Joe Faratzis, 34, was diagnosed with stage IVcolorectal cancerwhen he was 28.
Heres his story, as told to health writer Julia Ries.
This all started in 2019.
Courtesy of Joe Faratzis
I started experiencing a faint abdominal pain whenever I bent overfor example, to tie my shoe.
Its not like I was persistently in pain, or experiencing the ache every day.
It was easy to ignore and forget about.
Still, I scheduled an appointment with myprimary care doctorand told him about it.
I never followed up because I assumed it was unnecessary and most likely way too costly.
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As a 28-year-old man, I thought I was invincible, so I didnt do anything about it.
Plus I didnt want to just run to the doctor to get a digital rectal exam.
Otherwise, I felt normal, but looking back, blood in my stool was a major red flag.
That, combined with the sporadic abdominal pain, were major indicators that something was wrong.
The big catalyst that motivated me to take my symptoms seriously occurred a few months later.
I was sitting on the couch and Ipassed gas, looked down, and saw blood.
I went to the bathroom and there was about a half a cup of blood in the toilet.
During the appointment, I explained my symptoms and he conducted that digital rectal exam I previously avoided.
He said I probably had hemorrhoids and referred me to a gastrointestinal specialist for follow-up testing.
The GI doctor also thought it was probably nothing to be worried about and scheduled acolonoscopy.
Going into the colonoscopy, he, like my PCP, figured my symptoms were due to hemorrhoids.
All of my blood work, including my red and white blood counts, came back normal.
A month later, I had the colonoscopy.
The nurses and doctors were in a great mood when I checked into the clinic.
A nurse said, Youre so young!
Why are you here?
and I thought, Oh my god, she just jinxed me.
Now I totally havecancer.
I was out of it from the anesthesia but tried to soak it all in.
Three days later, my doctor called: I had adenocarcinoma.
I was shocked, even though I suspected something deep down.
Everything started to move quickly.
There was so much I had to do, and I was totally overwhelmed.
My mom encouraged me to take things one step at a time, which helped me stay calm.
That way, the surgeons wouldnt have to cut out quite as much colon.
Instead, the waste is rerouted and released through acolostomy bagattached to the outside of your stomach.
Or so I thought.
Soon after, I had more imaging tests done, which revealed the cancer had exploded.
It was now in my lungs and liver.
I was diagnosed with stage IV colorectal cancer.
I asked my oncologist if that meant I was going to die.
He assured me that wasnt the case, but that wed have to stay on top of my health.
In the meantime, FOLFOX got rid of the spots in my lungs and shrunk my liver lesions.
Three months later, the lung lesions returned.
My doctors used ablation to successfully burn and freeze them away.
I was never given a prognosis, or survival rate, for what Im going through.
Now, I get my chest, abdomen, and pelvis scanned every three months.
Its a never-ending cycle of getting tested.
I feel good, Im hopeful, and I live my life as if there isnt an issue.
At this point, its a mental game.
I try not to worry that tomorrow will be my last day.
Listen to your body.
If you think theres something wrong, it doesnt hurt to go get it checked out.
Be your own health care advocate.
No one else is going to hold your hand and do it for you.
