Colon Cancer Survivor Shares Story to Give Others Hope

Nancy Safford Westphal may not have been born in St. Petersburg, but she’s about as close to a native as you can get. Her family has been a part of the community for many decades.

Westphal is active in the community with many charities including St. Petersburg Women’s Chamber of Commerce, Habitat for Humanity Pinellas, SPCA Tampa Bay, St. Anthony’s Hospital Foundation and the hospital’s Auxiliary. She recently was chosen as a princess for the Queen of Hearts Ball for her community service.

She and her husband Steve own several restaurants and also work together to give back to the community through their foundation, the Westphal Family Foundation.

Now, Westphal is giving back in a different way. She’s sharing the story of her fight with colon cancer in the hopes that it will lead others to get screened.

“It’s all about prevention,” she said. “This can happen to anyone so it’s important to get tested.”

“I thought that must be a mistake”

Before her diagnosis, Westphal, who is also a realtor, said she didn’t feel sick. “I felt great,” she said. “I’m active with tennis and swimming and golf and all the wonderful things here. Very rarely do I get sick.”

During her annual physical at St. Anthony’s in 2021, her primary care physician told her to take an at-home colon cancer screening test. That came back negative. When her annual physical rolled around again in 2022, her doctor again told her to take the at-home screening test again.

Everything changed this time. The results were positive.

“I thought that must be a mistake because I feel fantastic. There’s just no way,” Westphal said. “There hasn’t been any history of colon cancer in my family, so I didn’t really think I was a prospect for that.”