The Kristina Jamison Story

She Didn’t Wait for Symptoms—and It Made All the Difference

When Kristina Jamison’s husband got a new job last spring and his insurance plan covered screening colonoscopies prior to the age of 45, she and her husband took advantage. Kristina, a Surgical Services nurse at Island Health, knew that 45 was the current recommended age. She also had heard of too many fellow millennials being diagnosed with colon cancer. So, she scheduled her colonoscopy with Dr. Dempsie Morrison with Island General Surgery & Gastroenterology, a new gastroenterologist to the team.

The initial results showed no polyps and just a small area of ulceration, or irritation. But when the pathology results came back, they showed a neuroendocrine tumor on Kristina’s small intestine. Those first days after the diagnosis were the scariest.

“It was hard to wrap my head around it. Googling worst case scenarios, figuring out the next steps, it was all a blur,” Kristina said.

The next few weeks would include meeting with Island Health General Surgeon Dr. Brad Watkins, seeing an oncologist, lab work, PET scans for staging, and finally, a colon resection. The total time between her initial colonoscopy and the resection was only a month, and the quick turnaround time was not lost on Kristina.

A neuroendocrine tumor’s typical hotspots include the small intestine, like in Kristina’s case, the appendix, rectum, lungs or pancreas. And while slow growing, the tumors can get into the lymph nodes. Kristina’s results at every step of the way were positive. Her genetic test was negative, her PET scan for metastases was negative, and all 44 lymph nodes removed during surgery were negative for cancer. Kristina credits her proactive colonoscopy for her “good luck.”

Dr. Watkins agreed.

“There’s never a guarantee, but patients who have a colonoscopy earlier as opposed to waiting, stand a much better chance of catching these things before they become life threatening,” Watkins said.

Kristina said the care she received from Island Health was honestly above anything she could have dreamed of.

“Every single person, from check-in to discharge was out of this world. My entire perioperative team rallied around me before, during and after my surgery,” Kristina said. “I know I received the BEST care at Island Health.”

Kristina’s gastroenterologist, Dr. Morrison, even stepped into surgery to check on her.

Now, a few months post-surgery, Kristina is beyond grateful. She will get a CT scan in November and a repeat colonoscopy next April. And while she currently doesn’t need radiation or chemotherapy, she will be closely monitored. She is still figuring out her ‘new normal’ when it comes to food absorption without an ascending colon, but other than that, she is simply thankful for the care she received and is still receiving.

Kristina urges everyone who can schedule a colonoscopy to do so.

“Just do it! The prep is not that bad, and that’s literally the worst part of the entire procedure,” she said. “And isn’t it better to be preventive rather than reactive?”

To schedule a colonoscopy or a colonoscopy screening assessment, please call Island General Surgery & Gastroenterology at 360.293.5142.