Patient story

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among men and women in the United States, and 25 to 30% of colorectal cancer patients have a family history of the disease according to FightCRC.

That was enough to convince Gary Sorensen, a patient of Dr. David Allen at Community HealthCare System, to start getting regular colonoscopies when he was in his late 40s.

“My dad had colon cancer, and it was detected in his 50s. My dad’s brother and his father...

As he was recovering from COVID-19 last fall, Keith Figge heard some strange news at a follow-up checkup at CHCS: He had a heart murmur. An appointment with a cardiologist revealed that he had a prolapsed mitral valve.

Figge, who was born and raised in Onaga and has served as Onaga High School’s agricultural education teacher and FFA advisor for 27 years, smiles easily and enjoys a good laugh. But that day, he was scared. He was referred to a surgeon, who convinced him that surgery...

Karen Elliott is an infection control nurse. She knows how to prevent disease. She was an advocate for hand hygiene before COVID-19 was in the news. She helps others learn how to take precautions. So she’ll never catch COVID-19, right?

Wrong.

Elliott still doesn’t know how she contracted the virus, but she started have symptoms on October 1. After experiencing gradually worsening symptoms at home (cough, headache, body aches, fever, diarrhea, nausea, loss of taste,...

If you have chest pain, shortness of breath, or heart rhythm problems, your doctor may order a cardiac stress test to find out how well your heart pumps.

The test takes several hours and involves injecting a tracer and collecting images of the heart at rest, then collecting another image of the heart while it’s pumping vigorously. The images help a doctor determine whether blockages are causing problems and what treatments patients need.

Patients must fast for 12 hours...

Elizabeth Littrell came to Community HealthCare System for a colonoscopy in May 2018. “I firmly believe that I wouldn’t be alive right now if I hadn’t gotten my colonoscopy,” she said.

Littrell had no cancer symptoms at the time, but her colonoscopy found a tumor that grew quickly. She went through treatment and surgery, and today she is fully recovered.

More than 145,000 Americans each year will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer,...

Alisa Skruch works at CHCS, but a little more than a year and a half ago, she became a patient.

April 3, 2018 was a beautiful day, and Alisa was driving to pick up her mother. Then her right front tire dropped off the asphalt, the gravel on the side of the road gave way, and her vehicle was slung into the ditch. “I remember thinking, ‘I’m just going to have to ride it out,’” she said. She went through a fence and hit a concrete culvert, then her vehicle...

A hernia is a tear in the muscle surrounding the abdominal wall or groin that allows internal tissue or organs to protrude, creating bulges under the skin. Hernias are a common medical condition, and they can be painful, thus limiting physical activity. In some cases, a hernia can result in a bowel obstruction that causes nausea, vomiting, and bloating and can become a surgical emergency.

Larry Schroeder recently had surgery at CHCS to repair a hernia. “I liked the care I...

By Jacquelyn A. Lierz: My mother and I would like to say “thank you” to your entire staff of nurses and appreciate so much how caring and kind you all are at Eastridge. Also, a big thank you to the food service people and the housekeeping people. It is so nice when you are from out of town to be able to eat with your residents.

Mother hasn’t been too quick to remember everyone’s name, so in order not to leave anyone out, please express our heartfelt thanks...

Karen Elliott was not supposed to get breast cancer. She was not genetically predisposed and had only a 3 percent chance. But a routine mammogram in June 2007 found evidence of breast cancer.

Luckily, her cancer had not advanced past her lymph nodes. After a partial mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation, Karen looks back years later and is thankful that she took time for cancer screening.

“If I hadn’t had a mammogram, I don’t know how bad it would have been...