Marcus Wendling lasted a half Ironman (an exhausting triathlon consisting of a 1.2 mile bathroom, a 56 mile bike ride and a 13.1 mile race) in less than six hours.
He thought that the May race of May 2023 was his biggest physical challenge, until he was diagnosed with a rectal cancer in phase 3 months later at the age of 47.
“I eat a healthy diet. I exercise six days a week. I have always been at the top of my health,” said Wendling, who lives in Dayton, Ohio, in The Post. “So so far, feel that you have this sense of invincibility.”
Rectal cancer is becoming more and more common in people under the age of 50, although doctors are not sure why. Wendling hopes to share their story encourages others to seek medical help if something looks good, so they don’t face an excruent battle.
The father of three, who owns a small manufacturing company, was scared to see blood in the stool in the first months of 2023. He had no other symptoms.
“I have never had any medical problems or a diagnosis,” Wendling said, now 48.
“I went to find a complete physique, and all the work and the numbers of the blood were fantastic,” he added, “but I said to the doctor in Dayton, I said,” Hey, I need to get a colonoscopy. I’m seeing blood sometimes on my stool. “
This was Wendling’s first colonoscopy. Just as it turned 45 in 2021, the U.S. Preventive Services Group reduced the recommended age to start screening 50 to 45 years for average risk adults.
Wendling has no family history of colorectal cancer and had no symptoms, so he did not see any reason to have one at that time.
When his doctor ordered one in the fall of 2023, he understood nervous.
A biopsy revealed a benign polyp to its colon. A large polyp was removed from his lower rectum: he was positive in cancer.
“For the next three months, I did several tests,” Wendling recalled. “There was an attempt to remove the remaining tissue through a minimally invasive procedure and this was not successful.”
Due to the tumor location, Wendling needed an earlier lower resection.
The five-hour surgery, which consists of eliminating part of the rectum and returning to the remaining part of the colon, was performed in March 2024 at the Center for Integral Cancer of the University of Ohio-James Cancer Hospital.
Three of the 12 lymph nodes eliminated during surgery tested positive, so that Wendling’s rectal cancer was declared in phase 3.
As if this wasn’t bad enough, he had a rock hospital stay. He chopped a fever, which turned out to be a small leak in the surgical place that took four to five weeks to solve.
“Marcus had a few times on the way to recovery, as can be the case with treatments, but generally did very well,” said Dr. Matthew Kalady, a Wendling surgeon at James Osucccc, in The Post. “He is in a physical form and has a great attitude, which certainly helps.”
Wendling underwent 12 weeks of chemo with minimal side effects and used to life with an ileostomy bag, a bag that collects waste.
“I was exercising with him, running with him,” Wendling said.
He finally left the bag in September 2024, and things seemed to return to normal action around Thanksgiving.
“Marcus was smart at taking possession of his health and making his symptoms evaluated early,” said Kalady. “The key to healing colorectal cancer is to detect and treat it early, before it extends. His decision to obtain a colonoscopy probably saved his life.”
Wendling must have quarterly breast and abdominal area and annual colonoscopy, but so far the news has been good.
“I feel like I was very proactive with that,” Wendling said. “So the number 1 I would say is that you try to keep you at the forefront of your general health because you never know when you are going to face something like that.”
He has even trained again in the middle of Ironman.
It will be on the starting line in Florida next month to start a new chapter on your trip.
“The number 1 target is to finish,” said Wendling. “The number 2 goal is to overcome my time since 2023, it is a kind of closing the book last year.”
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Image Source : nypost.com