Transforming Trepidation: A Medtech Leader鈥檚 Colonoscopy Experience
“You think I鈥檇 know better. This is what I do every day. When I鈥檓 away from my family, I鈥檓 traveling and I鈥檓 seeing colonoscopies and procedures that are meant to find or prevent cancer, and yet here I was, ignoring my life.”
Kurt Cannon has worked at 在线黑料门Corporation of the Americas for three years and has been in the endoscopy business for 20 years. He is currently serving as Olympus鈥 Vice President of Marketing for Endoscopy. With March being Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, Kurt offered to share his recent colonoscopy experience, not only to help raise awareness of the and the value in knowing your , but to acknowledge his own regret about being less than proactive when it came to his health.
鈥淚鈥檝e seen thousands of colonoscopies,鈥 Kurt emphasized. 鈥淭housands of them. I know exactly what is likely to happen and what is less likely to happen. I understand the anesthesia part of it, and I understand the preparation part of it.鈥 And yet, he added, 鈥淚 convinced myself for all the wrong reasons that I didn't need to go.鈥
Regardless of profession or years in the industry, Kurt sensed other emotions at play that were clouding his judgment. It鈥檚 not uncommon for people to postpone their colonoscopy for various reasons, but eventually they find the motivation to do it. For Kurt, at 49, it was the discovery of a family history of colorectal cancer that made a seemingly obvious decision a complicated one.
Unraveling Family Ties
鈥淢y father died when I was 2, so I never knew him,鈥 Kurt said. 鈥淢y grandfather died before I really knew him.鈥 It wasn鈥檛 until years after his grandfather had died that Kurt reconnected with his father鈥檚 side of the family and learned that his grandfather had passed away from colorectal cancer.
鈥淚f you don鈥檛 know your family history and you don鈥檛 have access to it, then you should probably go [get a colonoscopy] at 45 like the new recommendations say,鈥 he prefaced, and explained that if your family is alive and you still don鈥檛 know your family history, it is extremely important to ask the uncomfortable questions and have the uncomfortable conversations. Not everyone is comfortable sharing their personal medical histories, but that knowledge may save a life. 鈥淚 would just say you鈥檝e got to press for the information. It鈥檚 too important.鈥
This is just one of the reasons why Kurt and his wife have chosen to be completely transparent with their three children.
Kurt and his wife of almost 27 years, Alana, at an event to benefit the Lehigh Valley Heart and Vascular Institute.
鈥淢y kids now know everything that I鈥檝e [discovered]. They know everything about my history, [and] they know everything about my wife鈥檚 history,鈥 Kurt shared. 鈥淲e have never really kept anything from our kids, but the whole story of why I didn鈥檛 get a colonoscopy and then why I ended up getting one, they absolutely know that story. I wasn鈥檛 proud that I delayed 鈥 and why I waited, but I also wasn鈥檛 going to hold that from them because I want them to understand that those thoughts in my head weren鈥檛 OK.鈥 He hopes the transparency will help to inspire more proactive health screenings for his children, when the time comes.
鈥淚 waited two more years [to schedule my colonoscopy], even though I knew I had a family history of colorectal cancer,鈥 Kurt sighed.
On left: Kurt鈥檚 children, (from back left) Averi, Kole, and (front center) Tate.
On right: The family dog, Ember.
The Fear Behind Procrastination
So why did Kurt wait, knowing what he knows?
"I convinced myself for the wrong reasons that I didn鈥檛 need to go. Ultimately, it was just the fear of it, the unknown, the idea that I could just ignore it because I felt healthy,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t was my wife who saw the reminder come through the health portal [app]. She called me out. She said, 鈥楬ow would you feel if I didn鈥檛 go for my mammography every year?鈥 and I didn鈥檛 really have an answer. I knew how I鈥檇 feel, and she knew how I鈥檇 feel.鈥
Kurt was 51 when he went for his first colonoscopy, six years past the recommended screening age of 45. Regardless of his profession, everything he has learned while being in the medical technology industry was not enough to motivate him to schedule his procedure.
