Orioles Player Trey Mancini Diagnosed With Stage 3 Colon Cancer

Baltimore Orioles outfielder Trey Mancini has revealed that he was diagnosed with Stage III Colon Cancer and will face six months of chemotherapy. He made the announcement on Tuesday with an article for the Players Tribune, "I Am So Lucky." Mancini started chemotherapy on April 13 and will continue to receive treatment every two weeks for six months.

As he wrote in the article, Mancini reported to spring training and underwent the annual blood tests and physicals. The initial results showed that his iron levels were down, which Mancini attributed to having the flu. However, the second round of blood tests showed that his iron levels were even lower. Colon cancer still remained a remote possibility considering that Mancini is only 28 years old.

"When I went in for an endoscopy and colonoscopy, the doctors told me that they were really expecting to confirm that I had celiac disease, which is found in your small intestine," Mancini wrote in the article. "When the anesthesia put me under, I believed everything was going to be O.K." However, Mancini revealed that the situation changed during the procedure.

"He started by eliminating all the possible things it could have been," Mancini continued. "I was still woozy from the anesthesia, but before he even said the word cancer I was thinking to myself, There's no way that he's about to say what I think he's about to say. And then he said it: They had found a malignant tumor in my colon."

Mancini underwent surgery on March 28 to remove a malignant tumor from his colon. The team originally announced that he had left to undergo a "non-baseball medical procedure. The MLB season is currently postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, providing Mancini with the time to undergo chemotherapy. Although he noted in the article that he will likely have to miss some time if the 2020 season does resume.

One reason why Mancini titled the article "I Am So Lucky" is that he didn't believe he would have found out that he had colon cancer if he hadn't undergone the blood tests with the Orioles. He had Googled all of the symptoms but didn't have any. The only reason he noticed something was wrong was that he was "more tired" than usual. The blood tests were the first indicator that something could be seriously wrong.

"Everything that comes up when you google colon cancer? I didn't have any of it," Mancini wrote. "And so without that second blood test, I probably would not have discovered the tumor until I had a total blockage of my colon. Instead, from the day I was diagnosed to when the tumor was removed was just six days — March 6 to March 12. I have Stage III colon cancer. I started chemotherapy on April 13. And I am so lucky."