My mother was diagnosed with colon cancer at age 45. She passed away just two years later. So, I started getting my colorectal cancer screenings early.

During my third colonoscopy, my doctor found a mass. That was in the fall of 2007. By that time, I was 53. So, I think we both expected it to be colon cancer.

But the biopsy showed it was a neuroendocrine tumor, sometimes called a carcinoid tumor.

I live in a small...