Inflatable colon display traveling through Southern Utah sheds light on importance of cancer prevention

Written by Chris Reed
March 2, 2023

ST. GEORGE — It would be very easy to joke about a giant colon in the parking lot of St. George Regional Hospital. But a large, inflatable display about colon health at the hospital Wednesday and planned for the hospitals in Cedar City and Panguitch on Thursday is no laughing matter.

The inside of a 12-foot-high inflatable colon in the lobby of St. George Regional Hospital provides information on cancerous polyps that can develop inside a person’s gastrointestinal tract, St. George, Utah, March 1, 2023 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

“Once you see the devastation it causes for the individual as far as lost earnings, loss of life expectancy, it’s not,” St. George Regional Hospital gastroenterologist Dr. Cristoph Woerlein said in front of the display designed to increase awareness for colon cancer and how early detection can save lives. “It is a big deal and it can be prevented. For those who end up in the hospital, the sad thing about it is that it’s preventable.”

Weighing in at 113 pounds and standing 12 feet in height when fully inflated, the display allows a person to walk through the gastrointestinal tract as if they were in the science fiction classic “Fantastic Voyage” to see what cancerous polyps look like, see Chron’s disease rip the intestinal lining and see advanced colorectal eating away at the body. 

Because of the rainy weather, the display planned for the parking lot was moved into the hospital lobby. St. George was the first stop for the inflatable colon on a two-state, 22-hospital tour over the next 30 days. The “Let’s Get to the Bottom of Colon Cancer” display will also be at Cedar City Hospital Thursday morning and Garfield Memorial Hospital later in the day.

Inside St. George Hospital on Wednesday, the display drew onlookers and also hospital staff. A gastroenterology nurse took two colleagues from other departments through the colon tunnel and with her arms wide said, “Welcome to my world.”

It’s also a world St. George resident Dustin Beasley knows as someone whose life was saved by a colonoscopy. 

The 42-year-old who works as a compliance officer at the hospital already knew he had a family history with his father dying of colon cancer when he was 52 after his grandfather passed of the same disease at age 62. 

A year after his father died, he had his first colonoscopy at an early age because of his high risk. Polyps were found. 

A 12-foot-high inflatable colon in the lobby of St. George Regional Hospital as part of a campaign to prevent colon cancer, St. George, Utah, March 1, 2023 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

“It was pre-cancerous,” Beasley said. “So one of the benefits of having this screening done so you can catch those polyps at an early stage before they turn to cancer.”

The American Cancer Society estimates there will be 106,970 new cases of colon cancer in 2023. Of those, some 52,550 will die making it the second most common cause of cancer deaths.

Even so, the society says the death rate has been cut in half since 1992, and it credits increased screenings.

Many may not realize that the recommended time for a person to do their first colonoscopy is no longer age 50, but 45. And if detected early, it is one of the most treatable cancers. 

And while the preparation day and night before the colonoscopy procedure is still no picnic, it’s not much more than drinking Gatorade with laxatives. The procedure itself is not much more than a quick nap. 

There are also new advances like an artificial intelligence system at Cedar City Hospital that automatically detects polyps. 

Beasley has to get a colonoscopy every three to five years and he has no qualms about it. 

“I’d rather deal with one day of prep than dealing with the long-term effects of chemotherapy or radiation, or even potentially surgery, when I’ve seen the effects of that had on both my grandfather and my father prior to passing away of this horrible disease.”

Dr. Nathan Merriman, medical director of gastroenterology and digestive health for Intermountain Healthcare was on hand and noticed families going through the display. 

He recalled a similar display at another hospital and seeing one of his kids try to pull off the polyp. 

“The goal for this is to really help destigmatize and normalize the conversation about getting screened about colon polyps, colon cancer, hemorrhoids, diverticulosis … really to better understand digestive and colon health as a family,” Merriman said.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chris Reed serves as a reporter for St. George News, where he has been honored with several awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for his work, including first-place accolades. He started his journalism career as a sports reporter and editor in Southern California where he once compared shoe sizes with Shaquille O'Neal and exchanged mix tapes with members of the Los Angeles Kings. After growing up in the San Fernando Valley learning karate skills from Mr. Miyagi and spending a decade in Las Vegas mostly avoiding the casinos, he came to St. George for love and married his soulmate, a lifetime Southern Utah resident. He is the proud father of two boys, his youngest a champion against both autism and Type 1 diabetes.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGNews

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