![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/https:\/\/d1hfln2sfez66z.cloudfront.net\/02-23-2026\/t_498564d2f9b1484bbd3ea0bbda498196_name_LLPKG_CRAME.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nCHARLOTTE \u2014 In November of 2023, Amy Reiss noticed something was wrong \u2013 she was exhausted, and she thought she was depressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot the typical symptoms that you hear about,\u201d Reiss, 49, said.<\/p>\n
What she didn\u2019t know was that her body was warning her of something much more serious.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe doctor said you have cancer,\u201d Reiss said. \u201cTotal shock was really the response that I had.\u201d <\/p>\n
After a colonoscopy, doctors found a large tumor. She was diagnosed with Stage 3C rectal cancer. Even with a family history, Reiss says she never thought this would happen to her.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom was diagnosed with colon cancer. She was 65 when she was diagnosed,\u201d Reiss said. \u201cIt was Lynch Syndrome, which is a genetic condition, so I sort of felt it was a freak thing that happened to her because she was a little bit older.\u201d<\/p>\n
What followed was a grueling journey through chemotherapy, radiation, and multiple surgeries.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re scared about dying all the time and you\u2019re looking at the effect it has on your family and your loved ones,\u201d Reiss said. \u201cI felt a lot of guilt coupled with a lot of fear and just trying to keep up a lot of hope and optimism at the same time.\u201d <\/p>\n
Dr. Michael Dobson, colorectal surgeon at Novant Health, says she faced every step of the process head-on.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got to say she is a tough woman. She has been through a tremendous amount of treatment,\u201d Dobson said. <\/p>\n
Reiss is now cancer-free, and she has a message for others.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I went through was a million times worse than the prep for a colonoscopy, and I thought to myself if I had done it a couple of years earlier, I wouldn\u2019t have been in this situation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we can identify it before it ever turns into a cancer, that\u2019s a win for everybody and that\u2019s what we\u2019re aiming for … and the purpose of screening to try to prevent colorectal cancer,\u201d Dobson said. <\/p>\n
Doctors say early screening can save lives. Doctors say colorectal cancer is now one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in people under 55.<\/p>\n
The American Cancer Society recommends that people at average risk of colorectal cancer start regular screening at age 45.<\/p>\n
(VIDEO: Beloved Cramerton firefighter dies after battle with pancreatic cancer)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Beloved Cramerton firefighter dies after battle with pancreatic cancer <\/p>\n
\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHARLOTTE \u2014 In November of 2023, Amy Reiss noticed something was wrong \u2013 she was exhausted, and she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549959,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[244856,39076,244851,244857,244853,97,38527,244852,244854,244855,200375,3729,3,1977],"class_list":["post-549958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-arthur_pullen","tag-channel_9","tag-cramerton","tag-cremington","tag-gaston_county","tag-health","tag-joey","tag-joey_pulen","tag-joey_pullen","tag-k_cramerton_fire_department","tag-ken_lemon","tag-local","tag-news","tag-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}