鈥淢ost people know why they鈥檙e [pushing off] their colonoscopy,鈥 he noted. 鈥淭hey know it鈥檚 not reasonable, but they justify it. I鈥檓 too busy. I鈥檝e said that to my wife a million times. I don鈥檛 have time. I鈥檓 traveling. Work this 鈥 kids that. But when I thought about it 鈥 the reality is I鈥檓 not doing it for me, I鈥檓 doing it for my wife, my kids, so that nothing happens to me鈥 that鈥檚 preventable, he explained. 鈥淭hat would devastate my family.鈥
Kurt said he had to look himself in the mirror and gut check what was 鈥渦ltimately and completely irrational thought鈥 and go get the colonoscopy.
The Physician鈥檚 Adenoma Detection Rate
In typical Kurt fashion, once he made his decision, he put his VP of Marketing hat on and dug into the facts. During Kurt鈥檚 initial consultation for his colonoscopy, he made certain to inquire about the physician at the facility with the highest ).
鈥淓very GI physician in the [United States] who does an endoscopy has an ADR, which is an indicator of how often they find adenomas, which is somewhat of a proxy for how well [physicians] look as they鈥檙e coming out of the colon, how well they are scanning, stopping, and finding [precancerous polyps],鈥 Kurt elaborated. 鈥淚t used to be all about speed 鈥 how quickly they can get it done because then you could do more procedures, but having ADR be a factor as a quality metric really forces [physicians] to spend the time to observe everything.鈥
Booking the physician with the highest ADR was a critical step for Kurt. It also reassured him to learn that the facility would be using Olympus庐 equipment with .
Despite Kurt鈥檚 initial stress over the steps of the procedure, he even found the colonoscopy prep cocktail was manageable.
“It鈥檚 simple. You build it up in your head to be so awful 鈥 the entire process 鈥 the prep, the procedure, the waking up from the procedure鈥 I will tell you it was the best nap I鈥檝e ever had.”
鈥淚t鈥檚 simple. You build it up in your head to be so awful 鈥 the entire process 鈥 the prep, the procedure, the waking up from the procedure鈥 I will tell you it was the best nap I鈥檝e ever had,鈥 Kurt smiled. 鈥淲hen you wake up, it鈥檚 over, and no matter what you went through to have the procedure, it is better than the treatment for cancer.鈥
Kurt explained that after the procedure, he was able to share a sigh of relief with his wife that everything was okay. 鈥淭hey did find an adenoma, which puts me on the five-year repeat visit, but it was small,鈥 and easy to remove, he was told.
A Preventable Burden
Kurt never expected to be the person that had to justify why he waited to get his colonoscopy, but he鈥檚 not hesitant to admit, 鈥淵ou鈥檇 think I鈥檇 know better.鈥 As a veteran leader for a medtech company, he is committed to Olympus鈥 mission to making people鈥檚 lives healthier, safer, and more fulfilling. With his professional life rooted in GI endoscopy, he has a profound understanding that the global burden of colorectal cancer is expected to increase by 60%, or more than 2.2 million new cases and 1.1 million deaths, by 2030.1
鈥淭here is a lot of cancer out there and lot of disease that you can鈥檛 predict or prevent,鈥 he stressed. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a reason [colonoscopy] is the gold standard. If you get a colonoscopy at the recommended age, it is capable of preventing [colorectal cancer].鈥
He explained how in 鈥渙ur 20s and 30s, maybe even our 40s,鈥 many believe that we are 鈥渋nvincible, that nothing can touch us,鈥 but about 10% of colorectal cancer cases in the U.S. are diagnosed in people under 50 and these numbers are rising about 1-2% each year.2
鈥淐olon cancer is affecting younger and younger people,鈥 Kurt stated, 鈥淎nd while the screening age is now down to 45, I think people need to pay attention to their bodies, to the symptoms.鈥 Don鈥檛 pass off something as potentially normal if it isn鈥檛 normal for you, he warned. 鈥淚n your 30s, you鈥檙e not too young to have early onset colorectal cancer. That鈥檚 a real and unfortunate reality, but again, it鈥檚 completely preventable.鈥
- Arnold M, Sierra MS, Laversanne M, et al. Global patterns and trends in colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. Gut. 2017;66(4):683-691.
- Colorectal Cancer Alliance. . Accessed February 2022.
