Screening Colonoscopy Leads to Life-Saving Intervention
3/20/2023
For Lesley Isaacs, having a colonoscopy didn’t seem necessary.
“I had taken an at-home screening, and it had come back negative. I also don’t have colon cancer in my family history, so I thought I was good and didn’t need one for a few years still,” Lesley said.
To her amazement, during the colonoscopy, they found cancer.
“I was shocked… shocked!” explained Lesley. “I have a daughter at home and was immediately afraid I wouldn’t be there for her.”
Lesley chose to have her surgery at Merit Health Biloxi because of Dr. Tyler, an independent member of the Merit Health Biloxi medical staff, and the option to have robotic-assisted surgery. Robotic-assisted surgery is minimally invasive and often reduces pain, scarring and recovery time.
“Obviously I was very upset with just having cancer in general, and [the Merit Health Biloxi team] was very caring toward me. They treated me like we were friends and like they had known me forever.”
She described the healing process as taking “a couple of Tylenol” and resting the day of the surgery. She was able to do light chores, like laundry, the following day. Within a week she was up and attending one of her daughter’s events.
After getting home and healing from the robotic-assisted surgery, Lesley received another call.
“Having cancer prompts all kinds of deep-level scans,” Lesley said. “They are of course looking for cancer, but they are noting anything else they find as well. The scans had identified a heart blockage.”
Because both the cancer and heart blockage were found early, both were treatable. Having not been identified, the cancer could have spread and required invasive surgery, chemo, etc. The heart blockage could have led to a massive heart attack.
Now grateful she consented to the colonoscopy, which found cancer and led to finding a heart blockage as well, Lesley is spreading the word about the importance of health screenings of all kinds.
“I won’t ever miss another screening test of any kind—be it a colonoscopy, a mammogram, a pap smear—I won’t miss another one of any kind. Because that’s important. It’s very important.”
Stay on top of important healthcare screenings, many of which are covered by insurance. To learn more about colon screenings and request an appointment visit mycolonscreen.com or call 228-435-6567.
Back