Southwestern Medical Center

It’s the second-most common cancer among men and women in the United States, but it is also the *only* preventable one.

March is National Colon Cancer Awareness Month and now, more than ever, doctors are encouraging that anyone over the age of 50 gets a colonoscopy.

Christa Dulin says she remembers the pain her husband went through as he suffered from the disease.

“He was in a lot of pain and I always remember him saying I wish I had one day I did not hurt,” Dulin said, “his stomach was always hurting he was always hurting every day.”

Dulin’s husband James battled colon cancer for 6 years before he died at the age of 71.

“We really didn’t know too much about it they were looking at other things and then he dealt with it his last few years,” she said.

When doctors found the cancer it was too late, Dulin said her husband never got a colonoscopy which she thinks could have been a game changer for him.

“I think they would have caught it earlier, then when they did,” Dulin said.

Southwestern Hospital Gastroenterologist Dr. Ajay Bhargava agrees, he says colon cancer is the only cancer out there that if detected early can be eliminated all together.

“Early detection and early treatment which have actually made a difference with patients being diagnosed earlier so they can be treated and are living longer,” he said/

Screening for colon cancer is simple and painless and it can even save lives.

Dr. Bhargava says if you have someone in your family who has colon cancer, the chances for you increases, something he says is an even bigger reason to get screened.

“The colonoscopy has become more and more comfortable and the patients are given sedation and for 95% of the patients this is pain free procedure,” Bhargava said.

After losing her husband to cancer, Dulin hasn’t taken any risks, she has been screened now and says she will continue to do so in the future.

“Now I can rest, my minds at rest I said ok everything’s fine I don’t  have to worry about it maybe a few years down the road I will do it again, to make sure it’s ok but I’ve worked at the hospital for a long time and I’ve seen a lot of people who said I wish I would have done that sooner.”

Dr. Bhargava also suggests that once you have been screened to come back in ten years for a follow up.

Watch a video produced by KSWO featuring Christa Dulin as she tells her story.