The “Just a Change” Nobody Listens To
Look, when you hear “colorectal cancer,” your mind probably goes to all sorts of scary, dramatic symptoms, right? Blood in your stool, unbearable pain, sudden, drastic weight loss. The big, flashing red lights. But here’s the thing, and this is what makes Van Der Beek’s story so damn frustrating and important: his big warning sign? It was “just a change in bowel habits.”
I mean, come on. Who among us hasn’t had a “change in bowel habits”? One day you’re regular as clockwork, the next you’re… not. Maybe you’re a bit constipated, maybe things are moving a little too fast. You probably blame that weird burrito you had, or the stress of your boss breathing down your neck, or maybe that extra cup of coffee you shouldn’t have chugged. We all do it. It’s just part of being a human with intestines, right? Apparently, sometimes, it’s not. And Van Der Beek, bless his heart, he thought the exact same thing.
He told People magazine back in November – and this was when he was opening up about his Stage III diagnosis, not even thinking this would be his epitaph – that when it first happened, he didn’t think much of it. “I thought, I probably need to change my diet a little bit,” he said. “Maybe I need to stop [drinking] coffee. Maybe I need to not put cream in the coffee.” Seriously, that’s what he thought. And let’s be real, that’s exactly what I would think. That’s what you would think. It’s the most natural, common-sense reaction. You don’t jump straight to “Oh my god, I have cancer.” Who does that? Only hypochondriacs, and we usually laugh at them.
When Normal Feels Normal (But Isn’t)
The problem, of course, is that colorectal cancer often starts subtly. It’s insidious. It begins in the colon, which is, you know, a pretty important player in the whole “bowel habits” game. So, yeah, a change there can be a big deal. A really big deal. And Van Der Beek? He eventually tried cutting out the cream, then the coffee entirely. He was trying to fix it himself, like we all do when we’ve got a weird ache or a persistent sniffle. We google it, we try some home remedies, we put off calling the doctor because, honestly, who has the time? Or the co-pay? And what if it’s nothing? You feel like an idiot for wasting everyone’s time.
But Seriously, Are We All Just Ignoring Our Bodies?
This whole thing just screams at me, honestly. It’s not just Van Der Beek. How many times have we heard stories like this? Someone gets a devastating diagnosis, and in hindsight, they realize there were these little whispers from their body, these subtle nudges, that they just brushed off. We’re so busy, so distracted, so conditioned to believe that if it’s not a broken bone sticking out of our skin, it’s probably fine. Or it’ll go away. Or we can fix it ourselves with a quick diet tweak or a Google search.
“It was just a change in bowel habits… I thought, I probably need to change my diet a little bit. Maybe I need to stop [drinking] coffee.” – James Van Der Beek, talking about his initial symptom.
And the thing is, doctors and public health campaigns? They’re always trying to tell us to “listen to your body.” But then they hit us with these lists of 20 possible symptoms for every ailment under the sun, and half of them sound like things that happen to me on a Tuesday. So we get symptom fatigue. We get overwhelmed. And we just… give up on trying to discern what’s a “normal weird” and what’s a “call-the-doctor-right-now weird.”
The Real Cost of “Probably Nothing”
The implications here are huge, right? Because Van Der Beek was 48. Forty-eight. That’s younger than the standard recommended age for your first colonoscopy, which is usually 50 for most folks (though that’s starting to shift to 45, thank goodness). So even if he had been super vigilant, he might not have been on the “screening radar” yet. But he had a symptom. A real, physical change. And that’s the key. That’s where we all, me included, need to snap out of it.
Because when you’re 48, or 38, or hell, 28, and something’s off, it doesn’t matter what the “official” screening age is. Your body is telling you something. And if it’s just a change in how your gut works, a persistent weirdness that doesn’t go away after a few days of diet tweaks… that’s when you need to actually talk to a doctor. Not just a quick chat, but a proper, “Hey, this is what’s happening, what do you think?” kind of conversation. Because Stage III cancer, like what Van Der Beek had, means it’s spread beyond the colon wall to nearby lymph nodes. That’s serious. That’s when treatment gets intense, and the prognosis gets tougher.
What This Actually Means
Here’s the honest truth, if I’m being frank: We’re all going to die. That’s a given. But nobody wants to die because they were too busy, too embarrassed, or too dismissive to get something checked out. Especially something that could have been caught earlier. James Van Der Beek’s story isn’t just a sad celebrity death. It’s a flashing neon sign for everyone who’s ever thought, “Oh, it’s probably nothing.”
It means we need to get over ourselves. We need to stop acting like our bodies are these indestructible machines that just keep chugging along no matter what we do to them. And we need to pay attention to the subtle stuff, not just the dramatic stuff. Because sometimes, “just a change in bowel habits” isn’t just about needing less cream in your coffee. Sometimes, it’s your body screaming for help, and we’re just too polite – or too scared – to listen. So, next time your insides feel a little off for more than a day or two, do yourself a favor. Don’t be like Dawson. Go get it checked out. Seriously. Who cares if it turns out to be nothing? Better safe than… well, you know.
