Don’t Neglected

Needed Cancer Screenings

To the Editor:

During the week of the September 11 memorials, we also mourned the loss of our father, Richard U. Stubbs, Sr, who passed away two weeks ago at age 72 from colorectal cancer after a 5½-year fight.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cause of cancer death in North America. On average, CRC kills over 1,300 people each day worldwide.

One of the hardest things to accept is that Dad never had a colonoscopy that could have removed precancerous polyps before they could become malignant or detected the cancer much earlier. He was scheduled for his first such test when he got the news that he already had stage 4 CRC.

The National Cancer Institute recommends testing begin at age 50, or earlier if there are any increased risk factors. Information on recommended cancer screenings is available at www.cancer.org.

As we are about to undergo our second round of screenings since Dad’s diagnosis, we urge you to ask loved ones over 50 whether they have had the recommended procedures. If one of us had done so ten years ago, Dad may have joined us on 9/11 in mourning the loss of people who had no control over their own loss of life.

Tim Stubbs and Andy Stubbs

6 Susan Lane and 17 Tunnel Road, Newtown September 20, 2011