Stage I

Hugo Ruiz's Story

I am living testimony to the fact that the most common symptom of colon cancer is no symptom. At the age of 65, after having polyps removed over a ten-year span and knowing that my family has a history of various cancers, I was scheduled to have a routine colonoscopy as a three-year follow up in 1998. This "routine" procedure turned up something not quite so "routine"—early cecal carcinoma—or cancer in the cecum area of the colon.

Had I not gone for screening, my Stage I colon cancer would have gone undetected. However, because of early detection, I am surgically "cured" and require no further adjuvant therapy.

I have all the blessings that you can count. In fact, just getting up to shave in the morning is a special experience these days. Life is good.

I urge you to check for a family history of cancer. Ask questions of relatives. Get a medical check-up. Above all, without fail: have a colonoscopy by the age of 50.

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