BILLINGS — A routine colonoscopy led to an unexpected colon cancer diagnosis for Trudy Carey, but early detection and robotic-assisted surgery at Intermountain Health left her cancer-free.
Carey went in for the procedure on Jan. 23, still grieving the loss of her husband last August. They were married for 50 years before he spent 68 days in the hospital and passed away.
Watch Trudy Carey share her story:
"It was rough. It's hard when you've been married for 50 years and he was in the hospital for 68 days and not doing real well before that," Carey said.
The American Cancer Society everyone ages 45 and older to undergo colonoscopies, with regular procedures every 10 years afterward.
The routine check revealed colon cancer, requiring a CAT scan to ensure the disease had not spread.
"I just had a colonoscopy, and it was a routine colonoscopy," Carey said. "You have colon cancer and you need to get in for a CAT scan and make sure it isn't spreading throughout your body."
Carey underwent surgery on Jan. 28. Surgeons at Intermountain Health used a $1 million to $2 million robot to perform the procedure.
"They said the 16 lymph nodes are clear. You don't have to do any follow-up," Carey said.
General surgeon Barry McKenzie said the hospital has five robots, which have become a game changer for surgery.
"We call it a robotic, assisted, laparoscopic partial colectomy," McKenzie said.
"It's an advancement in laparoscopic surgery, where the traditional laparoscopic surgery, we somewhat use the term straight-sticking, and so it's essentially, think of chopsticks, and at the end, little grass burrs or tools at the end," McKenzie said.
McKenzie said the robotic assistance offers a huge payoff for patients.
"They get out of the hospital faster. That's less of an interruption in their life. And the other part that I think it's hard to understand is that you have less risk for trouble down the road," McKenzie said.
"It allows minimally invasive surgery to very much be an option. The ability to avoid a colostomy, that's the other thing people are very scared about when they hear about colon cancer," McKenzie said.
Carey said the experience is a reminder that health does not wait.
"It's important to just really take care of your health. It's not like you have second chances on health," Carey said. "I would hate to think that I would have waited till June and then maybe it was in a lymph node and I ended up having to have chemo."
