Early Detection Catches Colorectal Cancer For Essentia Health Patient

Jessicca Bye has always been active, whether she’s enjoying the outdoors, playing volleyball or – her favorite pastime – cheering on her youngest at local sporting events.

When she started feeling unusually tired last spring, she figured it was probably due to her busy lifestyle as a single mom. But something also just felt “off.”

Jessicca made an appointment with her primary care provider at the Essentia Health-South University Clinic. Nurse practitioner Joe Halvorson ran tests and ordered a computed tomography – or CT – scan.

The CT scan revealed a shadow in her colon, identified as a sizable mass during a colonoscopy. A colonoscopy is a procedure in which a fiber-optic scope with a camera is inserted into the colon to look for polyps and other growths.

Despite not having a family history of cancer, 44-year-old Jessicca was diagnosed with stage three colorectal cancer.

She immediately started chemotherapy and radiation treatments, followed by a colectomy, or bowel-resection surgery, in mid-August to remove the tumor and affected lymph nodes.

An ileostomy bag was created to help serve as a temporary part of her colon, followed by additional treatment to prevent future growths.

This past January, Jessicca’s colon was reconnected – and she is cancer-free.

“I never even realized before this happened to me how crazy it is and how lucky I am that I got it diagnosed when I did,” emphasizes Jessicca. “I mean, I could have waited for something to actually feel seriously wrong, as I felt like my symptoms were so easily explained.”

Jessicca’s main message to others is simple: “Go get your regular screenings. Don't ignore them. Don't ignore your body.”

From her chemotherapy nurses to her surgeon, Dr. David Stover, Jessicca is thankful for the care she received at Essentia. About Halvorson, her primary care provider, she says, “He’s the guy where it all started. I owe him big.”

Jessicca continues her road to full recovery, remains in contact with the Essentia Health Cancer Center team and has a follow-up later this spring.

More about colorectal cancer

Outside of some skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the fourth-most common cancer in men and women and is the fourth-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. It’s the perfect opportunity to talk to your provider about any concerns you may have or to schedule a screening.  

Regular screenings, beginning at age 45, is the key to preventing colorectal cancer or detecting it at its most treatable stage. How often you should screen depends on the type of screening you choose. Talk with your primary care provider to determine what’s best for you.

Colonoscopies are the most effective screening method, but there also are a pair of stool-based tests that can be done at home. These rely on examining stool-sample irregularities that may prompt a colonoscopy. Learn more about these tests at the Essentia Health website.

Minus the presence of polyps, and if there is no history of colon cancer, colonoscopies can occur every 10 years. At Essentia, we can schedule your colonoscopy promptly.