(COLORADO SPRINGS) — A team in Colorado Springs is saving lives through bowel movements and they’ve won a very “prestigious” award for their work: The Golden Poop.
“We had an initiative across Peak Vista, all of our clinics, to encourage our providers to recommend colon cancer screenings to their patients,” said Dr. Bradley Stokes, Vice President of the Family Service Line. The clinic on Wahsatch screened the highest percentage of its patients, earning it the coveted award. “A lot of people don’t come to their medical visit thinking they need to be screened for colon cancer. So this is a way to help remind our providers to take that extra step, invite people to screen.”
Stokes said colorectal screenings are important because there are no initial symptoms of colon cancer. “If you wait until there are symptoms, then it’s too late,” Stokes said. Screenings are recommended for all people over the age of 45 and Stokes said there are much less invasive options now than there were in the past.
“There are stool tests that you can do at home that are very much more affordable, easy to do, and they screen equally well,” Stokes added. The kits are usually sent to your home through the mail and can be mailed back for results.
Potential signs of a problem include difficulty having bowel movements or bleeding with bowel movements. “But again if you’ve gotten to those signs you need to talk to your healthcare professional about those symptoms,” Stokes said. “Screening is when there are no signs. So, it’s something to talk about with your provider next time you’re in for a visit for any reason.”
Stokes said most insurance companies cover colon screenings, but Peak Vista also offers care to those who are uninsured or underinsured. “A lot of this screening we did for this award was through grant dollars to provide these kits, these stool kits at home, for patients to do if they don’t have coverage,” said Stokes.
During the initative Peak Vista provided more than 440 patients with free screenings, leading to 79 colorectal cancer diagnoses that may not have been found before it was too late.
