Listen in as we sit down with Dr. Michael O’Neill, a radiation oncologist and the Oncology Service Line Physician Leader who works at Centra’s Alan B. Pearson Regional Cancer Center. Dr. O’Neill shares invaluable insights on cancer prevention, emphasizing the importance of simple living, avoiding processed foods and being active.
From the significance of early screenings for breast cancer to demystifying fears around screening for colon cancer, Dr. O’Neill explains how cancer prevention begins with simple steps anyone can take!
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Transcript
Cami Smith:
Hi, I am Cami Smith. Thank you so much for joining And So Much More. I am here with Dr. Michael O'Neill, and he is the Medical Director of the Pearson Cancer Center as well as radiation oncology. And we are actually in the Pearson Cancer Center right now. And so there's a lot happening around us. This is lots of patients coming in and going out, and so it might get a little loud, but we're just going to roll with it. So what should I call you first? Do you like Dr. O'Neill?
Dr. O'Neill:
You're welcome to call me Mick.
Cami Smith:
Okay. All right. So, tell me a little bit about yourself. What brought you to Centra?
Dr. O'Neill:
So I've been here since 2013 when I finished residency up north in Rochester, New York. And we came down to interview, it was February, about, really about 11 years from now, and we were wearing T-shirts and we're like, wow, this is awesome. We can enjoy the outdoors all year round. It's a great place to raise a family. So grown since then and just had a great time. Love it.
Cami Smith:
Yes. This is an incredible place to be. Gotten to know some of your patients, some of the nurses, and it's just an incredible environment. It must be so fun to come to work every day with this group of people
Dr. O'Neill:
Yes. No, I genuinely enjoy it. I always joke, I remind myself how blessed I am every day that I'm here. Still go home and yell at my kids because that's life.
Cami Smith:
Because that's life. Yes. The world keeps turning.
Dr. O'Neill:
Yeah, no, it's a great place. The staff is amazing and I just enjoy meeting people from all walks of life and during a challenging time. So we try to make that as easy as we can during that.
Cami Smith:
So that is one of the reasons why we're here having this discussion. February is Cancer Awareness month, and so many lives have been touched by cancer in some form or fashion. And so I guess one thing I would love to know is what made this particular type of medicine a draw for you?
Dr. O'Neill:
Yeah, so that's a great question. I actually struggled with that a lot during medical school, is where was I going to go from here? And as I think back on it now, I actually lost my grandfather to prostate cancer when he was very young. He was only 63, and he was my best friend. And that probably shaped a lot of things, and I'm reminded of him every day here when I see people. But as I was going through the opportunity to get to know people during a challenging time, to have a direction to guide them and help them and listen to their story and figure out what makes them go and how we can help, if not cure the cancer, which we can do many times now, but also help their quality of life. All those have led me to how I practice today, what I like and what I do.
Cami Smith:
So I imagine a huge message is cancer prevention. I mean, you see so many of these people and you form these great relationships, but the alternative would be health. You want them to be outside of the Pearson Cancer Center. And so there are so many different types of cancer and I think it can feel so overwhelming when you think about all the things that we're told to do as far as taking care of yourself. And there are obvious ones like not to smoke and be wary of secondhand smoke and health in general and getting out and being active. But what would be your answer to someone who says, how do I avoid cancer? Just cancer in general, not even being specific about one particular type.
Dr. O'Neill:
Yeah, I think the biggest things are trying to live as, I won't say simply as possible, but as naturally. Making your own foods, avoiding process things. Certainly you brought up the smoking, don't smoke, don't start. Get your loved ones to find ways to stop. Moving your body. That's a huge one, just with the way that our lives are more sedentary now than ever, and those three simple things probably would cut back on a lot of cancers.
Cami Smith:
So what would you consider high risk for as far as a cancer approach?
Dr. O'Neill:
High risk in general means compared to everyone or most people that you meet on the street, you're going to have a higher chance of developing a cancer. Sometimes that's related to genetics. We have certain mutations that people have. Also then it's people who, for example, smoke. They're at higher risk of certain cancers like lung or bladder cancer. And so depending on the category, that's where you fall in to a high risk.
Cami Smith:
So does prevention look different for someone who maybe has some genetic markers?
Dr. O'Neill:
Yes, that would. And that we have a wonderful genetic counselor here that if people are diagnosed or have family members who are diagnosed with cancer, she can talk and say, hey, is that something that may be linked to a genetic predisposition that we want to know about and work on?
Cami Smith:
Okay. What about screenings? I know that's something that at this point in my life, I'm finding myself going to many, many screenings. What would you suggest and I know if you just Google this, you'll see something, but I would love your expert opinion on when to start getting specific screenings and where to begin.
Dr. O'Neill:
So it's always evolving and that's part of the challenge. There are some big groups that put together recommendations based on studies, and they tend to guide us as to when things are most appropriate. And for breast cancer, for example, usually it's around 40 to 45, you're going to want to get your first mammogram to have a sense of what that means, what that looks like. Sometimes it can be earlier if there's a risk in the family. For example, for colon cancer screening, colonoscopies, they have moved the age younger as we've seen more people with colon cancer at earlier ages. So that's now 45. And it really just depends on the cancer. So most primary care doctors are amazing about helping people get to where they need to. And also always welcome to call us here. We have people who are dedicated to certain cancer types that can help say, hey, yeah, you need to think about this.
Cami Smith:
And something I thought was very cool, so the first time I ever had it was a skin cancer screening, I actually came here and it was a free cancer screening clinic that you guys were having here. And I was so nervous, but it was incredible. Somebody met me right at the door and walked me back and helped me just walk through the whole process. And it made me feel so much more comfortable. It kind of broke down the stigma I think I had. And so what, do you guys have many of those free clinics available?
Dr. O'Neill:
Yeah, so one of our goals over the last few years has been to increase the availability of screening to everyone. So for example, you mentioned the skin cancer screenings. We have at least two of those here. We've had one in Bedford, one in Farmville the last year. We're doing some events. There's the mammography van that goes around the community. And you're right, I think that's probably the biggest concern for people is what does screening look like? Is people going to be poking, prodding me? People are often very scared to have a colonoscopy. I mean, cameras up body parts are not the most fun.
Cami Smith:
It doesn't sound wonderful.
Dr. O'Neill:
But there are other ways to go about that. There's something called Cologard or they can test the stool where you send it off to ...
Cami Smith:
That sounds a little bit better.
Dr. O'Neill:
Yes, exactly. Lung cancer screening usually involves a CT scan, and that's typically, all these are also paid for by insurance, that people get nervous about, right? Am I going to get stuck with extra bills? And so there are lots of ways to go about it.
Cami Smith:
Okay. I feel like we've covered so much information and feel free to stop and rewind and stop and rewind to listen to this. But I do want to ask you before we close up, if you could give someone advice right now that is the biggest takeaway for a potential patient, hopefully not going to be a patient. What would it be?
Dr. O'Neill:
Probably the stuff I mentioned in the beginning. Move your body, try to make your own food. Eat as much as you can that comes without being processed. I know it's hard in today's world, that we're all very busy. And then don't start smoking.
Cami Smith:
Yes, don't start smoking. No, that's a great message. And I know we all want to take care of ourselves and we all have people that we love, that we want to take care of, and we hope that they'll take care of themselves as well. So as we're in this month, I encourage you to maybe take some opportunity to learn a little bit more about cancer and prevention and all of the things that comes with, because it could save your life and save the lives of your loved ones. And so you can also go to our website and we have lots of information there as well, centrahealth.com. And thank you for watching today on And So Much More.