Teri Griege Colon Cancer Survivor

(KPLR) – March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness month and it’s a great opportunity to remind people that colon cancer is America’s third most diagnosed cancer. This year alone, more than 3,000 new cases will be diagnosed in Missouri.

Christine Buck got to speak with a woman who is a great inspiration. Teri Griege is a marathon runner and colon cancer survivor. She was training for Ironman in 2009 when she was hit with fatigue. She was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer that spread to her liver.

Griege has been awarded the Colon Cancer Alliance Sapphire Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contribution and is training for the London Marathon.

Colon cancer affects men and women with equal frequency, but there is a common misperception it’s a “man’s disease”. Colon cancer ranks as the third most common cause of cancer deaths in women and will claim the lives of more than 25,000 American women this year.

The good news about colon cancer is simply this: with proper screening, it is a treatable and curable disease. Screening procedures such as a colonoscopy, or sigmoidoscopy, provide doctors with a clear view of the digestive system lining so they can identify and treat abnormal tissue growth before the development of colon cancer.