Angie’s Story: How a Routine Checkup Saved One Woman’s Life
Every year, like clockwork, Angie made an appointment to meet with her primary care provider to have an annual exam. She was healthy but had always believed that getting a yearly check-up was a no-brainer. Angie liked knowing where she stood and viewed each appointment as an opportunity to make sure she was on track. And every year, she was.
In 2016, a few months after her 40th birthday, Angie met with Dr. Valerie Torgerson, her regular physician at McFarland Clinic Family Medicine. Angie figured she would talk to Dr. Torgerson about adding a mammogram to her annual check-up, now that she was 40. To her surprise, Dr. Torgerson recommended a fecal immunochemical test (FIT). “You always hear about mammograms at 40, colonoscopies at 50,” Angie said.
After years of developing a doctor–patient bond, Angie trusted Dr. Torgerson. She agreed to take the test. The FIT tests for hidden blood in the stool, which can be an indicator of colon cancer. It’s non-invasive and can usually be done at home. “It would be another 10 years before I would have a colonoscopy, so it didn’t hurt as a preventative step,” Angie said.
A day or two after Angie had dropped the sample off at the clinic, she got a call from Dr. Torgerson. “Something’s not quite right,” the doctor told Angie. “We’ve detected blood.” Together, they decided Angie would take the test again. The second FIT confirmed the original results: there was blood in Angie’s samples.
Dr. Torgerson referred Angie to Dr. Bryan Graveline, a specialist in Gastroenterology, and he performed a colonoscopy. Their worst fears were confirmed. “That’s when I learned I had cancer,” Angie said.
“I think that the choice to continue my care with McFarland really came down to the trust that I had with Dr. Torgerson,” Angie said. “We had built this relationship. When she referred me to someone, I trusted that recommendation.”
Angie and her care team moved quickly. Dr. Torgerson referred Angie to a McFarland Clinic surgeon, Dr. Greg Sachs, who immediately removed the tumor. After the surgery, Angie chose to undergo six months of oral chemotherapy, which was overseen by McFarland Clinic Oncology specialist Dr. Joseph Merchant. After the chemo was completed, Angie went through another round of testing. The results showed that she was cancer-free. In August of 2017, Angie, always the dutiful patient, went in to have her one-year follow-up colonoscopy. All was well.
“The care I received was phenomenal,” Angie raved. “We’re very fortunate to have McFarland Clinic because there is such a great team of doctors and resources that I needed throughout this process. I think that’s what we all look for in a provider; someone who is going to be there when we need them and can see us when we need to be seen.”
Rated #1 in quality and value by Iowa’s leading insurer, McFarland Clinic is Iowa’s largest physician-owned multi-specialty clinic with a network of healthcare providers serving residents in 12 communities. Even more communities are provided with care, thanks to its physician outreach clinics. Over one million patient visits are made there annually, and with more than 280 providers and 1,000 staff members, the patients are always well cared for. McFarland Clinic is the trusted choice, and is dedicated to enhancing the well-being and health of everyone in its communities.
“I wouldn’t see any reason why you would need to look far or travel any great distance when you have a great resource like this in our community,” Angie declared. “Thanks to the doctors at McFarland, I can say I’m cancer-free.”
For more information on McFarland Clinic and its providers, go to www.mcfarlandclinic.com.