WASHINGTON — The Scope It Out 5K at Freedom Plaza in D.C. brought thousands out on Sunday to raise money to fight colorectal cancer, and raise a message: Get tested.
Colorectal cancer is on the rise on people under 50. Survivor Mimoza Cejku said she had never heard the disease mentioned by her doctors prior to her diagnosis. She attended the walk/run with a large group of friends.
“I'm a survivor, I'm one of those young ones no one thinks it can happen to,” Cejku said. “So please go get checked out, and this is my first year being able to walk it. So I've got all my people here to support.”
Cejku was diagnosed at age 39.
“It was a surreal moment, but I was surrounded by a lot of support, and my support system was always greater than my problem and that’s why I'm here,” she said.
The 5K honored loved ones and survivors, and those who have lost family members worked to increase awareness. An inflatable colon served as a canvas for facts about the disease: for instance, it is curable in most people if it is caught early and removed.
“Unfortunately young people- we’re seeing a bigger increase in young Americans, so I would say be your own advocate. If you have blood in your stool, change in bowel habits, unexpected weight loss, really go to your primary care physician and demand a colonoscopy,” said Michael Sapienza, CEO of the Colorectal Cancer Alliance. “Because we’re finding more and more and more young people, it’ll be the number one cancer killer for both men and women under the age of 50 by the year 2030.”