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Last modified: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 3:46 PM CST
County Health offering free colorectal cancer screenings
By Erin C. Hevern • Daily News
Richland County health officials are seeking to give residents over the age of 50 protection against colorectal cancer – the third most common cancer among adults.
With the help of Innovis Health, Wahpeton, the Richland County Health Department is using a $3,000 grant from the North Dakota Cancer Coalition to provide free screening for colorectal cancer for older adults.
“For patients whose cancers are found early and treated before spreading, the five-year survival rate is 90 percent, but less than half of colorectal cancers are diagnosed at an early stage,” said Jean Smith, Richland County registered nurse.
Survival rates drop dramatically after the cancer has spread, she added.
“Early detection is so important,” Smith said.
Although Smith has been in contact with 25 Richland County residents interested in taking part in the screening, she is seeking 25-30 additional willing participants. Any interested person needs to be a patient at Innovis Health, Wahpeton, a resident in Richland County and must not have been screened recently. Fifty Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT) kits have been provided courtesy of Innovis.
“You do it in the privacy of your own home over a three-day period,” Smith said.
Wahpeton resident Ken Bakkegard, a survivor of colorectal cancer, knows the importance of early detection. Thomas Mohs, an Innovis doctor, diagnosed Bakkegard with the disease in September 2008 after finding one of two polyps on his large intestine cancerous. Bakkegard was 65 at the time, using a free physical offered to him through Medicare.
“[The doctor] said it was caught at a very early stage,” Bakkegard said.
On Oct. 29, 2008, Bakkegard had surgery, where 10 inches of colon was removed. A biopsy done after the procedure revealed the cancer hadn’t spread to his lymph nodes or further into his intestines.
And although Bakkegard calls his recovery brutal, he considers himself fortunate.
“Mohs said, ‘You got a guardian angel looking over your shoulder on this deal,’” Bakkegard said. “I would recommend early screening for anybody, men in particular, I suppose… it saved me.”
Anyone interested in participating in the screening and receiving a FOBT kit and want to learn more about colorectal cancer, contact Smith at 642-7735.
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