Dad, 42, Believed Peloton Slowdowns Were Signs of ‘Getting Older’ — But Other Symptoms Led to a Colon Cancer Diagnosis

“I felt like I was in great shape, but I was way behind what I used to do,” Meyersohn told the Today Show.

The father of one’s symptoms continued when he found blood in his stool. The episodes of pain also continued. Meyersohn went to the doctor to learn he was severely anemic. A follow-up colonoscopy — which screens for colorectal cancer — discovered he had a 14-centimeter tumor the size of a softball in his colon.

WATCH: Dr. Paul Oberstein explains why it sometimes makes sense to give chemotherapy before colon cancer surgery.

His first line of treatment was chemotherapy. This treatment uses strong medicine to stop cancer cells from dividing, no matter where they are in your body. You may get a combination of chemotherapy drugs as your first treatment. Chemotherapy has been very well studied for colorectal cancer, and it is known to improve survival.

The most common therapy is a combination of chemodrugs called FOLFOX:

• FOL = leucovorin calcium (folinic acid)
• F = fluorouracil
• OX = oxaliplatin

Your doctor may add medications like irinotecan (FOLFIRI) or cetuximab, depending on how well your tumor shrinks with treatment and other specifics about your particular cancer. For FOLFOX, the medications are given through the vein and require regular doctor visits.

“[It was] a really aggressive three-drug combination of different chemotherapies,” Meyersohn explained. He desired a sense of normalcy while taking his chemotherapy medication at home. Meyersohn even tried to keep up his usual physical lifestyle until he experienced another painful episode after a round of golf.

“I went from, ‘Wow, that hurts,’ to basically falling down on the ground in the most pain I’ve ever been in. I couldn’t get up,” he explained.

He dialed 911 for help as his family was out of town. Once at the hospital, doctors performed surgery that removed nearly half of his colon. After the procedure, he had to use an ostomy bag, which collects body waste in a small bag attached to a small opening in his stomach.

WATCH: How does laparoscopic surgery compare to open surgery?

“That was one of the harder things for me,” Meyersohn said, adding that the after-effects warped his mental health.

Meyersohn later received genetic testing to learn the chemotherapy regimen he was on was no longer effective, and he needed targeted immunotherapy.

Targeted therapy is a type of treatment that works by identifying specific markers on tumor cells. These markers allow doctors to target specific cancers with drugs or other treatments designed to attack them. By doing so, they can reduce side effects while increasing efficacy and improving survival rates.

Immunotherapy is a medicine that helps your immune system wake up, search for, and then attack melanoma cells, microscopic or large or bulky tumors.

Since switching treatments, Meyersohn underwent a second surgery and had his stoma reversed. His life has undergone quite an adjustment since he was diagnosed with colon cancer. Like many people living with cancer, he also had to scale back his physical activities, including his ability to work.

“I kind of realized that I needed to take a step away from work. So, for the first time in my adult life, I wasn’t working and went on medical leave,” he said.

Meyersohn still receives regular scans to monitor his health since his second surgery. Another aspect of his cancer journey that still tugs on his mental health is scanxiety, which is the sense of anxiousness a patient feels after a cancer screening before learning the results.

How to Cope with Anxiety Around Scans

“Scan anxiety is unbelievably stressful,” Dr. Samantha Boardman, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine, told SurvivorNet.

“Probably one of the best antidotes that I think psychology can offer patients is to experience flow,” which Boardman explained involves losing a sense of time.

Her advice to help manage your anxiety is to exercise, participate in some form of art, listen to music, or do an activity you enjoy that takes your mind away from potential scan results.

A straightforward exercise starts with drawing four columns on a piece of paper. “I’ll ask patients to write down what I don’t know, what I do know, what I can’t control, and what I can control,” she said. From there, “a helpful way to dial down their anxiety” involves “trying to move as many items as possible into what they know and can control.”

Visually mapping this process out on paper can also help patients feel more in control of their circumstances. By putting down the anxieties bouncing around in a person’s brain, patients are encouraged to feel like they have power over the challenges they’re facing.

“How can we experience flow in our daily lives? It’s usually in some form of a hobby, something we just do because we love doing it,” Dr. Boardman said. “I really encourage patients to find and experience something that they can do that gives them flow. It might be baking, it might be gardening, it might even be doing some housework. They are so immersed in that experience that they’re not thinking about anything else.”

More on Colon Cancer in Younger Adults

The average age people are diagnosed with colon cancer is 68 for men and 72 for women, according to the American Cancer Society.

However, the National Cancer Institute reports that since the 1990s, colorectal cancer cases have been rising among adults younger than 50. Research published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians found that the proportion of cases in people younger than 55 “increased from 11% in 1995 to 20% in 2019.”

WATCH: Debunking misconceptions about colon cancer.

“We know rates are increasing in young people, but it’s alarming to see how rapidly the whole patient population is shifting younger, despite shrinking numbers in the overall population,” cancer epidemiologist and lead study author Rebecca Siegel said.

Researchers are still trying to determine why younger people are being diagnosed in more significant numbers. Some experts point to risk factors, which include obesity, physical inactivity, and smoking, as a possible explanation for the increase.

“We don’t know for sure why we are seeing earlier onset and death from colon cancer,” Dr. Heather Yeo, a surgical oncologist who specializes in colorectal cancers at Weill Cornell Medicine, told SurvivorNet.

“It is likely a combination of factors, including diet and genetics as well as access to care and some environmental factors,” Dr. Yeo explains.

WATCH: How Doctors Look for Polyps.

Most colon cancers can be prevented if people are regularly screened. The screening usually involves a colonoscopy, in which a long, thin tube attached to a camera examines the colon and rectum. If no polyps are discovered, the following screening won’t be needed for ten years.

“We know that colon cancers can be prevented when polyps are found early,” Dr. Yeo told SurvivorNet. “Lowering the screening age helps somewhat with this, but access to care is a real problem,” Yeo added.

Understanding the Signs of Colon Cancer

Colon cancer starts when polyps grow in the colon or rectum. If you don’t have these polyps removed, they can sometimes change into cancer. It takes up to 10 years for a colon polyp to become full-blown cancer, according to SurvivorNet experts.

“We know that colon cancers can be prevented when polyps are found early, Dr. Yeo explained.

The American Cancer Society and the American Gastrointestinal Association recommend that colorectal screening begin at age 45. However, it would be best to discuss your screening timeline with your doctor.

Colon cancer symptoms and warning signs include:

• Change in bowel movement
• Bloody stool
• Diarrhea, constipation, or feeling the bowel does not empty completely
• Unexplained weight loss
• Constant abdominal pain or cramps

If you notice symptoms or changes in your body, it’s essential to discuss them with your doctor promptly.

Questions to Ask Your Doctor

If you are facing a colon cancer diagnosis, here are some questions you may ask your doctor.

• What are my treatment options based on my diagnosis?
• If I’m worried about managing the costs of cancer care, who can help me?
• What support services are available to me? To my family?
• Could this treatment affect my sex life? If so, how and for how long?
• What are the risks and possible side effects of treatment?

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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