John Morrissey survived Stage One colon cancer | colorectal cancer | cancerous polyp
Updated: Sep 28
DESCRIPTION
Not long after going in for a colonoscopy in 2015, John Morrissey was told he had Stage One colon cancer. A Denver-based radio traffic reporter, John learned of his diagnosis with a telephone call from his oncologist two minutes before he was scheduled to deliver a live report! He composed himself, delivered a flawless update, then immediately decided he had to take action. In three weeks, he underwent a surgical procedure that successfully removed a cancerous polyp. After three weeks of rest, John returned to work. He goes in for colonoscopies every five years, and cancer-free, has resumed a normal life in Mazatlan, Mexico.
John waited until he was 60 years old before getting his first colonoscopy. It revealed some polyps, but on a Wednesday, the doctor wouldn’t know if any were cancerous until running some tests. The following Friday, John was just about to conclude his traffic reporting shift. He had one more update to do at 5:58pm. His cellphone rang at 5:56. It was his oncologist. He didn’t want to answer this call because he was about to go on the air, but he also didn't want to wait until Monday to learn the test results. He took the call, and that’s when he learned he had colon cancer, that he had one cancerous polyp.
John Morrissey didn’t hesitate and scheduled surgery in three weeks. The procedure was a success, but it caused tremendous pain to his stomach muscles. He rested another three weeks, but during that time, lying down, sitting down, standing up, anything involving his stomach muscles was very painful. However, the pain subsided and he was soon back at work, updating listeners on traffic conditions in and around Denver.
John still needs to go in for colonoscopies every five years. Just about the only change in his routine is that he tries to keep his consumption of red meat and processed meats to a minimum. He has moved to Mazatlan, Mexico and enjoys a normal life hanging out at the beach.
Additional Resources:
Support Group:
Colon Cancer Prevention Project: https://www.coloncancerpreventionproject.org
TRANSCRIPT
Bruce Morton: Greetings. This is the @CancerInterviews podcast and I am your host, prostate cancer survivor Bruce Morton. Our guest on this episode learned of his diagnosis in a most unusual way, but he didn’t hesitate to act on this horrific news. He is John Morrissey of Mazatlan, Mexico. His is a story that drives home the importance of a proactive approach to a cancer diagnosis. Here he is, and John, welcome to Cancer Interviews.
John Morrissey: Thank you, Bruce. Great to be here.
BM: It is our custom to start out by getting to know you and your life outside of cancer. If you would, tell us where you are from, what you have done for work and what you like to do for fun.
JM: Originally born in Germany to military parents, lived on the East Coast until about 1995. Did radio and TV up and down the East Coast, in Florida, in New Hampshire, then came out here to Denver in 1989, worked in radio, then retired from Denver radio in 2021. That’s when I moved to Mexico.
BM: And for fun?
JM: I go to the beach. I live in Mazatlan, which is on the west coast of Mexico, From Cabo San Lucas, you go across the Sea of Cortez, right into the main part of Mexico, that’s where Mazatlan is. So, it is a port city. Lots of shrimp, Pacifico beer was born there and that’s my favorite Mexican lager, and so I go to the beach and watch the waves crash. I love it.
BM: What’s not to like? Well, for all of us diagnosed with cancer, there was that point in which something with our health seemed abnormal. That necessitated medical attention, which led to a cancer diagnosis. For you, when and how did that occur?
JM: I got my first colonoscopy when I retired. I was ten years late at the time because I was 60 and had been told I should have gotten a colonoscopy at age 50. I decided in 2015 to get my colonoscopy done.
BM: And what happened when you went in for that colonoscopy?
JM: I had no pain, no discomfort, no problems, no indications whatsoever, so I was pretty upbeat. The prep in 2015 was a lot worse than it is today, but went through the prep, did the surgery, had a great nap. I tell friends a colonoscopy is the greatest nap you’ll ever have because you sleep like a baby. When I woke up, the oncologist said he found a polyp that concerned him, but he could not tell me it was cancerous until he got it tested. He said he would call me in a couple days and that was on a Wednesday. On Friday, I got the call I had colon cancer.
BM: The situation in which you learned you had colon cancer was unique to say the least. Tell us about it.
