November is pancreatic cancer awareness month, when health care professionals call attention to a disease that affects more than 55,000 people in the United States each year. Pancreatic cancer is an especially deadly cancer because of the way it silently spreads before being detected.

Like most 17-year-olds, Alison Griffitt was a carefree high school senior excited about her upcoming prom. She wasn’t a sun worshipper, but Griffitt admits that she would pop into a tanning salon before pageants, dances, and other special events.

Colorectal cancer has a high cure rate – especially when caught early – yet it remains the third deadliest cancer for men and women in the United States. It doesn’t help that many people avoid getting a colonoscopy, which is by far the best way to find colorectal cancer early or prevent it altogether.