Dickinson woman fighting stage three colon cancer, says colonoscopy saved her life

SOUTH HEART, N.D. - No one wants to think about getting a colonoscopy.

But they’re recommended for people over age 45, earlier if you’ve got a family history of colon cancer.

And if the doctor’s recommendations won’t get you to schedule an appointment, this next story just might.

A 49-year-old Dickinson woman who went in for a routine colonoscopy says the procedure saved her life.

On the list of things that make Jackie Walby happy, reading to kindergarten students is near the top. She is the librarian at South Heart School.

“Kids keep me going,” said Walby, who has been teaching for more than 25 years.

Also on the list: officiating high school and college volleyball.

“I am a super competitive person,” she admits. “I’ve always wanted to be the best.”

Now, she’s focused on being the best at something else. Walby is determined to be the best cancer patient ever, and to win this battle with colon cancer.

It’s a fight she never saw coming.

“I honestly to this day, can say I had no symptoms,” Walby recalled.

Doctors say that’s pretty common when it comes to colon cancer.

“In the early stages, often people will not have any symptoms. That’s why it’s very important to have an early screening, which is a colonoscopy,” said Dr. Peter Kurniali, oncologist at Sanford Health in Bismarck.

Walby got a colonoscopy in June, after donating blood and learning her iron levels were too low. A trip to the doctor’s office was not something she routinely did.

“In my world, unless you’re sick, you don’t go to the doctor,” she said.

That visit led to a colonoscopy, which led to a stage three colon cancer diagnosis. She had surgery to remove the mass, and now chemotherapy. She’s on treatment number five of 12.

Chemo days are every other Tuesday, the only days she misses school.

“I only miss Tuesdays,” she reiterated.

Because, she says, being around these kids, helps her keep everything in perspective, and reminds her, this cancer is beatable.

“It’s not going to beat me,” Walby said.

Walby says when people ask her what she needs, her answer is simple: she asks people to pray for her, and to get a colonoscopy.

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