Athlete who got rectal cancer at 47 had just one…
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 just beneath six hours.
He thought the May 2023 race was his best bodily problem — till he was identified with Stage 3 rectal cancer months later at the age of 47.
“I eat a healthy diet. I exercise six days a week. I always have been on top of my health,” Wendling, who lives in Dayton, Ohio, informed The Post. “So up until that time, you feel like you have this sense of invincibility.”
Rectal cancer is turning into more common in people beneath 50 — although medical doctors aren’t precisely sure why. Wendling hopes sharing his story encourages others to hunt medical help if one thing appears amiss, so that they don’t face an excruciating battle.
The father of three, who owns a small manufacturing company, was startled to see blood in his stool within the early months of 2023. He had no different signs.
“I’ve never had a medical issue or a diagnosis,” mentioned Wendling, now 48.
“I went for a full physical, and everything — all the blood work and numbers — turned out great,” he continued, “but I told that doctor in Dayton, I said, ‘Hey, I need to get a colonoscopy. I’m seeing blood at times in my stool, and that’s what led to the colonoscopy in November of 2023.’”
That was Wendling’s first colonoscopy. Just as he turned 45 in 2021, the US Preventive Services Task Force lowered the beneficial age to start out screening from 50 to 45 for adults at average risk.
Wendling doesn’t have a household historical past of colorectal cancer and wasn’t experiencing signs, so he noticed no cause to have one at 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 cancer.
“Over the next three months, I went through various tests,” Wendling recalled. “There was an attempt to remove the remaining tissue through a minimally invasive procedure, and that was unsuccessful.”
Due to the situation of the tumor, Wendling needed a decrease anterior resection.
The five-plus-hour surgical procedure, which includes eradicating half of the rectum and reattaching the remaining healthy half to the colon, was carried out in March 2024 at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital.
Three of the 12 lymph nodes eliminated during surgical procedure examined optimistic, so Wendling’s rectal cancer was declared Stage 3.
As if that wasn’t unhealthy enough, he had a rocky hospital keep. He spiked a fever, which turned out to be from a small leak at the surgical website that took 4 to 5 weeks to resolve.
“Marcus had a few bumps on the road to recovery, as can happen with treatments, but overall he did great,” Dr. Matthew Kalady, Wendling’s surgeon at the OSUCCC-James, informed The Post. “He is physically fit and has a great attitude, which definitely helps.”
Wendling underwent 12 weeks of chemotherapy with minimal uncomfortable side effects and got used to life with an ileostomy bag, a pouch that collects waste.
“I was exercising with it, running with it,” Wendling shared.
He lastly ditched the bag in September 2024 — and issues appeared to return to regular round Thanksgiving.
“Marcus was smart in taking ownership of his health and getting his symptoms evaluated early,” Kalady mentioned. “The key to curing colorectal cancer is detecting it and treating it early, before it spreads. His decision to get a colonoscopy early likely 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 feel like I was very proactive with this,” Wendling mentioned. “So the No. 1 thing I would say is, try to stay on top of your overall health because you never know when you’re going to face something like this.”
He’s even back to coaching for a half Ironman.
He’ll be at the beginning line in Florida subsequent month to kick off a new chapter in his journey.
“The No. 1 goal is to finish,” Wendling mentioned. “The No. 2 goal is to beat my time from 2023 — that’s sort of closing the book on last year.”
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