Sentirse descarado: conozca a David Russo, fundador de Cheeky Charity

Marzo es el Mes de Concientización sobre el Cáncer Colorrectal y en Cheeky Charity es uno de los meses más ocupados del año. Charlamos con David Russo, fundador de Cheeky Charity, beneficiario de una subvención comunitaria de la Fundación Prevent Cancer 2022. Cheeky Charity, una excéntrica organización sin fines de lucro, no tiene miedo de mostrar sus moños para que la gente hable sobre el cáncer colorrectal. En esta entrevista, David comparte su inspiración para iniciar Cheeky Charity, sus objetivos de crear conciencia sobre el cáncer colorrectal en la comunidad LGBTQ+ y los momentos que más le han llamado la atención desde que fundó Cheeky Charity hace tres años.

Esta entrevista ha sido editada para mayor extensión y claridad.

¿Qué te inspiró a iniciar Cheeky Charity?

Antes de que esto fuera siquiera una idea que tuve, ya estaba afectado por esta enfermedad. Tenía 32 años y tenía sangre en las heces. Como hombre gay sexualmente activo, lo descarté y me abstuve. [Nota del editor: Puede producirse un ligero sangrado durante el sexo anal y, por lo general, no es motivo de preocupación. Debería detenerse en un par de días.] Pero después de aproximadamente un mes, todavía encontraba sangre en mis heces.

Fui al médico y me dijeron que era demasiado joven para tener algo grave y que probablemente eran hemorroides. Pero no me sentía bien, así que terminé presionando para que me hicieran una colonoscopia, y se encontraron algunos pólipos precancerosos que estaban justo a punto de convertirse en cáncer.
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.
Estaba agradecido de ser más consciente de mi historia familiar 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.

¿Por qué es importante crear conciencia sobre el cáncer colorrectal?

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.

¿Qué recursos ofrece durante todo el año para informar y educar a su audiencia?

Cada primer y tercer martes del mes, organizamos grupos de apoyo para pacientes, sobrevivientes y cuidadores de cáncer colorrectal LGBTQ+. Esperamos que ayude a las personas de la comunidad que han pasado y están pasando por cáncer colorrectal a saber que hay personas con quienes pueden hablar en un ambiente acogedor. (Encuentre nuestros grupos en línea o en persona [Palm Springs, Ca.]).

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.

¿Por qué es importante crear conciencia sobre el cáncer colorrectal en la comunidad LGBTQ+?

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.

En el informe Hechos y cifras de 2024 de la Sociedad Estadounidense del Cáncer, hay una sección especial LGBTQ+, que dice que una de cada seis personas de la comunidad LGBTQ+ no se somete a exámenes preventivos debido a malas experiencias pasadas y miedo, como miedo a la discriminación o no. siendo bienvenido. Ese número es uno de cada cinco dentro de la comunidad trans.

Como sociedad, tenemos que mejorar para que las personas LGBTQ+ puedan acceder a la atención que necesitan. Y como persona LGBTQ+, quiero empoderar a mi comunidad para que defienda su salud.

¿Qué le ha permitido hacer a Cheeky Charity la financiación de la Prevent Cancer Foundation?

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.

¿Cómo está teniendo impacto su trabajo en Cheeky Charity?

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.

Para obtener información adicional sobre el cáncer colorrectal, diríjase a preventcancer.org/colorrectaly visite la página de la Prevent Cancer Foundation en El cáncer y la comunidad LGBTQ+.