Paris man thankful for lifesaving screening in helping him detect cancer

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, and this month draws awareness to it.

Early detection is key to saving lives, and in Lexington, there is a group working to make sure every person who needs a screening can get one regardless of cost.

In this month’s Link to Hope, how that screening saved one man’s life.

Roy Bailey is thankful for Kentucky CancerLink.

“Well, there is a good possibility I’m alive because of it,” said Roy Bailey.

When Bailey was 45, a doctor suggested it was time for a colonoscopy, but life got in the way.

“I put it off for about a year, maybe a little bit more, because I wasn’t having any symptoms and didn’t think anything was wrong with me,” said Bailey.

Another reason he put off the screening was the cost.

“I didn’t have insurance and couldn’t afford it, so the only reason I was able to have it done was because of Kentucky CancerLink’s program,” said Bailey.

A nurse helped connect Bailey with Carla Washnock, a patient navigator at Kentucky CancerLink.

“Folks are referred to us sometimes from their primary care, sometimes a friend told them about us, and even just today, I had folks that were just googling inexpensive colonoscopies,” said Carla Washnock.

Through funding from the Kentucky Colon Cancer Screening and Prevention Program, she helps direct people to no-cost options if they qualify.

For many of the people Washnock helps navigate, removing that barrier of cost is key.

“They are just so relieved and grateful that there is a program out there for them to give them some piece of mind to take charge a little bit of their healthcare,” said Washnock.

For Roy Bailey, that program was lifesaving; despite having no symptoms, doctors found colon cancer.

He had surgery to remove a portion of his colon and underwent chemotherapy.

“Without Kentucky CancerLink and without them setting up the service, I probably wouldn’t have gone and done it and still put it off until it was possibly too late,” said Bailey.

Now cancer-free, Bailey owes a lot to people like Carla Washnock, who simply answer their call. A Link to Hope on the other end of the line.

“I think the navigating is the keyword; we get them where they need to be,” said Washnock.

Last year, Kentucky CancerLink helped provide 313 colonoscopies and provides services to 85 Kentucky counties.

Copyright 2025 WKYT. All rights reserved.