A Lifesaving Lesson Learned

The importance of having preventive screenings can’t be overstated. If cancer is detected in the earlier stages, the outcome can be far more successful, which was the case for Frank La Rocca, a 70-year-old Kaiser Permanente member.

Due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2020, Frank put off getting a colonoscopy. Although he was planning on rescheduling, it just never happened.

Frank received a home screening test that was mailed to his home. He completed it and learned that the presence of blood in his stool was detected.

Thankfully, due to his quick action to schedule a colonoscopy, the cancer was caught in the early stages and treated surgically. Frank recently had his one-year follow-up and thankfully, all is good.

Not surprisingly, Frank has become a strong advocate for colonoscopy screening because of his experience. “If my cancer had not been detected early enough, while it was still treatable, it could have resulted in something more serious and possibly even life threatening,” he says. “I am grateful to Dr. Jim Kang who was so wonderful in the immediate aftermath of the cancer diagnosis,” he explains. “I still remember him saying to me that the good news is it’s easily treatable. A few days later, after the biopsy came back, he called me and repeated the positive prognosis, adding ‘and I’m not sugar-coating this - it really is easily treatable.’ I clung to those words like a life raft while the shock of having cancer sunk in. The emotional impact of the diagnosis, especially for someone like me who had never spent a day in the hospital, was devastating. Dr. Kang could not have been more supportive and sympathetic. He is a true gem of a doctor.”

“Colorectal cancer is the most common cancer among both men and women, but also one of the most treatable, explains, Jim Kang, MD, Gastroenterology, Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park. “It is important for our members to be aware that screening tests, like the home screening test or colonoscopy, save lives and they are our best tool to fight against colon cancer. Even if cancer is found during a screening test, it is more likely to be at an earlier stage. It is also 90 percent curable when detected early.”