Doctors really want you to get screened for colorectal cancer. So some are picking guitars and setting up a giant walk-through inflatable model of a colon.
Rockdoc and the Healers, an ensemble of doctors and local professional musicians, will perform Friday, March 27, at a free event at the Theater at North in Scranton. The event logo is a cartoon guitar with a colon as the strap. The Bob Seger song “Fire Down Below” has been turned into a song about hemorrhoids.
Northeast Pennsylvanians contract colorectal cancer at a rate that is 7% to 14% more than the national average.
The goal is to make colorectal cancer guidelines a song you can’t get out of your head.
Dr. Stephen Eskin, left, and professional musicians Keith White and Melanie Hansen
(COURTESY OF THE WRIGHT CENTER)
Reese Hofstrand, doctor, guitarist and vocalist. (COURTESY OF THE WRIGHT CENTER)
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Dr. Stephen Eskin, left, and professional musicians Keith White and Melanie Hansen
(COURTESY OF THE WRIGHT CENTER)
“And that’s what I think music does, if it’s the right kind of composition, the right kind of mixture of fun, as well as the right amount of repetition,” said Dr. Stephen Eskin. “Then basically what I’m doing is I’m giving a medical lecture that’s in the form of a rock concert.”
Eskin lives in Maine and has been doing similar events for 25 years, mostly in schools.
Dr. Peter Iskander organized the event after two unsettling local cases. He is a gastroenterology fellow and internal medicine residency graduate at the Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education in Scranton.
A woman in her 60s came in with rectal bleeding. “Obviously the first question we usually ask is if you’ve ever had a colonoscopy and things like that,” he said. “And she told me she’s never had a colonoscopy because women don’t get colon cancer.”
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in women, according to the American Cancer Society.
Another patient couldn’t believe that he had colon cancer because he doesn’t have a family history. But genetics isn’t the only factor. Colorectal cancer is associated with illnesses such as Crohn’s disease, obesity and lifestyle choices such as lack of physical activity, poor diet, tobacco use and excessive drinking.
Both patients are doing well after surgery.
Iskander is not in the band. The local “Rocdoc” is Dr. Reese Hofstrand, a fellow in the Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education’s Gastroenterology Fellowship program. He’s been in bands before and will sing and play guitar.
The professional musicians are Melanie Hansen, Keith White, Dan Dearborn and Bryan Banks.
Colonoscopy is the gold standard for detection and prevention. Removing precancerous polyps during a colonoscopy can prevent cancer.
To help make that point, the walk-through inflatable colon will have polyps. The event is called Louder Than Cancer! It will also include a press conference by doctors, a photo booth, raffles and informational tables. It begins at 5 p.m.
The band’s set of nine songs begins at 6 p.m. Some are parodies and others are original works on the theme.
Admission is free, but before the event the audience is asked to fill out a brief electronic survey on their knowledge of colorectal cancer.
Donations will be collected for the Northeast Regional Cancer Institute.
The link for advance tickets, the survey and educational materials is lnk.bio/louderthancancer. Walk-ins are welcome.
If you go
What: Louder than Cancer!, a free concert featuring guitar-playing doctors and regional professional musicians. The Wright Center for Graduate Medical Education is the presenting sponsor.
When: Friday, March 27. Doors open for informational sessions at 5 p.m. The concert is at 6.
Where: The Theater at North, 1539 N. Main Ave., Scranton.
Details: Free tickets and more information on the National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month event are at lnk.bio/louderthancancer. Walk-ins are welcome.