Country Music Star Raises Awareness for Colon Cancer | HealthInfi

Country music performer Wade Hayes knows all about the blues, heartache and regret. But after a colon cancer diagnosis in 2011 and a recurrence 2 years later, the crooner is singing a different tune. He reveals his battle with the deadly disease. Wade Hayes, 47, was born to be a country music star. Wade, son of professional country musician Don Hayes was inspired by his father to play the mandolin as well as the guitar. At age 11, he was signed to an independent record label and also played with his father’s band throughout high school.

The younger Hayes made headlines for songs centered on loneliness, heartache and despair. In 1994, his debut album soared to the top of the charts, earning him his first of two gold albums. He’s also had multiple singles top the Billboard charts, including his debut single “Old Enough to Know Better” reaching No. 1. But Hayes had to start singing a different tune after a shocking diagnosis of colon cancer in 2011 at the age of 42.

“I thought colon cancer was something older people got,” he says. “I didn’t have a family history of the disease, so going from touring, writing songs and making records to being a cancer patient was a shock.”

Country singer and songwriter Wade Hayes was at the top of the Billboard Country charts in the 1990s with his hit song “Old Enough to Know Better.” But his career came to a screeching halt when he was diagnosed with late-stage colon cancer at age 42.

Now, four years and one relapse later, Hayes’s doctor has told him there is no evidence of cancer and that he should go live his life. Hayes took his doctor’s words to heart. He just released an album titled “Go Live Your Life” and is back on tour, simultaneously promoting his new album and raising cancer awareness and money for people with advanced colon cancer, also known as colorectal cancer.

He launched his album in March as part of Colon Cancer Awareness Month and partnered with Genentech, a biotechnology corporation, which will donate $1 (up to $50,000) for every download of “Go Live Your Life” on iTunes. The money will support the Colon Cancer Alliance Blue Note Fund, a nonprofit that helps people with advanced colorectal cancer.

His Story

Hayes vividly recalls the night in 2011 when he realized something was wrong. He’d been experiencing some minor symptoms bloating, lethargy and slight bleeding but he attributed them to his lifestyle. He was lifting heavy weights and traveling a lot. One day, as he prepared to fly out for a show, he doubled over in pain.

He did the show and flew back home to Nashville. The sharp pain subsided, but he was still uncomfortable, so he made an appointment to see his doctor. He was young and had no family history of colon cancer, so he didn’t suspect anything major. The doctor, however, ordered tests, which showed a large tumor on Hayes’s large intestine. Further testing revealed it had metastasized to his liver and diaphragm. He had stage IV colorectal cancer.

Hayes also had a condition that caused part of his intestine to fold into another section of the intestine, creating a blockage. That required a seven-and-a-half-hour emergency surgery. His doctor removed 20 inches of his large intestine, up to 75 percent of his liver and a small section of his diaphragm and gall bladder along with his “sunny disposition,” he jokingly recalls.Read More