Published March 2, 2016 at 10:00 a.m.
| Updated May 9, 2019 at 1:59 a.m.
3/2/16: March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness month and in honor of this, we have a special educational video for you. This year about 140,000 Americans will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer and almost 50,000 people will die from it. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of death from cancer in the United States. The good news is that this cancer is 90% curable - if you catch it early enough. Unfortunately, many people don't understand how easy it is to get a colonoscopy and what the process entails.
To shed some light on this sensitive subject, Reverend Diane Sullivan, lead singer of the Dirty Blondes and art director at Seven Days, invited us along for her colonoscopy last year at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington. Diane's brother Michael died suddenly of colorectal cancer in 2003 - three weeks after being diagnosed. Normally, screening is recommended for people aged 50 and up but because of Diane's family history, she gets checked regularly.
Diane hopes that, like Katie Couric, she can inspire others to take the plunge and talk to their doctors about getting screened. After all, it's better than the alternative, becoming a statistic. So make your colon health a priority and talk to your family, friends and doctor about the importance of getting screened!
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Bio: Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger has been making her award-winning video series, "Stuck in Vermont," since 2007. New episodes appear on the Seven Days website every other Thursday and air the following night on the WCAX evening news. Sign up at sevendaysvt.com to receive an email alert each time a new one drops. And check these pages every other week for insights on the episodes.