A Colonoscopy Story Worth Reading

Dec. 10, 2018

So, it’s time for your colonoscopy and while you may be dreading it, Shelby Baptist Medical Center patient Rodney Skelton shares why his decision to take charge of his health helped save his life.

Thanks to a convincing conversation with a neighbor, Rodney finally scheduled the colonoscopy he had been dreading and became a patient of Dr. Michael Passarella, a gastroenterologist at Shelby Baptist Medical Center.

“The care was excellent,” Rodney said. “Everyone was always so nice and polite at the hospital.”

Unfortunately, the results did not come back as Rodney had hoped. He learned he had 15 polyps in his colon. Polyps are a small dump of cells that form on the lining of the colon, which if found too late, can develop into colon cancer.

But Rodney’s story doesn’t end there.

Thankfully, Dr. Passarella was able to remove all of the polyps a few days later, and they all tested as benign.

Rodney, who credits his wife for staying on him about getting a colonoscopy, also praises the hard work of his physician. “Dr. Passarella saved my life,” Rodney stated. “He caught things early before they could get worse.”

Rodney, who lives several miles away from Shelby Baptist Medical Center, says he will continue to choose Shelby as his hospital whenever there is a need.

“My wife and I live between Selma and Montgomery, but we travel the extra distance to Shelby because of the care,” he said.

That’s exactly what he did when his wife experienced some heart problems and was rushed to Shelby Baptist for treatment. During their stay, Rodney experienced first-hand how the staff at Shelby Baptist cares for not only the patient, but the family members as well.

“When we were [at Shelby], the staff provided a bed for me to sleep in my wife’s room, gave me warm blankets and ensured I always had something to eat during our nine-day stay there. The care was second to none. It meant a lot to me that the team at Shelby did everything in their power so I wouldn’t have leave her side,” he said.

Today, Rodney shares the importance of getting a colonoscopy with his family and friends every chance he gets. He said he didn’t know how important it was before this happened, but he certainly does now, and he wants everyone else to understand why colonoscopies are so important.

Rodney’s story helps share an important message about the importance of getting a colonoscopy as a critical component of one’s health.

According to the American Cancer Society, people at average risk of colorectal cancer should start regular screening at age 45. For more information on our men’s health services please visit our Find a Physician page.