Thackston Updates Fans Amid Absence
- FOX anchor Lindy Thackston shared in her Instagram stories that she’s been away from work due to a hospital visit as a result of stomach issues.
- Thackston was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer in May 2020 and finished her chemotherapy treatment this spring.
- Colonoscopies screen for colorectal cancer; they look for polyps small white growths which can turn into cancer on the colon.
In her Instagram stories today, Thackston says, "I'm getting a lot of messages asking why I haven't been at work in two weeks. And I appreciate everybody being worried…”
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“I was in the hospital all last week,” she continues, “it was basically a stomach issue, not necessarily cancer-related. Now I’m having an allergic reaction to the medication I got in the hospital and that's why I'm off this week.” Thackston tells fans she’s grateful for their concern and support. She also reflects on how today is one year to the day that she had her tumor removed.
Thackston’s Cancer Journey
Thackston was diagnosed with stage 3 colorectal cancer in May 2020 and finished her chemotherapy treatment this spring. She had 10 rounds of chemotherapy, which led to some hair loss (a common effect of chemotherapy).
During her cancer journey, Thackston bravely shared pictures of her changing look on Instagram, highlighting colorectal cancer and creating more awareness around this disease and its treatment. Thanks to new technology like cooling caps, some side effects of chemotherapy, such as hair loss, can be mitigated. Other side effects of chemo can include pain, fatigue, and nausea.
Screening for Colorectal Cancer
A colonoscopy is a screening test that looks for signs of cancer in the colon. During the colonoscopy, the doctor is looking for polyps small white growths on the colon which can become cancer.
95% percent of polyps are precancerous which means they can turn into cancer. If a polyp is detected during a colonoscopy, the doctor will send it to a lab to be biopsied.
Colorectal surgeon Dr. Zuri Murrell explains this painless procedure in an earlier interview. He says, “People often ask me, what do you do when you have a colonoscopy? What’s done? Do you do biopsies? So a colonoscopy can be done for many things. But when we’re looking at a colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening, what we do is we’re looking for polyps, which are these small growths.”
“When we see a polyp,” says Dr. Murrell, “we actually physically take the polyp out through the colonoscope. What does that mean? That means we basically put a wire through with a little bit of a little flange at the end and we pull the polyp out. Now, note there is no pain with that. Inside the colon, there are no pain fibers.”
Looking for Polyps During Colonoscopy
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