As March is the Colon Cancer Awareness Month, Tammy Walker Cancer Center of Salina is raising awareness. In the initial stages of colon cancer, only a few symptoms can be seen and this is the reason why screening is so essential.

Pam Miller, a Brandon woman, couldn't notice the symptoms and later she found herself suffering with cancer. She came to know about it in 2008.

"I didn't have what they typically look for when they ask questions about the possibility of colon cancer. I was constipated and that was it. I had been for a number of years and I should have pursued it with my doctors but I didn't because of the embarrassment. They'd say eat more apples so I'd go home and it never worked so I take over-the-counter meds for the constipation", said Pam.

"Colon cancer if caught early is a very curable cancer. People should be aware that it can be detected early through colonoscopy even before symptoms appear. It arises from polyps and it takes 5 to 10 years of polyps to become cancerous", said Dr. Addison Tolentino, Oncologist at the Avera Cancer Institute.

The doctors of Avera Cancer Institute removed a foot and a half of her colon, which is the length of an arm. A free online Colorectal Health Assessment is being provided by Avera to help people understand the risk factors and to recommend screenings that can save lives.