WESLEY CHAPEL, Fla. — Cancer-free. They’re two phrases Kendrix Jones is grateful to be saying.
“Zero cancer in the body from the size of a softball,” Jones mentioned.
We first met the Wesley Chapel father and his spouse, Carolynn, again in March shortly after his late-stage colon cancer analysis at simply 40 years previous.
“My life was normal and then a month ago I came down with what I thought was the flu,” jones mentioned in March.
Over the final 5 months, Kendrix has been by way of 5 rounds of chemo and a virtually 12-hour surgical procedure to take away his cancer.
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“They had to remove 20 percent of my pancreas and also 100 percent of my spleen,” mentioned Jones.
It’s a journey, that hasn’t been simple, however Kendrix and Carolynn mentioned sharing their expertise has been simple.
“We just hope that we can help others by sharing our story. If you do stay on top of this and you do listen to your body and know when things are wrong, especially men (laughs),” mentioned Carolynn, “And listen to your friends or spouses or wives to make sure you’re taking care of yourself then hopefully you can catch it early.”
But catching it early can even include a hefty price. Kendrix mentioned he was requested to pay wherever from $1,000-3,300 out of pocket for a colonoscopy and biopsy, shortly earlier than his analysis.
And he mentioned his age was an element.
Right now, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that colon cancer screenings ought to begin at 45 years previous. And usually insurance coverage corporations will not cowl one should you’re youthful.
As Kendrix prepares for an additional six rounds of chemo, to ensure that he stays cancer free, he tells us that he hopes to see this steering change.
“It’s expensive and we need to get it fixed and we need to be our own advocates and push, push, push because again it saves lives and it needs to be done at an earlier age,” Jones mentioned.
