ATLANTIS, Fla. — The American Cancer Society says one in 23 men and one in 24 women will develop colorectal cancer.
Everyone wants to avoid a colonoscopy. It sounds awful, but getting one can be life-changing.
WPTV journalist T.A. Walker was at JFK Medical Center on Monday shining a light on the importance of getting your screening by the recommended age of 45. But some may need to get screened earlier.
"Age 40 if you have first-degree relatives or a strong family history, and even younger if your family member was younger than that, we recommend 10 years earlier than your youngest family member was diagnosed," said Dr. Heidi Bahna, a colorectal surgeon at HCA Florida JFK Hospital.
Saturday, the doctors at JFK are holding an awareness and fundraising event at HiiT56 in Boca Raton at 9 a.m. For details, click here. They want to support families who can't afford screenings and make sure the public is aware of how preventable colon cancer is.
"Because this is really what we have kind of dedicated our lives to, you know, we don't want to get to the point of needing to be in the operating room and taking out these cancers and colorectal cancer is preventable and treatable if detected early, so this is really why we want to help spread this message," said Dr. Juliet Ray, a colorectal surgeon at HCA Florida JFK Hospital.
The suggested donation to participate in the fitness class is $50. All proceeds will go to the Colorectal Cancer Alliance.