March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.
With that complicated name comes one simple message. Get screened.
Bob Fish said he does not know where he would be if he had not had a colonoscopy just over a year ago.
"I try not to think about it too much, but obviously I wouldn't be in too good of a position," he said.
That's because that little procedure turned up one big problem: colon cancer.
"I had had a brother-in-law who had been diagnosed with colon cancer previous to that time, and he beat it," Fish said. "So, I thought I can do the same thing. I can do this."
And he did. Fifteen months later, he is in remission.
But, it did not come easy.
"A month of radiation and chemotherapy followed by surgery, four more months of chemotherapy and corrective surgery, and here I am today," Fiish said.
That's why doctors recommend preventative screening.
"An early cancer that has been found has a better chance of being cured if found at an earlier stage," said Dr. John Goering of the Surgery Group of Grand Island.
The South Heartland District Health Department is helping people with that early detection.
It is all in honor of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.
It is giving out free blood stool test kits throughout March. Those are an at home test for something that can be a symptom of colon cancer.
That is a first step toward prevention.
It is one that Fish said is an easy choice.
"Forget it and do it," he said. "Its a no brainer really."
Those kits are available in four counties: Adams, Clay, Nuckells and Webster.
Coupons for those can be found in the newspaper or by calling The South Heartland District Health Department.
