Community Health: Colon Cancer Awareness

As part of our community health partnership with Valley Health, our conversation this month focused on colon cancer awareness. March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness month. Joining me for the conversation was Dr. Maureen Hill, a fellowship-trained surgical oncologist and board-certified surgeon with Valley Health Surgical Oncology.  We talked about the incidence of colon cancer, who is at risk, and what family history actually means. Dr. Hill explained the types of screening for colorectal cancer and walked us through the process if a test comes back showing the cancer. We discussed how to know which screening option is best for you and talked about the advances that have been made regarding the prep prior to a colonoscopy and she busted a few myths about colostomy bags. She told us about the technology that Valley Health employs for advanced surgical treatments that include: minimally invasive & robot-assisted techniques 2 surgical oncologists (Dr. Hill and Dr. Devin Flaherty) 1 colorectol surgeon (Dr. Maria Sophia VIllanueva) who also treats benign colorectal conditions access to treatment options such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy when indicated multidisciplinary collaboration and team approach to treatment The Valley Health Rectal Cancer Program was the first in our tri-state region to earn accreditation by the National Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer. Screening colonoscopies are performed at most Valley Health hospitals and the Endoscopy Center at Winchester Medical Center. Learn more about their program: https://www.valleyhealthlink.com/colorectalcancer/ To listen to other conversations in our Community Health series, click here: https://bit.ly/VHhealthpod