African-Americans are 20% more likely to get colorectal cancer and 40% more likely to die from it than any other group. One and 41 black men will die from colorectal cancer compared to one in 48 White men. Black women face a similar risk, one in 44 will die from Colon Cancer compared to one in 53 white women.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that our diet plays a huge part in our colon health. Here are some of the symptoms.
- Blood in your stool, bleeding from the rectum, and/or change in the appearance of the stool
- Change in bowel habits or blood in the toilet after having a bowel movement
- Unexplained Fatigue or Weakness
- Anemia
- Unexplained or Unintentional Weight Loss
- Persistent Cramps or Low Back Pain, cramping pain in the lower stomach
- Feeling Bloated, or a feeling of discomfort or an urge to have a bowel movement when there is no need to have one
- Sometimes colorectal cancer presents with no symptoms at all
Of course, awareness was raised when Chadwick Boseman died at the age of 34 from Colon Cancer, and now The Kangol Kid from the legendary 80s group UTFO explains how he found out he had Stage-4 Colon Cancer after passing gas in his bedroom and seeing bloody mucus come out.
At the end of the day, a colonoscopy can save lives and many people continue to live after 5 years of a diagnosis of colon cancer when they see a doctor right away and before it has a chance to spread to other organs. Also, talk to your doctor about at-home tests like Cologuard.
At 54 years old Kangol Kid just got out of surgery where he had to have part of his colon removed. He is brutally honest about the process. “I had a section removed from the results from my colonoscopy and its basically like connecting pipes together. That’s what I underwent in February.”
He admits he says the tale-tell signs of bleeding when using the bathroom but as a lot of black men do, he ignored it until it got more serious and he saw bloody mucus when he passed gas.
“What really set it off was I was in the comfort of my own room my own bedroom and I passed gas. I noticed something came out. I ran to the bathroom real quick to see what was and it was bloody mucus. At that point, I told myself OK stop playing Kang go to the hospital”
He went and was given the diagnosis after a colonoscopy. He said he was initially shocked but then realized he had to fight it, especially for his 5-year-old daughter. See the video below.
A Gofundme campaign has been set up to help with financial expenses.
