Colorectal cancer is highly treatable---in fact, the 5-year survival rate is about 90 percent. However, because many are not getting regular cancer screenings, only 4 out of 10 discover colorectal cancer at its most treatable stage.

Nash Health Care is doing something about that.

As a part of its dedication to offer free cancer screenings for the community, Nash Health Care will sponsor FREE colorectal cancer screenings throughout the month of March and the first part of April in conjunction with National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.

In 2007, an estimated 80 Nash and Edgecombe county residents were diagnosed with colorectal cancer, which is cancer of the colon and/or rectum. Equally common in both men and women, it is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in North Carolina. Nationwide, an estimated 49,960 people died from the disease.

But when detected early, colorectal cancer is preventable, treatable and beatable.

"As a community health care facility, we believe we have a responsibility to help our friends, neighbors and patients live healthier lives, and I am proud to be a part of this free cancer screening," said Dr. Robert Schellenberg, a member of the Nash Health Care medical staff who helped organize the screening. "Too many North Carolinians die from colorectal cancer. It is a disease that is treatable, but it is vital that it is detected early."

Nash Health Care will offer FREE fecal occult blood test kits to anyone age 45 to 75. This test indicates if there is blood present in stool that may not be visible; blood in the stool is one of the indicators of colorectal cancer.

Kits may be picked up at two locations: The Nash Cancer Treatment Center at Nash Day Hospital and the HealthFirst Wellness Center at Community Medical Plaza. Each kit will contain instructions, and participants will mail the kit (postage provided) to the laboratory services of Nash Health Care. Kits must be mailed by April 15. Lab results will be mailed to participants.

The Nash Cancer Treatment Center is located at Nash Day Hospital on the campus of Nash Health Care at 2460 Curtis Ellis Drive in Rocky Mount. Kits are available Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. For directions or additional information, please call 443-8947.

The HealthFirst Wellness Center is located at Community Medical Plaza, 1051 Noell Lane in Rocky Mount. Kits are available Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., on Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8 a.m. until noon. HealthFirst Wellness Center is located through the entrance on the Target side of the building. For information or directions, please call 451-3466.

"We offer various free health screenings throughout the year," said Sandra Todd-Atkinson, vice president of specialty hospitals at Nash Health Care. "Through these screenings we have detected skin cancers, stroke-level blood pressures and prostate cancer. Without these screenings, those life-threatening health conditions may have gone undetected."

Often, colorectal cancer does not present any signs or symptoms, which is why physicians recommend a colonoscopy for those over 50 as well as a yearly fecal occult blood test. Each patient should follow the cancer screening recommendations of his or her physician.

However, sometimes colorectal cancer does present signs and symptoms. These include:

• A change in bowel habits, which may include diarrhea, constipation or narrowing of the stool.
• A feeling of needing to have a bowel movement that does not go away after you have already had one.
• Rectal bleeding, dark stools, or blood in the stool
• Stomach pain or cramping.
• Fatigue, weakness, and unexplained weight loss

However, because these symptoms may be caused by something other than colorectal cancer, it is important to see your doctor for evaluation and treatment.

Typically, colon cancer begins as a polyp-a growth---that is not yet cancer. In many cases, doctors are able to remove these polyps before they become cancerous. Polyps may be removed during the colonoscopy.

Nash Health Care is a county-owned, not-for-profit health care system comprised of four distinct hospitals on a single campus: Nash General Hospital, Nash Day Hospital, the Bryant T. Aldridge Rehabilitation Center, and Coastal Plain Hospital.