JM: I was kind of between a rock and a hard place. I knew I was going to be hearing from the oncologist, my phone rang and it was him. I knew I had to answer it. The problem was, I was still at work. At the time I was a traffic reporter for a radio station here in Denver. I was an airborne traffic reporter, but before and after we flew I did my reports from a car. I did ‘traffic on the 8s.’ It was 5:56pm, I am sitting in my car for my last traffic report, which would be at 5:58. The phone rings. It’s him, and I didn’t want to wait until Monday to find out what was going on. It kind of concerned me that he called me so fast, thinking good news doesn’t usually come that quick. So, I answered the phone at 5:56 at the clock on the dashboard, I knew I had a report at 5:58. I answered the phone and he told me I had cancer. Two minutes later, I had to go on the air, and do a traffic report, live, which I did!
BM: And how difficult was that?
JM: It was really hard, but I had to do it. That was the deadline I had. I had to be there for the traffic report. I don’t know what I said. I don’t know whether it made sense or not because my mind was all wrapped up with cancer.
BM: By the way, we hope you will find time to like and subscribe to our channel. And if you click on the bell icon, you will be notified any time we post an interview. We also want to remind you that on Cancer Interviews, we are not distributors of medical advice. If you seek medical advice, please consult a licensed healthcare professional.
Now, John, I want to fast-forward just a little bit because you found out this horrific news just before you went on the air, but it was your last report of the day. After your shift was done and you had a little time to process this news, how did you handle it?
JM: I don’t know if I remember. The moment I got my cancer diagnosis, the world changes. At least it changed for me. I talked to the doctor for quite a while. I asked about where the cancer was and what was going to happen. My insurance and my oncologist and the surgeon that got involved, they basically took it all out of my hands. They told me where to go and what to do. I did what I was told. I focused on the cancer. I called my boss, told him it would be a few weeks before I got the surgery, so I will still work, but after that I am going to need, I am going to need three or four weeks off, whatever it will take. So, I pretty much processed it in silence. I did take a walk and saw the most incredible sunset I have ever seen. I don’t think that was random. I think it was fate. To this day, I still choke up thinking about it because I never thought I would get cancer. Nobody in my family had had cancer. I am a rather healthy dude. I do eat red meat from time to time, but I never thought I would get cancer. It took me a while to figure it out.
BM: Now, you said it was a couple weeks before your surgical procedure, but we have heard from some of our guests that they are afraid of the surgery and shy away from it. You, on the other hand, took the bull by the horns. Was this a tough decision?
JM: No. I put my faith in my care team. I figured they are the experts. They know what they are doing. I’ll just go along for the ride. There were office visits. I met with the surgeon. I was totally in their hands. There is an old song by Carrie Underwood called, “Jesus Take The Wheel,” and in that spirit, I said to them to take over.
BM: Now let’s talk about the procedure you went in for, about three weeks after learning of your diagnosis. What do you remember about it?
JM: The care was awesome. The nurses, the doctors, everybody was great. I knew from the surgeon that out of five or six polyps, there was one that was really angry, the one that was cancerous, was at the beginning of my intestines. As they explained, it would be really easy to take that out because they can sew the intestine back together. It worked out great; so they explained that, but there was one thing they didn’t explain to me. I don’t know if it was called microscopic surgery. They made three little cuts around my navel, then went around my navel to get the polyp out. They didn’t tell me that they had to create room in my abdomen, so they blew up my stomach. They distended my stomach and nobody told me how much that would hurt. The cancer wasn’t the hard part. It was the muscles that hurt around my stomach, which made it hard to get up, sit down, get out of bed, roll over, all those things you do with your abdomen, but that only lasted a couple days. That was a surprising part, but the procedure went great, they got it all, they brought it out through my stomach, sewed me back up and they woke up in the recovery room, hours later.
BM: Was there are treatment regimen after this procedure?
JM: I was very lucky. I am very blessed. My cancer was Stage One. What that means is that there was a cancerous polyp in my intestines, but it hadn’t gone through the wall of my intestines and gotten to my lymph nodes, which is how it spreads across your body. None of that happened. Stage One is just that you got a polyp. After the surgery, I was home for about three weeks. It wasn’t a bad recovery, but I needed to get from my stomach to quit hurtin’ because of the blowup. It wasn’t bad. Three weeks later, I felt so good that I went back to work, probably a week earlier than I should have. It was a rough week that first week, getting in and out of the helicopter, getting in and out of the car, but three weeks later, I was back at work, and I am blessed.
