Sophie Dominick's fight against cancer began in 1995 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Nearly 24 years later, Dominick was scheduled to get a colonoscopy, a procedure used to detect polyps in the gastrointestinal lining.
It was Oct. 23, 2013, when got the news that she had colon cancer.
"From my colon it went to my liver. From the liver to the pancreas, then to the right long, then to the left lung. I am a survivor," Dominick now 69 said to group of people standing in the lobby at University Medical Center at an event coordinated by 504HealthNet to get more people screened for colorectal cancer. March is colorectal cancer awareness month.
Louisiana has the third highest colorectal cancer death rate in the country, even though the disease is largely preventable with screenings. If caught early colon cancer has a 90 percent survival rate.
The American Cancer Society has spearheaded efforts to get up to 80 percent of everyone 50 years and older screened by 2018 across the United States. Louisiana is falling short of that rate with only 64 percent of the eligible population screened.
Colon cancer rates are especially high among African-Americans with about 49 cases per 100,000. Death rates are 52 percent higher in black men and 41 percent higher in black women compared to white men and women, according to statistics provided by the American Cancer Society.
Dr. John Hutchings, a gastroenterologist with LSU Health New Orleans at University Medical Center said that the standard screening test is a colonoscopy, which will screen for precancerous clusters of cells in the colon called polyps. If allowed to grow over time, polyps will grow into cancer and can go to other places in the body, he explained.
But there are a variety of screening tests that can be done.
"The first line of defense would be to talk to a primary care doctor who can help you get an overview of your health and connect you to right screenings tests for the prevention of different forms of cancer," he said.
Dominick was at the event at UMC with her two main caretakers, her husband Thomas Dominick and her nephew Oliver Banks Jr.
She still has cancer in her colon and liver and has to undergo chemotherapy every 21 days.
"There are some days where she be having some difficult times with the chemo, but she is doing well. She's active, she walks, does her own chores," said Thomas Dominick.
Inspired by his aunt and his sister who survived breast cancer, Banks started an organization called Pink Diamond to raise awareness for breast cancer.
"There is not a day we don't talk. I get upset if they don't call me on a Wednesday after chemo," he said.
In an effort to increase the rate of screenings among people 50 and older or people who have a family history of colon cancer several doctors, clinics and hospitals are participating in the "80 percent by 2018" initiative locally.
For more information and help getting screened, you can call 504HealthNet at 504.206.6275 or UMC at 504.702.5700.
"I thank god for my journey even though it's not easy. I have my two caretakers," said Sophie Dominick. "If it is a mammography, colonoscopy, go on and do the test."
from Health - Google News http://ift.tt/2HManBU
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