Colon Testimonial by Becky Pritchard

In January of 2022 I was with my husband and sister at Methodist Hospital in Omaha waiting to have a colon resection.

In the fall of 2021 I had a routine appointment with my provider. We were discussing screening exams at “my age”! At the time, I was 47 years old. Not old but time to think about a colonoscopy. That was near the time when the screening age had been decreased to 45. We went back and forth; finally decided he would like me to see Dr. Canella due to slightly elevated lab values and my age and see if Dr. Canella wanted to do a colonoscopy. I see Dr. Canella here at MCMH and the plan was to do a screening colonoscopy, just a screening it would be fine. I had no symptoms that were of concern. No bowel changes, blood in my stools, pain, I was not a smoker, no family history, I am overweight. In December, I had my first colonoscopy screening. Like everyone feels having a colonoscopy, I felt, ugg. The prep, seeing my butt, a camera inside me, uncomfortable, embarrassed, these are people I work with. The MCMH surgical team was and is amazing! I was not embarrassed at all once back there. They do hundreds of these, probably nothing real special about my rear end!! I woke up in recovery with my husband at my side the usual for a procedure. Dr. Canella came in and sat down at my side. I remember smiling and saying hi, I enjoy talking with Dr. Canella. His face didn’t have his same smiling hello he usually has. I was a bit groggy but remember our conversation well. Dr. Canella- everything went well with the procedure, but.. We did find a large mass in your lower colon. Remember, I had no signs, no family history. He went on; we removed the mass and sent it to pathology. I am concerned about the size and look of it. He said I have already talked to George Dittrick. Dr. Dittrick is a surgical oncologist. I know this does not occur unless there is concern. I talked to Dr. Dittrick’s office that afternoon and had an appointment the next week. Being a nurse, I know things don’t usually go this quickly without concern. Of course, I didn’t say this to my husband. Now, am I going to tell my kids? My kids lost their Dad 2 years prior and I did not want them to have concern if there was not a need to, so not yet. I did call my sister, my sister is a two time cancer survivor herself due to early detection. Was I going to tell my parents, no way did I want them to worry. My two brothers had passed away in 2020 and I did not want them to even have to think about me. To this day, I remember laying on my couch when I got home that day and praying.  I prayed to be okay and it not to be cancer. I prayed if it is, to give me the strength to be strong and heal. I prayed for protection of my family, I prayed for my husband, my kids, and my parents. Also I thought, why not me? I am strong; I can do this if I have to. Why not me and why someone else? Like I said before my sister had done this twice why not me? I am definitely a planner and have every scenario covered.

I see Dr. Dittrick the next week. On my way to the appointment, of course I had to stop and shop for a second. On my way out of the store, my phone rang it was Dr. Canellas nurse. My pathology was back. I went around the corner so Blake and my sister Kim wouldn’t see my face during the conversation. I’m not sure why but I didn’t want them to see my expression if it were bad news. I had already had an abdominal  CT scan and labs and both were okay so I did know if it were cancer those things are good. The nurse said your pathology is not malignant. Oh, thank God! However it is a sessile serrated polyp/mass and very large. I went on to my appointment and met with Dr. Dittrick. He had the pathology as well. I am an oncology nurse, I know a lot about these things but not a lot about the sessile type. Dr. Dittrick knows, he explained to us what this means. It is a more rare type, 30% of polyps are serrated, only 10% are sessile. They have a high probability of turning into cancer. This gives me a higher risk than the regular population of developing colon cancer. These tumors transform through a different pathway then regular polyps making them more at risk. I could go into much more about transformation and pathways but that is pretty boring if you aren’t into that kind of thing. Dr. Dittrick said we would still take some lymph nodes due the size of tumor and risk that those kind of polyps pose. So, surgery was scheduled. Finally told my kids and parents. There was relief with it not being cancerous,  but still concern. I remember feeling so sad that I caused them to feel this way. We cope with joking and there were plenty of jokes and laughter but I could feel the worry.

In January, went to Methodist for Dr. Dittrick to do a colon resection, possibility there would be a colostomy. I was prepped in pre op, this is not MCMH, it was nice but not the comforting feeling I had here. Waited and waited, Blake and my sister are with me.  Many feelings going into surgery. I remember waking up and feeling my stomach, no colostomy, I was relieved. Everything went as planned I spent 4 days at Methodist hospital. I’ve had other surgeries such as total knee replacements but this, in my experience was the hardest. There is a lot I hadn’t thought about, you know you are missing a lot of colon so it changes things and you have to retrain your body some and learn about trigger foods.  My plan, I had to do a colonoscopy a few months after my surgery to be sure all was okay. Then the following December in 2022 another repeat and all was well. I will have to do colonoscopies every 3 years to be sure I don’t have anything growing. Looking forward to my next in 2025, not really but now I have to so I can catch anything early that may be there.  If I have symptoms I will do it sooner. This happened to me for a reason. I think it is to bring awareness and be an advocate for colonoscopies. My hope is for you to get your screenings, do not wait. If you are having a problem go early, do not wait. It’s easier to catch things early and prevent cancer or to catch cancer early and have the possibility of complete recovery. Please tell your doctor if you are having an issue or encourage your friends and family. Colon cancer is on the rise in young people. People less than 50 are being diagnosed at the highest rates ever. Thoughts are it may be our diets, high fat, processed meat, little fruits/vegetables. Alcohol consumption, sedentary life styles, and obesity. This isn’t only in the US it is a global problem. Iowa has the second highest overall cancer rate in the nation only second to Kentucky. Iowa is the only state with cancer rising instead of declining. We are rated third in cancer deaths. Colon cancer is declining in the older population due to colonoscopies and decreased smoking.

So, please do your screenings and see your providers with any symptoms of concern or if something is abnormal for you. Be an advocate for yourself and your friends and family. If I wouldn’t have had my screening who knows what my diagnosis would have been. Hard to say if it would have already advanced and what my life would be like or if I would be here at all. Maybe I would live the rest of my life treating a cancer diagnosis. My hope in sharing my story is putting an experience with someone you know will get one of you to schedule a screening.