Jeff Goulden has lived in Alturas all his life. His family has roots in the Modoc County town dating back to the 1800s—one of the first settlers.
Sixty-year-old Goulden says he's the type of guy who never got sick, that is until he began experiencing horrible stomach problems in 2019.
After spending nearly a month's worth of time in and out of hospitals, he was diagnosed with colon cancer at a center in San Francisco. Unfortunately, the doctors told him he was already in stage four—a near-death sentence.
"The guy told me I had two days to live," Goulden said.
After multiple procedures, including removing parts of his stomach and long bouts of sickness due to chemotherapy, Goulden remained strong. He was in good spirits at Mercy Medical Center in Redding, making the two-hour drive to Modoc County.
He laughed, joked, and said hello to some of the nurses that took care of him.
Goulden has been cancer-free for a year now. He says he couldn't have done it without the workers at Mercy or his family.
"Without my girlfriend or my brother, I wouldn’t be here," he said, beginning to tear up. "You have to have a good people and be positive."
He also gives credit to his son, who is also a cancer survivor. Most importantly, Goulden wants to raise awareness for the illness and debunk some of the stigmas surrounding it.
"There’s a lot less awareness about it," he said. "I think people ought to be screened at 40 instead of 50. The sooner the better. Early detection is the only thing that’s going to save your life."
Oncologist Haroon Rehman agreed, saying in an interview with Dignity Health, "The earlier detected; the earlier the stage, the better the prognosis."
Goulden said that he talked to friends that didn't care enough to take the precautions, such as checking for bloody stool as signs of colon cancer, but that taking precautions is worth it.
Though he always fears it can come back, the Modoc man remains humble.
"I don’t know if I’m a miracle, but I am blessed! I’m blessed with the people that were around me, the doctors and the nurses, and the people here at the cancer center. They are phenomenal."
--
To report errors or issues with this article please email the editorial team.