2023-12-06 05:00:00
An 18-year-old from Laval who has been fighting a rare and aggressive colon cancer for two years will now have to have organs removed to defeat the disease, which mainly affects adults, once and for all.
“I’m confident. I will enter the operating room with a smile and come out with my friends around me,” says Justin Di Narzo, who must have his colon and bladder removed in a few days to stop his cancer.
And among the first people he plans to give his news to: Carey Price and Cole Caufield, the two star players of the Canadiens with whom he has exchanged text messages since he met them.
Justin Di Narzo, who is battling colon cancer, with Cole Caufield.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE FAMILY
Two years ago, a few months before the end of high school, his life changed. Symptoms that he trivialized ultimately revealed that he had colon cancer, which is extremely rare in children.
Already metastases
“We don’t even see one per year,” breathes the pediatric hematologist-oncologist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, Dre Catherine Goudie, who followed Justin. Her symptoms were nothing specific, she said, not suggesting such a serious situation.
But the cancer was already in an advanced stage, with metastases to the liver.
Such cancer needed powerful treatment. Justin underwent radiation therapy, four operations and 12 cycles of chemotherapy.
He lost more than 25 kilos and his second operation left him bedridden for two weeks. Learning to walk again is what he found the hardest, he confides.
But he was determined to get his high school diploma in front of his friends, which he succeeded, after delaying his ministry exams.
For the Dre Goudie, Justin is an “incredibly resilient and courageous” patient.
Photo Agence QMI, JOEL LEMAY
Because despite the intense treatments, his cancer had not said its last word. Even though it had stopped growing, it was hanging on.
This is why the young man will undergo a pelvic exenteration next week, to remove the affected organs, eliminate all traces of the tumor and prevent its return. “This is his chance for recovery,” says his oncologist, Dr. Jamil Asselah.
Justin is ready and, above all, he can’t wait to return to a normal life, despite the ostomy he will have to deal with.
Living your 18th birthday
“I want to be 18, go out with my friends, have fun,” he says. Because his friends, he continues, were there for him in difficult times.
Justin Di Narzo with Carey Price, during his visit to the goalkeeper.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE FAMILY
Just like his hockey idols. Carey Price even invited him to his home, where they discussed his career while sitting in his kitchen. And he treasures all the photos and objects signed by him and Cole Caufield.
More and more young people with colon cancer, fears a specialist
A Montreal oncologist is concerned about seeing more and more cases of colon cancer in young patients, while the disease almost exclusively affected people aged 50 and over.
«There is something happening and we need to start taking care of it seriously,” argues oncologist Jamil Asselah, from the McGill University Health Center (MUHC).
Historically, more than 90% of colon cancers affected people aged 50 and over, says Dr.r Asselah. They were extremely rare at 30 and exceptional at 18.
More like in the books
“Recently, I see more and more young people in my clinic […] I don’t know the percentages, but they are no longer the historical percentages in medical books,” notes the specialist.
According to him, from now on, 15 to 20% of cases of colon cancer affect people under the age of 50. “It’s not just in Quebec, it’s in all developed societies,” continues the Dr Asselah.
He believes that research is needed to uncover the cause, but according to him, possible explanations exist in chemicals present in the environment or junk food that disrupt the intestinal flora.
However, cancers in younger people tend to be more aggressive, hence the importance of detecting them early.
To be vigilant
The Dr Asselah calls on people to be vigilant for symptoms, such as bleeding.
Justin Di Narzo, who is fighting colon cancer at 18, also regrets having waited too long before talking about his symptoms. “I never thought it was serious,” he says, despite episodes of constipation, abdominal pain and loss of appetite, among others.
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