Marcus Wendling toughed out a half Ironman — a grueling triathlon consisting of a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike journey and a 13.1-mile run — in slightly below six hours.
He thought the Might 2023 race was his biggest bodily problem — till he was identified with Stage 3 rectal most cancers months later on the age of 47.
“I eat a nutritious diet. I train six days every week. I all the time have been on high of my well being,” Wendling, who lives in Dayton, Ohio, informed The Publish. “So up till that point, you’re feeling like you might have this sense of invincibility.”
Rectal most cancers is turning into extra frequent in individuals below 50 — although medical doctors aren’t precisely positive why. Wendling hopes sharing his story encourages others to hunt medical assist if one thing appears amiss, so that they don’t face an excruciating battle.
The daddy of three, who owns a small manufacturing firm, was startled to see blood in his stool within the early months of 2023. He had no different signs.
“I’ve by no means had a medical situation or a analysis,” mentioned Wendling, now 48.
“I went for a full bodily, and all the pieces — all of the blood work and numbers — turned out nice,” he continued, “however I informed that physician in Dayton, I mentioned, ‘Hey, I have to get a colonoscopy. I’m seeing blood at occasions in my stool, and that’s what led to the colonoscopy in November of 2023.’”
That was Wendling’s first colonoscopy. Simply as he turned 45 in 2021, the US Preventive Providers Process Pressure lowered the advisable age to start out screening from 50 to 45 for adults at common danger.
Wendling doesn’t have a household historical past of colorectal most cancers and wasn’t experiencing signs, so he noticed no purpose to have one on the time.
When his physician ordered one within the fall of 2023, he was understandably nervous.
A biopsy revealed a benign polyp in his colon. A big polyp was faraway from his decrease rectum — it examined optimistic for most cancers.
“Over the following three months, I went via numerous checks,” Wendling recalled. “There was an try to take away the remaining tissue via a minimally invasive process, and that was unsuccessful.”
Because of the location of the tumor, Wendling wanted a decrease anterior resection.
The five-plus-hour surgical procedure, which entails eradicating a part of the rectum and reattaching the remaining wholesome half to the colon, was carried out in March 2024 at The Ohio State College Complete Most cancers Middle – James Most cancers Hospital.
Three of the 12 lymph nodes eliminated throughout surgical procedure examined optimistic, so Wendling’s rectal most cancers was declared Stage 3.
As if that wasn’t dangerous sufficient, he had a rocky hospital keep. He spiked a fever, which turned out to be from a small leak on the surgical website that took 4 to 5 weeks to resolve.
“Marcus had a couple of bumps on the highway to restoration, as can occur with therapies, however general he did nice,” Dr. Matthew Kalady, Wendling’s surgeon on the OSUCCC-James, informed The Publish. “He’s bodily match and has an incredible angle, which positively helps.”
Wendling underwent 12 weeks of chemotherapy with minimal uncomfortable side effects and bought used to life with an ileostomy bag, a pouch that collects waste.
“I used to be exercising with it, working with it,” Wendling shared.
He lastly ditched the bag in September 2024 — and issues appeared to return to regular round Thanksgiving.
“Marcus was good in taking possession of his well being and getting his signs evaluated early,” Kalady mentioned. “The important thing to curing colorectal most cancers is detecting it and treating it early, earlier than it spreads. His determination to get a colonoscopy early doubtless saved his life.”
Wendling has to have quarterly scans of his chest and belly space and yearly colonoscopies for now, however the information has been good to this point.
“I really feel like I used to be very proactive with this,” Wendling mentioned. “So the No. 1 factor I’d say is, attempt to keep on high of your general well being since you by no means know once you’re going to face one thing like this.”
He’s even again to coaching for a half Ironman.
He’ll be at the beginning line in Florida subsequent month to kick off a brand new chapter in his journey.
“The No. 1 aim is to complete,” Wendling mentioned. “The No. 2 aim is to beat my time from 2023 — that’s form of closing the guide on final yr.”
