Craig resident Steven Tortu went to the hospital in April 2023 with strong abdominal pains and a dull ache in his lower belly area.

Since the 64-year-old practices “self-care” and exercises (including snowboarding), he thought maybe the pain was just an ulcer. However, scans showed a diagnosis of stage 4 cancer in his ascending colon.

“It kind of hit me hard, especially when the doctor asked me if I had a will and gave me a pamphlet about it,” Tortu said.

---

---

“After the shock wore off, or call it denial, I said, ‘I’m not ready to go. I have too many songs to write. I have too much to do in life, and I’m not going let cancer beat me.’ And that’s when I declared war on cancer,” said Tortu, who has played in bands and written rock music for much of his life.

After eight months of chemotherapy treatments at UCHealth Jan Bishop Cancer Center in Steamboat Springs, Tortu is now on a maintenance program, which he credits to remaining positive and receiving great care. Tests show his tumor the size of a golf ball has reacted positively to chemotherapy, but is inoperable. Tortu sees Dr. Allen Cohn, a medical oncologist at the cancer center, and nurse practitioner Heather Hack at UCHealth Palliative Care Clinic in Steamboat.

---

---

A former rock radio disc jockey in Craig, Tortu is a huge advocate for people to schedule a colonoscopy starting at the recommended age of 45 for those with no symptoms nor family history of colon cancer. Tortu believes if he had received a colonoscopy earlier in life, he would not be fighting serious cancer now.

According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men and the fourth leading cause in women in the U.S.

Some good news is that colon cancer is decreasing in people 65 and older due to lower rates of smoking and more regular screenings, experts say. On the other hand, colon cancer diagnosis is increasing by 1-2% per year for patients under 55, according to the Colorectal Cancer Alliance.

According to the World Health Organization, several lifestyle factors contribute to the development of colorectal cancer such as a high intake of processed meats, low intake of fruits and vegetables, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption.

At UCHealth Yampa Valley Medical Center, the number of colonoscopies performed by general surgeons and gastroenterologists have increased in recent years from 1,038 in 2019 to 1,402 in 2023, spokesperson Lindsey Reznicek said.

At Memorial Regional Health in Craig, Moffat County surgeons Dr. Jeff Womble and Dr. Dana Miller together conducted more than 200 colonoscopies annually in 2022 and 2023, MRH spokesperson Sheli Steele said.

Dr. Daniel Langer, who practices at the Centers for Gastroenterology based in Fort Collins, regularly sees patients and performs colonoscopies at the medical center in Steamboat. Langer said one of the dangers of colon cancer is “a lot of times there are no symptoms for a long time” or symptoms are “somewhat vague.”

Symptoms such as blood in stool, changes in bowel habits, abdominal pain and losing weight can sneak up on patients who think the signs are “nothing” or only hemorrhoids, the physician said.

Langer said Cologuard, an easy at-home colon cancer screening test for adults 45 and older at average risk, has a sensitivity rate of 92% to detect colon cancer. Using Cologuard may be a start for people at average risk, but Cologuard only has a 42% detection rate of aggressive polyps that could become cancerous later, the physician said.

“Cologuard is a cancer detection test. Colonoscopy is cancer prevention,” Langer emphasized, noting a colonoscopy provides the opportunity to remove precancerous polyps or to biopsy suspicious lesions at the same time.

Langer said a colonoscopy is recommended for people with a family history of colon cancer starting 10 years earlier than a first-degree relative’s diagnosis of precancerous polys or colon cancer.

Both doctors and patients say the preparation process to clean out the bowels before a colonoscopy has become easier and more tolerable in recent years. The screening procedure itself in the hospital is like having a “nice nap,” Langer said, with limited after affects and a very low procedure complication rate.

In other good news, Langer said if patients are at average risk of colon cancer and have a quality colonoscopy performed that shows normal results, that provides protection for 10 years.