U.s. congressman Rodney davis proudly representing the 13th district of illinois

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) and his wife Shannon, a nurse at Taylorville Memorial Hospital, were featured in a recent issue of Beyond Blue, a publication focused on fighting colon cancer. The article highlights Shannon’s battle with a rare form of colon cancer and the struggles many families face when a loved one is diagnosed with cancer. The following is an excerpt from the article titled ‘Blessings in Disguise’:

It’s been 17 years since I took my last treatment. I was diagnosed and had my surgery in March, which is ironically Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Maybe not the day I was diagnosed, but soon after, I saw how my diagnosis was a blessing in my life for a lot of reasons.

Before my diagnosis, I was 26 years old and working as a home care nurse. They called me the “beginning and the end” nurse – I took care of babies and hospice patients. I noticed I wasn’t feeling well and shared it with some friends at work. I thought something was wrong with my thyroid. So, I did my own blood work.

The doctor who ran my tests called me back and asked if I was still working, he wanted to talk to me. My tests showed I was extremely anemic with a very low hemoglobin. He was worried about me having a heart attack and wanted to set up a blood transfusion.

“RIGHT AWAY I KNEW IT WAS CANCER.”

Read the full article in Beyond Blue.

Davis has made it a priority to fight colon cancer in Congress by increasing early detection through screenings, urging more research for early onset cases, and advocating for the use of new technology to increase screenings. He has also supported additional funding for the National Institute of Health (NIH) for research and the House passed the 21st Century Cures Act, which will modernize our health care infrastructure and accelerate the approval process for new drug development, medical devices, and other treatments.