Blessing Health System issued the following announcement on Feb. 20.
Couples disagree every now and then. Even after 52 years of marriage, Randy and Diane Schmelzel are no different than any other couple.
Take the time last March when Randy read in the newspaper that Blessing Hospital was giving away free colon cancer screening kits. He told Diane they should do the test. Diane, who underwent a screening colonoscopy five years before, had an answer ready for Randy.
“I am not due for a colon cancer test for another five years. I don’t want to do this,” she stated. “There is no colon cancer in our family. I have no signs of any kind of pain or anything like that. So there is no reason to do the test.”
Randy was insistent, “Something told me we needed to do this. I can’t describe what it was.”
Diane eventually agreed to do the test with Randy. It saved her life.
Diane’s free screening kit came back positive, meaning she should follow up with a healthcare provider to determine why it was positive. Diane immediately saw her primary care provider, Abby Reich, MD, of Blessing Physician Services, who referred her to Daniel Moore, MD, Blessing Physician Services gastroenterologist, for a colonoscopy to confirm what the free screening kit had indicated. The next step was meeting with Harsha Polavarpu, MD, colorectal surgeon, Blessing Physician Services.
Diane was diagnosed with stage one colon cancer and needed surgery.
“When you hear that word cancer, it takes you back,” Diane said. “I never thought I would be that person. I always thought it would be someone else.”
Dr. Harsha removed Diane’s colon cancer completely before it had a chance to invade surrounding lymph nodes. The procedure was done using robotic surgery, requiring smaller incisions, resulting in less blood loss and a quicker recovery time.
“Colon cancer is preventable,” Dr. Harsha stated. “And, if we catch it early, like in Diane’s case, we can beat it”
Diane said Dr. Harsha told her if she had waited for her next colonoscopy and not done the free screening, her situation could have been much worse.
“If it wasn’t for my husband, Blessing and my doctors, what kind of story would you be doing on me in five more years?” she asked. “This free colon cancer screening kit from Blessing has saved my life.”
During March 2019, Blessing distributed 367 free colon cancer screening kits. Eight kits came back with positive results. Three people, including Diane, followed up with healthcare providers and were diagnosed with colon cancer.
“The natural progression of colon cancer is such that, by the time someone has symptoms, it has gone too far,” added Dr. Harsha. “Diane was fortunate to have access to the screening kit and followed through on its results. It saved her life.”
“We’re thrilled that it was detected so early and it wouldn’t have happened without this test,” Randy added. “This is such a simple test. I don’t know why someone would not do it.”
Excluding skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women in the United States as well as the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths when men and women are combined, according to the American Cancer Society.
For more information on Blessing’s free colon cancer kit program that takes place this March, go to blessinghealth.org/colon.
Original source can be found here.
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