West Seattle mom of three Anita Mitchell is not just fighting colon cancer, she’s fighting to help other people who are battling it. And that’s why she took time to talk with WSB about how she’s doing and about a celebrity-led event in Seattle this Saturday that’s a must-attend for not just patients, but also their family and friends — an event that wouldn’t be happening if she hadn’t pushed for it:

If you don’t know Anita personally, you’ve probably heard of her. Just last fall, citywide media featured her as one of the winners in a Gilda’s Club contest. She’s involved in myriad organizations that help patients, survivors, and families, and that’s why she’s helping get the word out about this Saturday’s event, which she admits she helped inspire.

It’s a Colon Cancer Alliance one-day conference, 9 am-1:15 pm Saturday in the Thomas Building at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center on Lake Union, and it features former TV host Joan Lunden, helping facilitate “Conversations about Colorectal Cancer” with doctors and other experts talking about the latest treatment options plus other education/support resources.

Anita says events like this can be a godsend. “It’s a safe environment, and it really helps to know what’s out there.” She says the CCA’s been doing the one-day events about a year, and she helped make this one happen by telling organization leaders they really needed to come to the Northwest, to help patients and their families find out information that could be literally life-saving.

She says cutting-edge treatment is what’s helped her survive so long. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer — Stage 4 is as serious as a cancer diagnosis can get — in 2005. “I went through surgery, lots of chemotherapy, another surgery for my liver … In the middle of all this, I started doing a lot of outreach. I started a ‘Dress Blue for Colon Cancer’ day, and went to a Colon Cancer Alliance conference a month after my second surgery. … It was nice to be surrounded by other people going through the same thing.”

The support is as important, if not more important, as the medical information, Anita says. CCA offers a “buddy program” for newly diagnosed patients to connect with others fighing the disease: “They try to find someone around your age, someone in similar circumstances … It’s really nice to be able to talk to other people and help them, when they are nervous about a test result, or going through treatment and need really practical tips, like what lotion to use on your hands because they are falling apart from (effects of) the chemo. One of my (current) ‘buddies’ is a woman in Ocean Shores, single older lady who lives alone with her cats; if I didn’t call and check in with her — none of her neighbors know, so if I ask, how’s the test, etc., it gives her a chance to vent, and talk about it.”

Anita may be West Seattle’s best-known colon-cancer survivor; she notes the disease has taken a toll on notable West Seattleites in recent years: In late February, musician Rick Novito died of complications from colon-cancer treatment; last May, the disease took the life of Mayor Greg Nickels’ father, Robert Nickels.

The mayor is among the local and regional political leaders frm whom Anita has secured proclamations about colon-cancer awareness. “My whole goal is to get awareness out there,” she says. She’s even posed for a national calendar called the Colon Club’s Colondar, explaining, “It features young survivors, 50 and younger [Anita is in her 40s]. You pose, and show your scar, and tell your story. It’s so important to show that this isn’t just an old person’s disease. So I flew to New York and posed. The pictures are really nicely done.”

So nicely done, in fact, they have hung in several local stores including Alki Mail and Dispatch, and when we spoke with Anita a few days ago, she was looking for another West Seattle venue to display them. But her advocacy continues to reach a wider audience than West Seattle and environs; she was planning to be part of an event in Washington, D.C., this week, where she was to receive a national award for her work. “I’ve got to write a speech!” she mock-panicked when we talked.

Anita also has worked to change laws. Starting this July, she says, insurance companies doing business in our state will be required to cover colon-cancer screening. “It was one of the few states where that wasn’t covered,” she recalls. And she is proud of a pilot program in several counties where screening is offered to those who can’t afford it. “It’s already removed 40 polyps and diagnosed one case of colon cancer,” she says. The polyp part is important – as she reminds anyone with whom she talks, colon cancer is one of the few truly preventable cancers; if you are tested and polyps are discovered, they can be removed, taking with them the chance they might turn cancerous. Waiting for symptoms could be too late; she says she wasn’t diagnosed until months after she first started going to doctors to try to have them check on symptoms – she recalls ruefully that one doctor actually told her just go home and don’t worry about it, it’s a case of hemorrhoids. At the time, she says, she didn’t know she should have been screened early – because she had a family history (estranged father who died of the disease, but she wasn’t aware).

Then, once someone is diagnosed, she reiterates, “patient support is just huge — you can’t put a price on that.”

And that’s why she urges anyone who is fighting colon cancer, or who has a patient in their circle of family or friends, to attend the event at The Hutch this Saturday. “I feel I can help save a lot of lives,” she says, even while continuing to fight for her own.

MORE INFORMATION: To register for Saturday’s event (which is free), call 877-422-2030 or register online here.