I’ve been treated for three different types of cancer at MD Anderson. The first one was a rare skull base tumor called mucoepidermoid carcinoma. It appeared as a bump on the roof of my mouth in April 2007. The second was breast cancer detected through a routine mammogram in June 2017. And the third was colorectal cancer found during a routine colonoscopy in July 2018.

The first and third cancers were caught early enough that I...