የቼኪ ስሜት፡ የቼኪ በጎ አድራጎት መስራች ዴቪድ ሩሶን ያግኙ

መጋቢት የኮሎሬክታል ካንሰር የግንዛቤ ማስጨበጫ ወር ነው፣ እና በቼኪ በጎ አድራጎት ድርጅት በዓመቱ በጣም ከሚበዛባቸው ወራት አንዱ ነው። የCheeky Charity መስራች ከሆነው ዴቪድ ሩሶ ጋር ተወያይተናል—የ2022 መከላከል ካንሰር ፋውንዴሽን የማህበረሰብ ስጦታ ተቀባይ። ከባቢያዊ ያልሆነ ለትርፍ ያልተቋቋመ፣ Cheeky Charity ሰዎች ስለ ኮሎሬክታል ካንሰር እንዲናገሩ ለማድረግ ቡንቸውን ለማሳየት አይፈራም። በዚህ ቃለ መጠይቅ፣ ዴቪድ የቼኪ በጎ አድራጎትን ለመጀመር አነሳሱን፣ በኤልጂቢቲኪው+ ማህበረሰብ ውስጥ የኮሎሬክታል ካንሰር ግንዛቤን ለማስፋፋት ያደረባቸውን ግቦች እና ከሦስት ዓመታት በፊት ቼኪ በጎ አድራጎትን ከጀመረበት ጊዜ ጀምሮ ለእሱ ጎልተው የሚታዩትን ጊዜያት አካፍሏል።

ይህ ቃለ መጠይቅ ለረጅም ጊዜ እና ግልጽነት ተስተካክሏል።

ቼኪ በጎ አድራጎትን ለመጀመር ምን አነሳሳህ?

ይህ እኔ የነበረኝ ሀሳብ ከመሆኑ በፊት በዚህ በሽታ ተጎድቻለሁ። የ32 አመት ልጅ ነበርኩ እና በርጩማዬ ላይ ደም ነበረኝ። የግብረ-ሰዶማውያን ግብረ ሰዶማውያን እንደመሆኔ መጠን ጽፌዋለሁ እና ተቆጥቤያለሁ። [የአርታዒ ማስታወሻ፡ በፊንጢጣ ወሲብ ቀላል ደም መፍሰስ ሊከሰት ይችላል እና በተለምዶ ለጭንቀት መንስኤ አይሆንም። በሁለት ቀናት ውስጥ መቆም አለበት።] ከአንድ ወር ገደማ በኋላ ግን አሁንም በሰገራ ውስጥ ደም እያየሁ ነበር።

ዶክተር ጋር ሄጄ በጣም ትንሽ እንደሆንኩ ነገሩኝ ምንም ከባድ ነገር እንዳይኖረኝ እና ምናልባት ሄሞሮይድስ ሊሆን ይችላል. ነገር ግን ጥሩ ስሜት አልተሰማኝም, ስለዚህ ወደ ኮሎንኮስኮፒ ገፋሁ እና ወደ ካንሰር ለመሸጋገር አፋፍ ላይ ያሉ ጥቂት የቅድመ-ካንሰር ፖሊፕ አገኘሁ.
I called home to tell my parents. And they said, “That makes sense. Your dad’s been getting polyps removed since he was 40. Your grandfather died of colorectal cancer. Your two (distant) cousins passed away from colorectal cancer.”

I didn’t know. Nobody talked about it. I knew my grandfather died of cancer before I was born, but I didn’t know what kind it was.
ስለ እኔ የበለጠ ስለማውቅ አመስጋኝ ነበርኩ። የቤተሰብ ታሪክ and didn’t think much of it beyond that. Fast forward six years and COVID hit, and I started traveling the country in a sprinter van just to try to figure out what to do with my life. On a whim, I researched colorectal cancer, and I learned it’s the second leading cause of cancer death—and it’s getting to be more common in younger adults, and NOT just those with family history.

If I don’t know about it, other people must not know about it, either.
I started an Instagram page to post fun photos and PSAs about colorectal cancer alongside them. I wanted to attract people who would not otherwise see information about colorectal cancer—they’d come to us because they’d enjoy looking at the photography and then they would hear the message through it.

Our focus is on the LGBTQ community and within that, the younger adult population. But we certainly want everybody to see our messaging. During Pride Month this June, we’re trying to get colorectal cancer awareness into as many Pride events around the country as possible.

የኮሎሬክታል ካንሰርን ግንዛቤ ማሳደግ ለምን አስፈላጊ ነው?

For anybody who’s under 45, the only reason they might get screened is if they experience any symptoms or if they learn they have a family history of the disease. And they’re likely not going to figure that out unless somebody tells them. Especially with the increasing incidence of colorectal cancer in younger adults, it’s more important than ever to make sure people are aware.

