When I met Julie in 1996, I knew I had found the love of my life.
We were young, with more dreams than plans. But we believed that if we faced life together, everything else would fall into place. Before long, we were engaged, married and welcoming our first daughter, Baylee, into the world. Soon after came Mckenna and Jayden, completing the family Julie and I cherished more than anything.
Anyone who knew Julie knows she never did anything halfway. She poured her heart into everything she loved. As a former gymnast, she eventually turned her passion into purpose by opening I & M Gymnastics in Channahon, where she coached young athletes. But she taught far more than routines and competition skills. She taught work ethic, confidence, resilience, kindness and the value of lifting others up.
Even after selling the gym to spend time with our family, Julie never stopped inspiring people. She immersed herself in bodybuilding and CrossFit, coached countless athletes, helped people improve their nutrition and encouraged all those in her orbit to become healthier versions of themselves.
Health wasn’t just something Julie believed in — it was how she lived. She was the epitome of health-conscious. That’s why her colorectal cancer diagnosis came as such a shock.
If someone as disciplined, active and committed to healthy living as Julie could face this disease, it became painfully clear to us that colorectal cancer doesn’t only affect people who appear unhealthy. It doesn’t always come with warning signs. And it doesn’t wait until life slows down.
Julie could have let her diagnosis define her. Instead, she chose to use it to educate others. She wanted people to understand that taking care of yourself means more than eating well and exercising. It also means keeping up with preventive health screenings that can detect disease before symptoms even appear.
Julie, who died in March 2024, hoped her experience would encourage someone else to schedule a screening he or she had been putting off. If sharing her story could spare another family from receiving the kind of news we did, she believed it was worth it.
There are still moments when Julie’s message reaches people. One of those moments came through a new video from the medicine company Guardant Health honoring people who died from colorectal cancer and encouraging others to get screened. Seeing her name flashing on the screen was deeply emotional for our family. To see her name now tied to a message that could help someone get screened sooner felt like her mission was still moving forward.
Here in Illinois, an estimated 6,160 people will be diagnosed with colorectal — colon and rectal — cancer this year, and 2,080 are estimated to die from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society. I can’t help but think that these numbers fall behind the harsh reality that many people become aware of having the disease too late.
When colorectal cancer is detected early, treatment is often more successful, and more lives are potentially saved. Too often, people assume they can wait. They feel healthy. They’re busy raising children, building careers or caring for everyone else before themselves.
Julie understood that feeling. But she also learned that feeling healthy isn’t always the same as being healthy.
Today, there are more screening options than ever before. Whether it’s a colonoscopy or another evidence-based screening option recommended by your healthcare provider, the most important step is making sure you get screened.
New options like the Shield test, the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved blood test as a primary screening option for adults 45 and older who have an average risk of cancer, are quick and easy. All it takes is a conversation with your doctor, no special prep or procedure and no time away from work or life’s responsibilities.
In fact, the American Cancer Society recently updated its colorectal cancer screening guidelines to recommend Shield.
Talk to your loved ones, encourage your friends and, most importantly, don’t put off screening.
If reading this prompts just one person to schedule a colorectal cancer screening, then Julie’s greatest lesson will continue to save lives. That’s all she wanted.
Nicholas Tkaczuk is a licensed health insurance broker based in Channahon.