'Fit Mom' did 'everything right' — then a colon cancer diagnosis changed her life

Maria Kang built her vocation astir fitness, steadfast eating and helping different moms prioritize wellness. But contempt believing she had done "everything right," the California parent of 3 was blindsided by colon cancer.

Kang, present 46, said the diagnosis wholly reshaped her knowing of what it means to beryllium healthy.

She became an net sensation successful 2013 aft a photograph of her sculpted physique alongside her 3 young sons sparked a planetary speech astir fittingness and motherhood.

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The viral representation — captioned "What’s your excuse?" — led to her being dubbed the "No Excuse Mom" and inspired the motorboat of hundreds of wellness communities astir the world.

More than a decennary later, Kang’s satellite was turned upside down erstwhile she learned that she had signifier 4 colon crab successful November 2023.

Maria Kang built her vocation astir fitness, steadfast eating and helping different moms prioritize wellness, but past was blindsided by colon cancer. (Beth Baugher, Maria Kang)

"It was decidedly a implicit daze — due to the fact that I was the healthiest idiosyncratic I knew," she shared with Fox News Digital. "I wanted to blasted the food, but I didn't devour atrocious food. I filtered my water. There was nary excuse wherefore I had this cancer."

Looking back, Kang said she had experienced persistent digestive problems since adolescence, including chronic constipation and bloating that worsened with stress.

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"It didn't substance however galore fibre pills oregon laxatives, it conscionable took a agelong clip to go," she said. "So that's been an ongoing travel passim my life."

Over the years, Kang said, she convinced herself that her digestive problems were conscionable thing she had to unrecorded with.

Kang became an net sensation successful 2013 aft a photograph of her sculpted physique alongside her 3 young sons sparked a planetary speech astir fittingness and motherhood. (Mike Byerly)

"One happening that I realized is that we normalize problems, and we deliberation it's OK, but it’s not OK," she said. "Digestion should beryllium similar breathing. It should beryllium similar inhaling and exhaling. It should beryllium simple. But it wasn't simple."

After a tumor was detected done a biopsy aft colonoscopy, Kang said she initially pursued holistic approaches for 12 weeks, but the tumor did not shrink and whitethorn person grown slightly. She past began FOLFOX — a operation of chemotherapy drugs utilized to dainty immoderate gastrointestinal cancers — successful 2024.

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After 1 treatment, Kang went to the exigency country erstwhile her colostomy stoma retracted, and a scan reportedly showed that the tumor had shrunk substantially. She past asked to halt chemotherapy and proceed with surgery.

Kang aboriginal underwent extended country to region the tumor and astir a ft of her colon, on with aggregate reproductive organs and her appendix. She temporarily required a colostomy and aboriginal an ileostomy.

"It was decidedly a implicit daze — due to the fact that I was the healthiest idiosyncratic I knew."

Today, Kang says her MRIs person shown "no suspicious wide detected." She gets regular humor screenings and scans each six months. 

"Much of what remains appears related to postoperative healing and inflammation," she shared. "Because of my history, my doctors proceed surveillance, but I person not been formally declared NED (no grounds of disease)."

Alarming trends

An estimated 158,850 Americans volition beryllium diagnosed with colorectal crab successful 2026, and astir 55,230 radical volition dice from the illness this year, according to the American Cancer Society.

Although colorectal crab incidence has declined wide — mostly among older adults, a inclination linked successful portion to accrued screening and changes successful definite hazard factors — rates are rising successful younger property groups.

Kang said her fittingness and nutrition regimens besides look drastically antithetic from her pre-cancer routines. (Maria Kang)

Among adults younger than 50, colorectal crab incidence accrued by 2.9% per twelvemonth from 2013 to 2022.

The American Cancer Society and U.S. Preventive Services Task Force urge that radical astatine mean hazard statesman regular colorectal crab screening astatine property 45, though those with definite hazard factors whitethorn request to commencement earlier.

Anyone experiencing persistent oregon concerning symptoms should consult a doctor, careless of age.

‘I look healthy’

"It was a truly big, humbling look successful the reflector erstwhile you accidental to yourself, 'I look healthy, but I'm not healthy,’" Kang told Fox News Digital.

"When idiosyncratic is astatine a mean scope successful their weight, they could person cancer. They could person autoimmune issues."

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"We don't cognize what's going connected wrong of a person. We ever conscionable privation to look the portion versus beryllium the part."

Wellness redefined

Kang said her crab travel has changed her cognition of wellness and what’s important successful life.

"Cancer makes everything highly wide — what's important, what is not important, what you should eat, what you shouldn't eat," she said. "If you truly perceive to yourself, it becomes crystal wide erstwhile you person nary energy."

Kang’s satellite was turned upside down erstwhile she learned that she had signifier 4 colon crab successful November 2023. (Maria Kang)

Kang said her fittingness and nutrition regimens besides look drastically antithetic from her pre-cancer routines.

"I utilized to bid 5 oregon six days a week, but present I lone determination erstwhile I privation to," she said. "Walking is my champion friend. I emotion to dance. I inactive emotion to strength-train due to the fact that it's amusive for maine and it makes maine strong."

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Perhaps the biggest displacement is that Kang nary longer does thing that feels forced: "If there's thing that I consciousness forced to do, I don't bash it ... If I consciousness awful, my body's going to explicit awful."

Her attack to nutrient has besides shifted, she shared.

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"In the past, determination were atrocious foods and bully foods, and cheat days … what I recognize present is balance," Kang said.

While she does people veer toward fruits and vegetables — "things that person h2o and beingness and airy successful them" — Kang said she is inactive unfastened to eating immoderate different foods, including pizza.

Kang underwent extended country to region the tumor and astir a ft of her colon, on with aggregate reproductive organs and her appendix. (Maria Kang)

Overall, Kang wants radical to cognize that maintaining steadfast habits does not destruct the anticipation of processing cancer.

"It could hap to anybody — that was the astir humbling realization," she said.

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"You whitethorn deliberation you're young and steadfast and this won't hap to you, but this satellite is truthful unpredictable close now. Anything tin hap to anybody."

"Health is not what you deliberation it is," she said. "It's not conscionable however you look. It's however you feel."

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The American Cancer Society recommends seeing a healthcare supplier astir persistent changes successful bowel habits, humor successful the stool, abdominal pain, unexplained value nonaccomplishment oregon different concerning gastrointestinal symptoms.

While specified symptoms tin person galore causes different than cancer, they should beryllium evaluated careless of a person’s age.