Terrance Howard

"Oh wow. Up to her very last day, she had no idea she was dying. She didn't want anybody to know she was sick. I didn't know how sick she was until I came and I saw her, and she was that thin. I wish that I didn't know anything about colon cancer. I wish I wasn't personally affected by it. I wish... Maybe if there was a PSA like this 20 years ago, my mom would still be here. I think it would have been better if she had been told that most people die from cancer because it's discovered too late. Get tested, you never really know how important somebody is until they're not there anymore." To hear more about Terrance's experience and to share with your patients, click here. (YouTube video) 

Anita Mitchell

Anita Mitchell is a busy mother to three children. Like most parents during the holidays, she had little time to think about herself. And like most moms, it took an extraordinary event to get her to pay attention to symptoms that had been bothering her for quite a while.

"Late in 2004, I wasn't feeling great," Mitchell said. "I'd had gastrointestinal (GI) pain and diarrhea nearly every morning and an occasional bloody stool."

Mitchell attributed her GI trouble to drinking coffee, even though she drank it decaffeinated. Her doctor told her it was most likely hemorrhoids. Two weeks later, in November, she went in for her annual physical, "and my doctor didn't remember that I'd been there two weeks before," Mitchell says. "She wasn't reading her notes, but I figured that just meant she wasn't worried about my symptoms, so I didn't worry either." Click here to read more.

Catherine Murray-Rust

"I love academic libraries and have spent my whole career building and advocating for them. Now I have a new passion, saving lives by providing information and encouragement to prevent colon cancer. Research universities are wonderful places to work because the emphasis is on the future. The students and faculty members are the people who will find therapies to help people live with chronic illness such as cancer and perhaps even find cures. They will need time and funding to make progress, but they will make progress. In addition to believing in science and technology, the story of my diagnosis with colon cancer has many lessons for everyone,"....To read more and watch her story on CBS News, click here.

Patrick and Michael Skehan

The funeral was packed with over 300 people, each one wanting to pay their respects to Patrick Skehan – one of the most light-hearted and caring 60-year olds they'd ever met. As they picked up funeral programs and prayer cards, many also took colorectal cancer awareness "buddy" bracelets and cancer prevention pamphlets provided by the Prevent Cancer Foundation. Patrick didn't want people to bring flowers; he wanted that money to help others. He wanted everyone to learn from what happened to him. Click here to read more.