Colorectal cancer concerns every year 43,000 French and kills 18,000. It is the third most common cancer and the second deadliest. However, detected in time, it can be cured 9 times out of 10.
It was after discovering small bleeding in his excrement that Jean-Claude George was screened in October 2017. He underwent chemo, then he underwent surgery four years ago, in February 2018 at the Hautepierre University Hospital, removal of the rectum and anus. The teacher now lives with a pocket to collect his stool.
“Treating colorectal cancer is not a rosy road, he testifies. Everything that is physical, everything that is transformations, is very complex to digest. It is the appropriate term, to digest… But there are also moral and psychic repercussions which are very important”.
Jean-Claude Georges fights on a daily basis to accept himself as he is, with his pain, sometimes leaks, the gaze of others also which has changed. To get better, he runs a lot. He also made a film to promote screening colorectal cancer. Professionals, residents of specialized reception centers and staff from the CHU de Hautepierre took part.
“We must lift taboos and make screening a gesture like going to the dentist, insists Jean-Claude George. It has to be as silly as that. It really is common sense.”.
A painless and free test
Colorectal cancer screening is a painless, effective and free test. People over 50 can have it done by their GP or have a test sent directly to them.
According to Cécile Brigand, digestive surgeon at the Hautepierr University Hospitale, only 35% of the French concerned would be screened, this figure is higher in Alsace, around 60%. But that’s still not enough, especially since our region is one of the most affected by this cancer.
“It’s scary and then it’s the intestine, she explains. You have to dip a small stick in its materials, which may shock some people. But in the end, it’s just stool, poo. It’s very simple and it saves lives. It is better to have the removal of a polyp, because we have a positive test, than a cancer. We cure a lot of colon cancers, but it’s still a cancer and we don’t control all the cancer cells. So you have to arrive before the cancer and do this effective test!”
Today, Jean-Claude George has still not found a classroom to practice his profession as a teacher, but he says “to be more hungry for life than before and to be more demanding in everything he does”.