JEAN LATTIMORE

Stage II Colon Cancer
Age at Diagnosis: 47

Sisters Jean Lattimore and Michele Sedor have always known the importance of family but had no idea how much they would come to rely on each other.

During a routine physical, Jean’s doctor noticed some rectal bleeding and gave her a take-home stool test. When it came back positive for blood, he scheduled a colonoscopy for the next week. But within a few days she was in so much pain that she went to the emergency room and was given an immediate colonoscopy. Jean had surgery to remove a large tumor and was diagnosed with stage II colon cancer. Her doctor recommended that her 11 siblings get screened, and although a few of them had already had polyps removed, no one had known that it was important enough to discuss.

Eleven weeks later, Jean’s younger sister Michele became the first to have a colonoscopy after her sister’s diagnosis. Despite never having had a single symptom, Michele was shocked to learn that she had stage III colon cancer.

Jean and Michele both had surgery, and they did part of their chemotherapy at the same time. They feel fortunate that none of their other brothers or sisters have had colon cancer, but thankful to have had each other during such a difficult time.