‘It can save your life’: Knox encourages others to take colorectal cancer screening seriously

It has been one year since Portage la Prairie Mayor and Central Plains Cancer Services executive director Sharilyn Knox first shared a very personal health story with the community, hoping that talking openly about a routine screening test might encourage someone else to take theirs.

What started with a FIT, or fecal immunochemical test, led Knox through several colonoscopies, the discovery of an abnormal polyp and eventually surgery this summer to remove her appendix, cecum and part of her colon.

Knox did not have cancer, but doctors determined the abnormal cells could potentially become cancerous if left untreated, leading to the decision to remove the affected area.

Now, a year after she first put her story out publicly, Knox says the response has reinforced why she decided to talk about something that can be uncomfortable to discuss.