Doctor Carries Message On His Back To Help Prevent Colon Cancer

CHICAGO (CBS) -- He admits he's part MD and part moving advertisement.

A doctor is taking to the streets in an effort to save lives in an usual way.

CBS 2's Jeremy Ross has more on who he is and how his effort is being noticed far beyond Chicago.

Imagine riding a bike with the weight of cancer and its aftermath on your mind.

Doctor Andrew Albert is peddling through that predicament. He lost a patient to colon cancer and decided to wear that grief and frustration on his back.

"It's 95 plus percent preventable and when it comes to us often times its too late," Dr. Albert said.

He took a photo of the sign he made, sharing that photo and others with coworkers and evenutally sharing them on social media with the hashtag #backoffcoloncancer.

Eventually reaching hundreds of thousands online who reached out to him about colon screenings.

One post read, "after reading your post, I'm motivated to reschedule. I lost my 41-year-old uncle and cousin to colon cancer."

After waiting more than a decade longer than Katherine Pappas would have preferred, she recently received a colonoscopy and very fortunately a clean bill of health.

"I'm on of the lucky ones," she said.

Dr. Albert said about one in about 23 people are impacted by the disease, and creating awareness in and outside the office can help save lives.

"I've had people tweet and reach out to me from Israel, from London and Japan and Canada," Dr. Albert said. "It's been quite remarkable.

So where does the doctor's campaign go from here? He is not sure, but he is certain he will be riding his bike to the office with an important message on his back.