Exclusive | I was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer at 33 — this was the symptom I initially dismissed

When she was crowned Mrs. Mississippi Plus America last year, Bryce Ramsey immediately knew what her platform would be.

“Hands down, colon cancer awareness,” Ramsey, 39, told The Post. “At the time, I was a four-year survivor, and I was like, ‘I just want to be able to help as many people as I can.’”

With March being Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, Ramsey is also working with the Colorectal Cancer Alliance to share her story. She hopes to encourage people to get screened for the disease — her journey has already revealed that colon cancer is more common in her family than she thought.

Friends and family were stunned when Ramsey learned in 2019 that she had Stage 3 colon cancer at the age of 33. Colorectal cancer typically affects people over 50, but there’s been a concerning uptick in diagnoses among younger adults.

Ramsey was not as surprised by the news. As an operating room nurse, she knew the importance of listening to her body.

“In my spirit, I just knew something wasn’t right,” recalled Ramsey, who lives in Canton, Miss.

The first sign

Ramsey initially noticed blood in her stool after giving birth to son Ashton in 2011. She dismissed it as hemorrhoids.

The bleeding became more frequent in 2019 and included mucus, so she underwent a colonoscopy. The exam revealed that she had a 5-centimeter polyp in her sigmoid colon, the section of the colon that connects to the rectum.

Shortly thereafter, doctors removed 3 feet of her colon and 13 lymph nodes. Because the cancer had spread to three of these lymph nodes, Ramsey was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer.

She begged her family members to get screened. Having first-degree relatives (parents, siblings or children) with colon cancer greatly increases the risk of developing the disease.

“We found out that we do, in fact, have a significant family history,” Ramsey said.

Her dad had his entire colon removed upon the discovery of several precancerous polyps, her brother is set to have a portion of his colon cut out, and her aunt lost part of her colon after a tumor was found.

Her family addressing their colon cancer is not the only positive outcome of this ordeal.

A welcome turn of events

Ten days after surgery, for her birthday, Ramsey attended a New Orleans Saints game with her then-boyfriend, Mickee.

As time on the clock expired, Wil Lutz kicked a 33-yard field goal for the Saints to beat the Carolina Panthers 34-31. Ramsey was a bit distracted trying to make sure no one accidentally touched her stomach as they celebrated — because it still had staples — so she didn’t notice Mickee beginning to propose.

“He said, ‘I just want you to know I’m not proposing to you because you’re sick. I’ve been planning this for a long time,’” Ramsey said. “He was like, ‘It just threw a little hiccup in our plan.’”

The couple ended up on the jumbotron, and Saints linebacker Demario Davis retweeted footage of the special moment.

Ramsey started chemotherapy weeks later, in January 2020. As if that wasn’t stressful enough, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and Mickee was deployed to the Bronx Zoo to help emergency personnel with ambulance services.

The couple wed in June, two weeks after Mickee returned to Mississippi.

On Father’s Day 2020, Ramsey learned she was pregnant.

Throughout her cancer journey, Ramsey had persistent dreams of having another boy, with “Luke” or “Lucas” in his name. They welcomed Emree Lucas-Ray in February 2021 after Ramsey had a taxing bout of COVID.

“He’s absolutely perfect in every way, and his name actually means strong, shining light,” Ramsey said. “It was just kind of like a breath of fresh air after the whole colon cancer thing.”

Crowning achievement

Ramsey has been cancer-free for five years as of this month. In April, she passes her crown to a new Mrs. Mississippi Plus America, a title celebrating plus-sized wives in the state.

Ramsey has been using that platform and social media to remind people to schedule colonoscopies.

Colorectal cancer has a 91% survival rate when caught early, yet one-third of eligible adults aren’t getting screened. A recent study from the Colorectal Cancer Alliance found that most Americans would rather do pretty much anything else.

Adults at average risk are encouraged to begin screening at 45, while those with a family history like Ramsey likely need to get examined earlier and more often.

“I just want to spread awareness,” she said, “to get people involved, to get a screening and to listen to their bodies, because if something doesn’t seem right, more than likely it’s not.”