Guelph man wants you to #SaveYourButt after a scary brush with colorectal cancer
John Dalusong | CBC News | Posted: March 9, 2025 10:00 AM | Last Updated: 18 hours ago
‘It's time to do those tests that you get in the mail,’ Kyle Mackie said
A man from Guelph, Ont. who had a colorectal cancer scare last year is trying to raise awareness and funds for the disease.
Kyle Mackie said he just turned 50 last year when he was sent a notice in the mail that said he was eligible for colorectal cancer screening.
Mackie decided to get checked and said it was "surprising" to him that his test results came back abnormal. Doctors told him a colonoscopy was the next step for diagnosis.
"It was summer at the time. I was busy riding my bike and camping, and I didn't want to deal with that right away," he said.
"I waited until the end of the summer, booked that ... I went and sure enough, they found something that needed to be addressed."
Doctors found a small tumour in Mackie's colon.
He underwent a hemicolectomy, a procedure where doctors remove part of a person's large intestine. In Mackie's case, the doctors had to take out half of his colon where the tumour was located so they could test it properly.
Fundraising post 'taken down within 30 seconds'
Mackie is currently raising funds for Colorectal Care Canada, a non-profit organization aiming to reduce the incidence of colorectal cancer in Canada through education and awareness, while also helping improve the quality of life of those diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
He initially reached out to CBC Kitchener-Waterloo to talk about Facebook taking down his fundraising post almost immediately after being posted.
"I started a little fundraising campaign through Canada helps. It had a picture of a butt, a really nice crafted sculpture of someone's, you know, butt," Mackie said.
The picture is the backside of a Roman-type statue with the words "Butt, Seriously" beside it. Mackie has a sense of humour about the issue, with his slogan being: "Regular checks save butts," and "#SaveYourButt."
"I put that up on my Facebook page … it got flagged as nudity and immediately taken down within 30 seconds."
CBC News reached out to Meta, Facebook's parent company, via email for a comment on the post being taken down. A spokesperson said the content was eventually reviewed and re-posted.
"That was a bit of a shock … I said, you know, this is a good cause," Mackie said. "So eventually they did put that back up and it's up on my Facebook page now."
Colorectal Cancer: A growing concern
March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Colorectal cancer is also called colon cancer or rectal cancer.
According to Colorectal Cancer Canada's website, 69 Canadians are diagnosed with colorectal cancer every day. Colorectal cancer has become the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer in Canada in 2024.
Sharlene Gill, a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia and a gastrointestinal medical oncologist with B.C. Cancer, told CBC News there is an alarming increase in the incidence of colon cancer, especially among younger people.
"I've been treating colorectal cancer for over 20 years, and no doubt we are seeing patients being diagnosed at an earlier age," she said.
Elizabeth Holmes, Director of Health Policy at the Canadian Cancer Society, told CBC News in an email that studies in both Canada and globally have indicated that "early onset cancer," or cancer diagnosed before the age of 50, may be on the rise.
Gill explained that research on colorectal cancer is ongoing, but doctors and researchers have found that lifestyle decisions, including diet and exercise, play a role in this trend.
A diet high in processed foods and low in fibre and plants negatively affects people's microbiome, said Gill.
"[The microbiome] is understood to have a role in controlling inflammation as well as immune surveillance, i.e. how our immune system works, which can affect cancer development," she said.
Holmes said while risk factors such "alcohol use, obesity, sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy dietary habits can contribute to the increase in cancers in adolescents and young adults," they cannot fully explain the trend.
She said more research is needed to understand the rising cases of cancer in young people.
Get tested
Despite having half of his colon removed, Mackie is thankful "they caught it before it turned nasty."
"I'm lucky," he said. "I'm happy to report that all of the tests came back negative and unremarkable, so I'm recovering quite nicely and got an exciting summer planned."
However, Gill expressed concern about the number of people who aren't taking the opportunity to be screened.
"More than, probably, 40 per cent of people who are eligible for screening aren't getting screened," Gill said. "Even in their early 50s and 60s, people aren't doing it, and we are in a public health system where it's at no cost to you to do the test."
Colorectal Cancer Canada says colorectal cancer is 90 per cent curable at early stages.
Holmes said current evidence suggests that people between the ages of 50 and 74, and are of average risk should have a stool test every two years – even without signs and symptoms.
Through his experience, Mackie hopes more people will take screenings more seriously.
"If you are scheduled, if you're of the demographic where you're over 50, it's time to do those tests that you get in the mail."
LISTEN | This Guelph man explains why you should get your butt checked: