Candace Tucker spent a lot of time thinking about cancer. Her family had received frightening diagnoses over the years: Her grandfather with prostate cancer, her grandmother with breast cancer, and her aunt with pancreatic cancer. Tucker also worked at an oncology practice in her small Texas town. She was surrounded daily by both cancer patients and physicians. 

Still, when she noticed some strange bowel movements and a small amount of blood in her stool in September 2025, she thought nothing of it. Work was busy, and when she was at home, she was raising her 7-year-old grandson and cheering on the sidelines of his baseball games. She also had just started changing her diet to incorporate more fiber, so she thought that was to blame. 

After a few months of mild discomfort and the occasional "little spot" of blood, Tucker realized that something wasn't right. She underwent a colonoscopy. The doctor who performed the procedure said it looked like she had cancer, but warned that it was too early to tell. A week later, pathology results confirmed her fears: She had Stage II rectal cancer. 

"I was terrified. I couldn't believe it," Tucker, 41, said. "Your mind goes to the worst possible scenario. I was crying. I immediately called my mother-in-law. My husband was there, my grandson was there. And I tried to be strong, because I didn't want my loved ones to be scared. But it's a hard thing to be strong during." 

"As aggressive as we can be" 

Tucker quickly began treatment with Dr. Bradley Scott Colton, a gastrointestinal oncologist at Texas Oncology. He started by sampling her tumor to study its DNA and see if it had any mutations. The test showed that Tucker would require chemotherapy and surgery, and possibly radiation. Learning she would need such intense treatment was "a little bit overwhelming," Tucker said. 

When Tucker spoke to CBS News, she was about a third of the way through her chemotherapy treatment. She receives the medication every two weeks. When the cycle is complete, Colton will do another round of tests to determine the next steps for her treatment. 

"It'll depend how she does, how well she tolerates (the chemotherapy), how well her labs do. We are definitely trying to be as aggressive as we can be," Colton said, noting that Tucker is a "dream patient" who has responded well to the medication so far. 

Tucker said that most days, the chemotherapy is "not as bad as (she) had anticipated." Her biggest priority has been keeping things normal for her grandson.  

"I feel like it's important to have normalcy," Tucker said. "I told my husband: I don't care if I don't feel good, I don't care if I'm tired. I'm going to make it to everything." 

Symptoms and warning signs

Colton said that he has seen patients miss the symptoms of colorectal cancer "far too often." Many patients, especially younger ones, "brush off" the warning signs, he said. He said that any lasting, unexplained bowel changes should be checked out quickly. 

"If you have bad food and you get some food poisoning and you get diarrhea or some weird bowels for a week, that's OK. You don't have to worry about that. If those symptoms aren't temporary, after a week or a couple weeks, see a GI doctor," Colton said. Even if it's not a sign of colorectal cancer, it could be a symptom of another gastrointestinal condition that needs treatment, he said. 

Dr. Megan Turley, a colon and rectal surgeon at Texas Oncology who was not involved in Tucker's care, said that any blood in the stool should always be taken seriously.  

"Rectal bleeding is not normal. Is it always cancer? No. But is it normal? Also no," Turley told CBS News. Other warning signs can include lower abdominal pain, unexplained weight loss and changes in stool color or consistency.

Dr. Arif Kamal, chief patient officer at the American Cancer Society, told CBS News in March that oncologists are seeing a year-over-year increase in both colorectal cancer diagnoses and deaths in people aged 20 to 49. Colorectal cancer has become the leading cancer-related cause of death for people under 50, said Kamal. 

There is no clear reason for the increase, Kamal said, but experts have speculated that diet and lifestyle factors, family history and obesity may all be part of the puzzle. 

Fighting stigma

Tucker said that she hopes sharing her cancer experience can help reduce the stigma she feels exists around colorectal cancer. It wasn't until she was diagnosed with the disease that her aunt revealed multiple relatives had had colorectal cancer during their lives. While her family was open about other cancer diagnoses, she had never heard these stories.  

"Maybe I would have been more cautious of any of the symptoms I had if I knew," Tucker said. "It's almost like it's the 'dirty' cancer. And I don't think anybody should be ashamed of having cancer." 

Tucker said she has made efforts to be open about her own diagnosis. She also hopes a wave of celebrity stories, including the deaths of "Dawson's Creek" actor James Van Der Beek and "Schitt's Creek" star Catherine O'Hara, will continue to draw attention to the disease and its symptoms. 

But most importantly, she is looking forward to finishing treatment and hopefully living a cancer-free life. 

"I'm excited to get all this done and to have this in the past," Tucker said. "I know I will never fully have it in the back of my mind, but I'm excited to get to that point."