远，通常很难做到这一点。我本该更早接受筛查，所以我对自己目前的临床状况感到更加幸运。

"2014年我50岁时，结肠直肠癌筛查并不是我的首要任务。我不知道自己有任何家族病史，也不太了解这种疾病的风险或当前的临床统计数据。此外，当时我是一名个体经营者，还要为家人支付医疗保险。我需要将所有保险资源用于照顾我的配偶。她患有多发性硬化症，在家只能坐轮椅，因此我放弃了每年的体检。因此，2014-15 年度对我来说真正的障碍是，我是自营职业者，拥有最起码的昂贵医疗保险，所以我在规避费用。对于家中还有其他医疗难题的年长在职专业人士来说，这是一个尴尬但现实的情况。当我被现在的雇主聘用并获得医疗保健福利包后，我为自己和家人安排了急需的医疗服务。这让我想到了筛查程序。

"Cancer has completely changed my perspective on my life and career. For the first time, I have gone from being a professional salesperson to a patient in the very disease I have been trained on and work at every day. My sense of urgency and passion has accelerated due to my personal experience as a patient. I share my story every day in the field in hopes to connect with customers and increase their sense of urgency to get screened and aggressively treat colorectal cancer. Medical oncologists are overwhelmed because they treat so many types of cancer. So I feel that my job as a professional, and a patient, is critical to increasing the share of voice for colorectal cancer."

建议。 "We are all very busy with our personal and professional lives. However, screening is quick and easy, and if completed in a timely manner, can mean the difference between life and death.  Think of it this way, if you are clear, you only need a colonoscopy at age 50, 60, and 70.  That is only three times in your entire life.  No big deal. I am simply lucky that I have been diagnosed with the slowest growing form of colorectal cancer, a carcinoid tumor in my rectum. I am embarrassed by the fact that I delayed my screening test by two years past the recommended guidelines with no family history. This could have been a life-threatening decision if I had been diagnosed with a more aggressive type of cancer. Even more embarrassing is the fact that my brother was diagnosed with precursor polyps when he was 50. Therefore, given that I am three years younger, my colonoscopy should have happened at age 47, five years ago!  I am ridiculously lucky. I need to share my story to encourage others to push themselves to ask the tough questions, and tell the hard stories with family members about good and bad health."