Aaron Padgett started having abdomen problems in 2019, and with a family history of colon cancer, he had concerns that his symptoms could be pointing to a big issue.

He went to a doctor with his concerns, but the physician thought he was too young for colon cancer. After all, he was only in his late 30s at the time.

“October of 2021, I was diagnosed with stage two colon cancer,” says Padgett.

The following month, an IU Health Southern Indiana Physicians surgeon removed the tumor and 26 lymph nodes and resected his bowel. Afterward, everything looked great, with all signs pointing to no more cancer.

Still, Padgett started coming in for labs every three months to keep an eye on things. After seeing his CEA level steadily rising over the last year, his latest CT scan found a new tumor in the same spot as his previous.

“I’ve taken care of cancer patients, a bulk of my nursing career, and just never thought that I would be on the opposite side of the table,” says his wife, Carly Padgett, RN. “So it was a shock to the system when we found out the cancer returned.”

He’s currently undergoing chemotherapy at IU Health Bloomington before his next surgery and is very thankful that he kept going to his regular checks after his first remission.

“I’m pretty sure I’m going to be cured and go into remission from this,” says Aaron Padgett. “But we caught it early.”