“Speak Up” Symptoms

---

If you’re dismissed or turned away without conclusive test results after having even one of the symptoms and/or family history, continue to be your own advocate and don’t stop fighting until you get science-backed answers. Find a new primary care physician if you are not being heard. You wouldn’t let your partner, best friend or your child go without answers and you are just as important. 

Schedule an annual poop test and a colonoscopy if you are 45 years old, even without symptoms of colorectal cancer just like your annual women’s health screenings. If you are not able to get a colonoscopy, the gold standard for prevention and early detection, get an immediate poop test, like a Cologuard test kit which can be shipped to your home. The simple stool test that can show indications of cancer and help your doctor order a colonoscopy. The best test is the one that gets done.

If you have even one symptom, don’t delay seeing your physician. Make sure your care team sets a science-backed path to understand what is going on in your body causing any of the symptoms associated with colorectal cancer. While these symptoms are associated with other conditions, do not wait to screen for cancer as early detection is critical.