During March pick up a free colorectal cancer screening kit, complete it at home, and mail it back.

Immunochemical fecal occult blood test (iFOBT) screening kits are are available at the drive-up window at CentraCare Pharmacy at St. Cloud Hospital and at the Coborn Cancer Center.

Reminder from the folks at CentraCare Health System:

This screening does not replace a colonoscopy, which is the best method to detect colorectal cancer. To schedule your colonoscopy, please call CentraCare Digestive Center at (320) 229-4916.

In this month we don’t want to only raise awareness about prevention of colon cancer. We should be aware of the significant progress we have made in the last 10 years treating it.

With the introduction of irinotecan, oxaliplatin, bevacizumab, and cetuximab, overall survival has tripled to more than two years; but this does not tell us the whole story. In the past patients with metastatic disease all died from their disease. This is not true any longer.

With more active therapies, we have cured more and more patients, particularly those whose cancer has only spread to the liver. There are increasing reports that this is also true for lesions found in one site in the lung. Read the rest of this entry »

Put some extra omega 3 fatty acids in your diet today and celebrate March 3 as Omega- 3 Awareness Day.

Foods rich in omega-3 fats, especially those in fish and seafood, may reduce your risk of getting colon cancer. Read the rest of this entry »

When someone collapses, bystanders can save lives using only their hands, pressing on the chest hard and fast without stopping.

First call 911!

Hard and fast chest compressions on the center of the chest can keep someone whose heart has stopped alive until medical help arrives, even without mouth-to-mouth breathing. According to experts, there is enough oxygen remaining in the body to sustain life without rescuers needing to breathe into the victim’s mouth.

In a call to action, the American Heart Association recommends that bystanders untrained in CPR  provide hands-only CPR until emergency medical help arrives.

The hands-only method is much simpler for the public to understand and actually accomplish, even without formal CPR training.

Read the rest of this entry »

Can’t be in Central Park for the New York Colon Cancer Challenge on March 28th?

Form a virtual team and help raise funds for colon cancer awareness, prevention, advocacy, and research.

Or join other runners and walkers to participate as an individual or as part of a team. You can also make a gift as a sponsor for a team or an runner.

If you want to run, you’ll have to hurry — the 4 mile and 15K runs are close to capacity and registration will soon close.

In addition to the runs, a 1.7 mile Remembrance and Prevention Walk through the park will begin at 10 am on Sunday, March 28.