RALEIGH, N.C. — A Raleigh man says the only reason he is still alive is because of a colonoscopy.  

A trip to the doctor changed 71-year-old John Lloyd’s life in 2009, when he found out he had stage three colon cancer at 57.

The doctor who delivered the difficult news was John’s brother, Stephen Lloyd.  

The cancer treatments left him disabled for a few years.

“I got as close to the edge of the cliff without falling over as a person can get,” John Lloyd said.

“He had a less than 50-50 prognosis chance of surviving,” Stephen Lloyd said.

With no family history, John Lloyd walked into his brother’s clinic for his first colonoscopy after experiencing rectal bleeding 15 years ago. At the time, he didn’t think screenings were necessary, until his brother found a large lump on John Lloyd’s colonoscopy.

Since receiving treatment, the cancer has gone into remission. Lloyd now gets routine screenings because he knows how far he’s come.

“Had I waited another six months or another year for my first cancer, where they found my cancer, would I still be here today?" Lloyd said while asking his doctor the question.

“No, this procedure saved your life,” said Dr. Neeraj Sachdeva with RMG Gastroenterology.

Lloyd, who is now retired, spends his time raising awareness by working with government agencies to spread the message about the importance of routine screenings.

“I’m here to try to help other people not get to the edge of the cliff. If you get a colonoscopy, more than likely you’ll have a life free of all the treatment for cancer,” Lloyd said.

Doctors say only 60 to 65% of people in North Carolina who need a colonoscopy actually get one.

Those numbers are lower than 50% in rural communities.