In order to save lives, it is essential to initiate earlier Colorectal Cancer Screenings
Shundra was a young mother and wife. She loved being a social media influencer. She enjoyed sharing fashion, hair, parenting and mommy survival tips, or and other helpful information for young mothers.
On August 23, 2021, Shundra posted for the last time. “At the age of 29, I never would’ve thought that I would be diagnosed with colon cancer,” she wrote. Unfortunately, she passed away two months later on October 25, 2021.
I pray that her story will influence young adults to be screened for colon cancer.
Colon cancer is the most treatable cancer if detected early. However, cases of young-onset colorectal cancer have increased and according to the National Cancer Institute, about 18,000 people younger than 50 were diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2020. Over the next decade, colorectal cancer incidence among those younger than 50 is expected to nearly double and is on track to becoming the leading cause of cancer-related death in this age group.
Kimmie Ng, MD, MPH, Associate Chief, Division of Gastrointestinal Oncology; Director, Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Center; Director of Translational Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and her colleagues investigated the survival differences between young and older patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. The study found patients younger than age 35 had the shortest median overall survival of any age group: 22.0 months vs 26.1 months, respectively.
Collectively, we can beat colorectal cancer! I know my child’s death cannot be in vain. She didn’t live to tell the story, so I am advocating on her behalf.
Our lives were changed overnight, but I BELIEVE, HOPE, AND FIGHT EVERYDAY to prevent other families from suffering a similar tragedy.
Please visit ChangeforBrownMommyDiary.com where we’re hopeful that you will join us by signing the petition and sending a letter to your Congressional Representatives.
Her loving mother,
Rosonja Seay
