CLEVELAND — Chuck Gepper likes to be on the go.

What You Need To Know

  • Colon or rectum cancer is the second-deadliest cancer in the U.S.

  • March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

  • The Colorectal Cancer Alliance said the goal this month is to encourage screening at age 45 to help prevent the disease and catch it early

“Well, I know it’s good for you," he said.

But now his daily walks are doctor’s orders.

“I never thought I would have this problem," he said. "I swam at least five days a week for 20 years."

In 2021, he was diagnosed with stage one colon cancer at the Cleveland Clinic at age 70.

“Having cancer saved my life," said Gepper.

Gepper believes that because one of the cancer scans uncovered five clogged arteries in his heart.

“A month and a half after having cancer surgery, I got heart surgery," he said.

Both conditions were a total shock.

“I didn’t eat fatty food or fast food," said Gepper. “I thought I was eating right. I thought I was doing everything right. I made my own granola and ate it every morning for 30 years thinking 'I’m doing really good.'”

Gepper has always been mindful of his family history of heart disease and colon cancer.

His grandfather and two aunts died of colon cancer. His father had more than one heart attack before getting a heart transplant.

That’s why he’s been hypervigilant about his health all his life.

Gepper has been getting colonoscopies like clockwork since he was 45 and nothing of concern was ever spotted until the cancer diagnosis.

“When you hear you’ve got cancer and you weren’t expecting that, you wonder," he said. "And I saw how my aunts and my grandfather suffered in the end and that’s all that was going through my mind. Oh no, I don’t want that to happen. Oh, I don’t want to live like that. My kids don’t need to see me like that. I don’t need to be like that."

He moved to Sunbury near Columbus a few months ago, because he wanted to be closer to his six children and eight grandchildren.

Since the open heart surgery, he’s needed to cut out salt and add in more fruits, veggies, and exercise. But overall, his lifestyle hasn’t had to change much and he’s able to do just about everything he wants to.

He credits that to routine colonoscopies. 

“I was so happy I did what I was supposed to do and I went when I was supposed to go," Gepper said.

Gepper plans to spend the rest of his life feeling healthy while spending time with family. Since he caught his colon cancer early, he never needed chemo or radiation and he hopes to encourage others to get screened. 

“For your family’s sake, for your own sake, get a colonoscopy when you’re supposed to," he said.

Health experts said everyone should be screened for colorectal cancer.

The American Cancer Society recently recommended that all adults, even those without a family history, begin screening at age 45.