Living in a small town like Petersburg often means traveling to Anchorage or Juneau for specialized healthcare. Medical travel can be inconvenient and costly, which means some people delay seeking important preventative care, like colonoscopies.
For years, colonoscopy clinics were few and far between in Petersburg. But the cancer-spotting procedure will be returning in February on what’s expected to be a quarterly basis.
During a colonoscopy, a doctor uses a camera on a flexible tube to look inside a person’s colon for abnormalities. Before the procedure, patients need a doctor’s referral and often will need to do some preparation beforehand. That can include temporarily quitting certain medications, swapping to a clear liquid diet, and taking laxatives the day before.
The process might not be fun, but Petersburg Medical Center Chief Nursing Officer Jennifer Bryner said colonoscopies are an important way to screen for colon cancer.
“It’s just a game changer,” Bryner said. “It’s so nice for people to be able to do [colonoscopy preparation] at their own home. And also, a lot of people just aren’t going to go do it out of town.”
Bryner said that if you have colon cancer, catching it early is important. That’s why it’s a good idea to get your colonoscopy on time.
The hospital used to offer regular colonoscopy clinics, but the specialist who ran them was killed by his domestic partner in 2017. While there have been occasional clinics since then, Bryner said it’s been a struggle to provide colonoscopies on a regular schedule.
“We’ve been doing other forms of colorectal cancer screening, but colonoscopy is really the gold standard,” Bryner said. “We’re really excited to be bringing it back, and to be bringing it back consistently.”
This year, the hospital has a two-day clinic scheduled in February with Dr. James Taggart, a surgeon from Seattle. Bryner said they intend to have Taggart visit Petersburg for quarterly clinics.
“We anticipate this is a long-term relationship, and we can do regular clinics for years to come,” she said.
Bryner said it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor about when you should start getting colonoscopies. Generally, guidelines say to start around age 45. But if you have a family history of colon cancer, you may have to start them sooner.
Bryner says the waitlist in Petersburg is long, but if you’re due for a colonoscopy – or overdue – it’s worth talking to your doctor about your options.
She said that on average, past clinics have been able to see about 10 people a day. Since this is a new clinic, she said they may not be able to see as many patients this visit.
Bryner said that with regular clinics, the waiting list should shrink.
“We should be able to both catch up and then kind of meet the need of the community as we go forward,” she said.
The Petersburg Medical Center’s next colonoscopy clinic is Feb. 5 and 6. A doctor’s referral is required to get on the waiting list.
This story was first published at kfsk.org and is reprinted here with permission.
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