BM: That was in 2015, which is some time ago. Here is a two-part question. Part one is, as of 2015, was there anything physically you could not do that you could do, pre-diagnosis, and as today, is there anything you cannot do that you could do, pre-diagnosis?
JM: No. The beauty of my cancer surgery for colorectal is, they go in to my abdomen, take out the polyps and sewed me up. The stitches hurt a little bit, but even they dissolve. As of today, I am great. There is nothing I can’t do. I avoid red meat more and I avoid lunch meat, processed meats, as much as I can. I still enjoy a good steak once in a while, but those are the only modifications I have had to do.
BM: Now I want to toss a question your way that I toss in the direction of any of our colon cancer survivors. There are colonoscopies and there are the home screening kits, the latter being not as invasive, but not as comprehensive. Are you okay with the home screening kits, or do you think one should always opt for the gold standard, the colonoscopy?
JM: It’s up to your oncologist and your doctor. They know better. I still have to do the colonoscopies every five years. I am cancer-free. I am done. But they still want to keep an eye on it. They still find a polyp every once in a while because I still eat a steak every once in a while. The colonoscopy has gotten so much better, Bruce. In the old days, the prep solution was like motor oil. You had two big jars, bottles of motor oil, that you had to drink to clean things out back then. It was awful! Today they have got a pill. It is nowhere near as nasty as it was. Do what your doctor says. It is going be okay.
BM: John, we are about to wrap up, and we are going to wrap up with the question we almost always use when we conclude. If you ran into someone who had just been diagnosed with colon cancer or thinks there is a good possibility they could be diagnosed, they would no doubt have lots of questions and you lots of answers; but if there is one point you make to this individual and you want to make sure they remember it, what would it be?
JM: You know, I would remind them that it is time to take care of it now. Do not wait on it. Colon cancer is a very slow-growing cancer. You need to go get it done. And you need to get a colonoscopy. Don’t be like John. Don’t wait ten years past when they say to go and get it, because now they are recommending it in one’s forties. Go get it. Trust your doctor and you will be okay on the other side. I guarantee it.
BM: Excellent. That is sage advice from somebody who has been through a lot, somebody who learned of their diagnosis in a way that likely won’t ever happen again. John Morrissey, you have had a great story to tell. Thanks so much for being with us on Cancer Interviews.
JM: You got it. Adios, amigo.
BM: And we want to remind you as we always do when we conclude, that if you or a loved one are on a cancer journey, you are not alone. There are individuals out there like John Morrissey with information and inspiration that can make the cancer journey a bit easier. So, until next time, we’ll see you on down the road.
Additional Resources:
Support Group:
Colon Cancer Prevention Project https://www.coloncancerpreventionproject.org
SHOW NOTES
TITLE: John Morrissey, Colon Cancer Survivor – Mazatlan, Mexico
Not long after going in for a colonoscopy in 2015, John Morrissey was told he had Stage One colon cancer. A Denver-based radio traffic reporter, John learned of his diagnosis with a telephone call from his oncologist two minutes before he was scheduled to deliver a live report! He composed himself, delivered a flawless update, then immediately decided he had to take action. In three weeks, he underwent a surgical procedure that successfully removed a cancerous polyp. After three weeks of rest, John returned to work. He goes in for colonoscopies every five years, and cancer-free, has resumed a normal life in Mazatlan, Mexico.
Additional Resources:
Support Group:
Colon Cancer Prevention Project https://www.coloncancerprventionproject.org
Time Stamps:
02:05 John says a cancerous polyp was discovered in 2015 when he went in for a colonoscopy.
03:33 Describes the unique way in which he learned he had cancer.
04:57 Recalls giving a life traffic report on the radio two minutes after being told of his diagnosis.
06:15 His reaction to his diagnosis.
08:24 John said it was an easy decision to go forth with surgery.
09:12 Is asked about his surgical procedure.
12:33 John is asked if there is anything he cannot do that he could before his diagnosis.
14:26 His opinion on colonoscopies versus home screening kits.
16:05 Advice for those diagnosed with colon cancer.
KEYWORDS (tags):
colon cancer
colorectal cancer
cancerous polyp
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