Screening

We Know You Don’t Want To, But Schedule Your Colonoscopy.

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths for men and women in the U.S. It’s also 90 percent preventable with early detection and treatment.

If you’re 45 or older, or have a family history of colorectal cancer, the most effective way to reduce your risk is to schedule a screening colonoscopy. This test searches for potentially cancerous polyps (abnormal cell growths on the inside lining of the colon or rectum). Catching these polyps early can stop them from ever becoming cancer, or detect the cancer when it’s most treatable.

CHI Saint Joseph Health offers screening locations near where you live and work, each staffed with board-certified gastroenterologists and caring support staff. A colon cancer screening is:

• Fast: It usually just takes about 30 minutes.
• Simple: Uses a thin, flexible scope with a small camera attached, allowing your physician to both detect and remove polyps in a single procedure.
• Painless: Most patients experience little or minimal discomfort, and you’ll likely be given medicine to relax and sleep through it, so you don’t feel anything.
• Safe: We perform hundreds of colonoscopies every year, with very low risk of complications.
• Life-saving: Colorectal cancer often has no symptoms until it’s too late. A screening colonoscopy may be the only way to catch the cancer early.

Speak with your primary care provider to learn more about a screening colonoscopy and to schedule your screening. If you need a primary care provider or would like to request an appointment, call 859.313.2255.

Additional Colorectal Cancer Screenings

Colonoscopy is considered the gold standard in colorectal cancer screening, but we also perform other standard tests to help detect polyps and signs of cancer:

• Fecal Occult Blood Test: This test, recommended annually, looks for blood in the stool. Polyps bleed more than normal tissue and these tiny amounts of blood can be detected by a test called hemocult.
• Flexible Sigmoidoscopy: This exam, recommended every five years, evaluates the lower section of the colon and rectum, where most polyps and cancers are located.