What we’re doing is getting the words “colorectal cancer” to an audience. The more you talk about it, the less stigma there is. So, we’re simplifying it and spreading the message—for people in their 20s and 30s, to be aware of signs and symptoms, and for people 45 and up to get screened.

ለታዳሚዎችዎ ለማሳወቅ እና ለማስተማር በዓመቱ ውስጥ ምን ግብዓቶች ይሰጣሉ?

በየወሩ የመጀመሪያ እና ሶስተኛ ማክሰኞ፣ ለ LGBTQ+ የኮሎሬክታል ካንሰር በሽተኞች፣ የተረፉ እና ተንከባካቢዎች የድጋፍ ቡድኖችን እንይዛለን። በማህበረሰቡ ውስጥ ያለፉ እና በኮሎሬክታል ካንሰር ውስጥ ያሉ ሰዎች እንግዳ ተቀባይ በሆነ አካባቢ ሊያናግሩዋቸው የሚችሉ ሰዎች እንዳሉ እንዲያውቁ እንደሚረዳቸው ተስፋ እናደርጋለን። (የእኛን የመስመር ላይ ወይም በአካል [Palm Springs, Ca.] ቡድኖችን ያግኙ።)

And we also bring people to other resources that exist. We’re very open to providing linkages for people so they can get care and financial services.

በኤልጂቢቲኪው+ ማህበረሰብ ውስጥ የኮሎሬክታል ካንሰርን ግንዛቤ ማሳደግ ለምን አስፈለገ?

There are a lot of preconceived stigmas that people in the LGBTQ+ community have about what they’ll experience when they go into a health care setting.

በአሜሪካ የካንሰር ሶሳይቲ የ2024 እውነታዎች እና አሀዞች ዘገባ፣ ልዩ የኤልጂቢቲኪው+ ክፍል አለ፣ እሱም በኤልጂቢቲኪው+ ማህበረሰብ ውስጥ ካሉት ስድስት ሰዎች አንዱ ለመከላከያ ምርመራ የማይሄዱት ያለፉ ልምዶች እና ፍርሃቶች - ልክ እንደ አድልዎ ፍርሃት ወይም አይደለም እንኳን ደህና መጣችሁ ። ይህ ቁጥር በትራንስ ማህበረሰብ ውስጥ ከአምስቱ አንድ ነው።

LGBTQ+ ሰዎች የሚያስፈልጋቸውን እንክብካቤ እንዲያገኙ እንደ ማህበረሰብ የተሻለ ነገር ማድረግ አለብን። እና እንደ LGBTQ+ ሰው፣ ማህበረሰቤን ለጤንነታቸው እንዲሟገት ማስቻል እፈልጋለሁ።

ከካንሰር መከላከል ፋውንዴሽን የተገኘው የገንዘብ ድጋፍ ቼኪ በጎ አድራጎትን እንዲያደርግ የፈቀደው ምንድን ነው?

Funding from the Prevent Cancer Foundation has been invaluable. It’s enabled us to create a foundation, to create a starting point. The Prevent Cancer Foundation grant allows us to work on the ground for in-person initiatives where we can physically interact with folks. And it would have taken us a very long time to be able to do that otherwise.

Last year’s $25,000 grant from the Prevent Cancer Foundation set us up, and now we were recently awarded $250,000 from the New York State Department of Health to expand our work. We’re in the phase where we have so much momentum, opportunity and growth, and it’s thanks to the Prevent Cancer Foundation for trusting us as a small organization.

በቼኪ በጎ አድራጎት ድርጅት ውስጥ ያለው ሥራዎ እንዴት ተጽዕኖ ያሳድራል?

There were probably 20 or 30 moments where people had come up to me and said they’re overdue for their screenings, and their partner says, “I’m going to push you on this, too.” So we know we are helping somebody who is overdue for screening get into the doctor.
Then we’ve had a few people say they got screened and they didn’t detect anything. In those moments, I’m so grateful they went in and they can have the peace of mind knowing that things are clear and they don’t have to go in for another ten years for a colonoscopy.

And I can think of four instances in the last four months when people have come up to me and said, “I saw your campaign. I went in and I got screened and they found polyps.” One person said they found precancerous, like right-on-the-cusp polyps. It’s the folks that told me they caught the polyps early and prevented cancer that stand out the most, and I start crying and then they start crying and it’s just a big teary mess in all the best ways.

ስለ ኮሎሬክታል ካንሰር ተጨማሪ መረጃ ለማግኘት ወደ ይሂዱ preventcancer.org/colorectal, እና በ ላይ የካንሰር መከላከል ፋውንዴሽን ገጽን ይጎብኙ ካንሰር እና LGBTQ+ ማህበረሰብ።