“Every cancer patient wants to know how long I have,” the woman in Harnett County recalled, adding, “and this is a question we do not really want to ask, but we want to know. 10, 15 years at best. ‘
Goff has just been diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer, a cancer that can be prevented.
She was 51.
A resident of Dunn, she remembered how her case put the small town on its ear and taught her early in her cancer battle how valuable her advocacy could be.
The news quickly spread about her surgery and diagnosis.
Apparently people saw it as a warning story and started getting colonoscopies.
“I was later contacted by a pharmacist friend in town who, immediately after my surgery, said when everyone heard from me, that she almost sold out from preparing for the colonoscopy,” Goff recalls.
This is one of the reasons why she happily teamed up with the people at Fight Colorectal Cancer.
And now, during National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, she is fighting not only hard for her own life, but for other lives as well.
When she turned 50, it was the recommended age for a colonoscopy. But she postponed it because she had no family history of cancer.
“I learned that if you have a colon, you could possibly get colon cancer,” Goff warned.
Only a few months after her diagnosis, the American Cancer Society lowered the recommended age for a first colonoscopy to 45.
According to her doctors, this was probably the estimated age when her cancer started to develop.
Afterwards, she said, “If I had gone at 45, they would probably have found early polyps, and those could have been removed. And that would have avoided becoming cancerous.”
She wants everyone 45 years and older to get colonoscopies, saying that concerns about the procedure being uncomfortable or painful are no longer justified.
“Preparation has become much easier,” she said. “And the procedure itself, you were stunned, you were knocked out. So you feel nothing.”
Goff noted that those younger than 45 should still be aware of the symptoms and that there are things they can do to not get colon cancer.
“A lot of younger people show up with cancer,” Goff said. “There are some kids who are teenagers and preteens with stage four cancer, a lot of 20s and 30s. So, people need to know what the signs and symptoms are.”
While talking to ABC11 about her journey, there were bottles of experimental chemotherapy capsules in her home in Dunn.
She recently joined a clinical trial of the new chemotherapy after other chemotherapies became ineffective.
She refuses to stop fighting.
“In stage four, it’s a cancer with a survival rate of 14%,” Goff said. “But my husband says I’m bad with statistics, and I do not want to be one. That’s why I do not listen to the part of it.”
So heed her warnings, because if her efforts to inform others help save lives, it will undoubtedly provide additional inspiration in her struggle to save her own.
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