John Andretti’s Cancer Battle: What Can We All Learn?

Column By: JOHN DOUGLAS / RPW – VERNON, NY – Colon health is sometimes weird for men to talk about. We aren’t fans of the procedure involved, we aren’t fans of hearing bad news and we certainly aren’t fans of something being out of our control. For John Andretti that means stage 4 colon cancer. For all the battles the member of the famous racing family has had to endure, this will be his most difficult.

I myself have a poor history of colon health in my family and at age 30 noticed constant and worsening pain in my left side. I made the choice to have a colonoscopy done since my brother had died of cancer which ate away at his body. That cancer started in his colon at age 37. At 30 I was having the “Largest polyp I’ve ever seen” according to my doctor, removed. I made a choice. A tough one. It probably saved my life.

No one can prepare for the worst. You can have all your life’s priorities together, as John has. You can workout religiously and eat healthy. None of that will stop cancer if cancer chooses you. It’s not about being stronger than cancer. It’s about being smarter.

We all remember the love and support that Steve Byrnes, a personal role model of mine, had. It helps. It always helps to have an Army of thousands on your side. However it’s the one-man Army of you that makes the decisions, good or bad that may prevent you from needing the Army of thousands in the first place.

It’s not bad.

The procedure isn’t the horrible experience everyone makes it out to be. Sure, it’s no trip to the Daytona 500 or Indy but for 24 hours of bad tasting fluids, a fast on food and a procedure most men would punch people over, the end result was far better than the alternative.
John Andretti has never met me, and yet I feel compelled to write this because we share something in common. No, not our first name. A love for auto racing, a love for life and a realization that life is all too fleeting and fragile.

Do NOT be afraid to hear bad news. Don’t lull yourself into thinking, “Not me.” It can be you. There is no criteria cancer goes by, no opt-out option, no reset button. We get one chance to do things right in our lives. Our decisions effect everything about our future’s and they effect the future of the loved ones we hold closest to our hearts. Make the right choices for them and you.

It is estimated over Forty-one Thousand people will die of colon caner this year, and colo-rectal cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States.

With the announcement of John Andretti’s battle, let this be a lesson to you. Spread the word. Talk seriously. It’s not a joking matter. Your life may depend on it.