"I’m fine and loving life again."
March 26, 2024
The day after tomorrow, Steve Brant would have his regularly scheduled, five-year colonoscopy at Conemaugh Memorial Hospital.
But today, December 4, he was celebrating his 66th birthday with his wife, Kim, over a great dinner at Asiago’s Restaurant in Johnstown.
Better yet, the couple was only a few weeks away from a “music cruise” to the Dominican Republic; one that featured 20 bands, including his favorite rock group, Train. They had planned for this much-anticipated vacation for three years.
After enjoying a pasta-alfredo-and-steak birthday meal, Steve knew he had to begin the chore of ingesting a laxative to prepare for the colonoscopy. He was feeling well and enjoying retirement. The colonoscopy would only be a bump in the road… until it wasn’t.
“After the colonoscopy, the doctor told me I had a mass in my colon,” said Brant, a Jennerstown resident, former U.S. Air Force staff sergeant, and retired 34-year employee at the U.S. Department of Defense.
A few days later, Dr. Karleigh Curfman, a surgeon with Conemaugh Surgical Associates, scheduled him for a January 9, 2023, operation to remove a golf-ball-size tumor.
Looking back on it, “rather than being afraid of the cancer, I was afraid of missing our February 17 cruise,” Steve said with a laugh.
But it was a very nervous laugh when he first discussed it with Dr. Curfman. His operation was a transverse section of the colon.
The tumor was encapsulated, “so surgery was the cure,” he said, with no need for follow-up radiation or chemotherapy.
“The operation went great. Everything fell into place,” Steve said. “Dr. Curfman and some of her staff visited me in my hospital room and gave me the good news.”
He was released from the hospital two days later. Several weeks later, Steve and Kim took a flight to Miami to begin their cruise to the Dominican Republic.
“I couldn't do any of the excursions; cliff diving, dune-buggy rides or riding down waterfalls,” he said with a wide grin. “But that was ok. I’m fine and loving life again with my wife.”
An MRI and CAT scan, followed up by a year-later colonoscopy, showed no cancer cells or polyps, and provided Steve with a clean bill of health.
“Nobody wants to have cancer. But this couldn't have been an easier experience. It was positive beyond my imagination,” he said. “I had lots of prayers answered throughout the entire process. I hail Doctor Curfman. She is absolutely awesome. And everyone on her team was amazing, too; from the nurses to the technicians.
“Everything went textbook-perfect. But I was extremely lucky. I had no symptoms. My cancer was discovered as the result of a routine screening,” he said. “If I wouldn’t have had that colonoscopy, or if I would have waited, this could be an entirely different story with a not-so-happy ending.
“It’s so important for people to get a colonoscopy. So, get yourself checked out. And I hope you can be as lucky as me.”