Brad and Omerror’s stories are important reminders that symptoms aren’t always obvious, but that doesn’t mean screening isn’t necessary. The physicians at GastroIntestinal Specialists can help catch issues early. Waiting for symptoms can mean waiting for cancer, which is why staying up-to-date on screenings is so important.

Transcript:

Brad:

It was April of 2016. I just went in for my routine checkup. My blood work came back, and it was a bit off. From that point, it was scheduled me for an appointment with GIS to do an upper and lower scope. Found a tumor the size of my fist in my cecum. I was very fortunate that because of the colonoscopy and the early screening that the tumor had not yet perforated the colon wall. It hadn’t metastasized anywhere. It was still contained. With surgery, I was 100% good to go. No chemo, no radiation.

Omerror:

I wasn’t sick. I wasn’t allergic to anything. I wasn’t taking any medication. I was still able to move around freely. Never had any need to go to the doctor. I didn’t feel any need. However, I’m glad that I went because of what was discovered on the inside that I had no way of knowing if I hadn’t gone.

Dr. LaBarre:

You know, a lot of times we think about offering colonoscopies because their main benefit is being able to prevent colon cancer. In her case, we were able to detect colon cancer, and we were able to detect it early before she was showing signs or symptoms.

Dr. Dies:

Just come get the colonoscopy. It’s sedated. You don’t feel a thing. We take out your polyps. That’s how we interrupt the process. No one goes from nothing to cancer. They go from nothing to a polyp. You don’t see the doctors. Polyp grows into something. If you’re waiting for symptoms, you’re waiting for cancer. Come see us when you don’t have any symptoms, and let us just clean out the polyps. You’re good to go.