BATON ROUGE — Colon cancer is a leading cause of cancer death for people under the age of 50, but it doesn't have to be, because many colon cancer deaths are preventable through early detection. 

One Ascension Parish woman, Latava Carter, came face-to-face with the silent killer in her 30s, and wants her experience to inspire others to get screened for the disease and catch it early. 

At 33, she is a colon cancer survivor and says that she experienced symptoms like constipation and bloating for years before a trip to the emergency room and a colonoscopy found a large tumor blocking her colon.

"These cancers are totally preventable," Dr. Asif Talukder said. "No one should die of colon cancer in the United States."

Doctors encourage people to get special screenings, with campaigns urging everyone over 45 to get screened. 

"Everybody needs to do it. It doesn't matter if they have symptoms or not," Dr. Nileema Reddy said. 

For Carter, she had her tumor removed after doctors caught it just in time, with robotic surgery considered a less invasive method of treatment. 

"I just want to show people there's life after cancer," Carter said. 

Carter is one of several colon cancer survivors who will be at Saturday's "Get Your Rear in Gear" run and walk event on Saturday at Pennington Biomedical Center, sharing what people need to know about colon cancer.

Learn more here.