Texas Tech’s Michelle Balducci committed to preventing colorectal cancer

At first glance, Get F.I.T. might sound like the name of a fitness center.

But although the meaning is much different, it does have to do with your health. And in a very big way.

F.I.T. stands for fecal immunochemical testing, which uses stool samples to screen for colon cancer.

“Get ‘F.I.T.’ so that you can stay well,” said Michelle Balducci, who is the program manager and senior analyst for Get F.I.T. to Stay Fit at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Amarillo.

The program provides free colon cancer screenings to the 26 counties of the Texas Panhandle while providing education and increasing awareness of this disease, Balducci said.

"As program manager, I oversee all operations of the program including patient enrollment, outreach to rural communities, accounting and finance, grant writing, statistical analysis of regional data collected, reporting to the state government, hiring of grant personnel, marketing contractual agreements and more," she said.

That’s a pretty tall order for just one person, but Balducci said she has the background and experience to handle all of those responsibilities.

“I was selected for this role due to my ability to start projects,” she said. “In my past positions I have opened a new restaurant, a new hotel and developed procedures and streamlined processed for AIG becoming the first team lead for the capital transfers unit.”

Balducci said she started her job on Dec. 1, 2014, the day the grant was awarded. The grant is funded by the Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas.

Balducci said she has to reapply for the grant every three years to keep the program going.

The F.I.T. tests are offered for free to anyone in the Panhandle age 45 to 75 or with a family history of colon cancer, she said.

“The patient takes home the kit and collects a small stool sample, then it is mailed back in a prepayed envelope,” she said.

But let’s say you live in Spearman, or another small town in the Panhandle, and it would be an inconvenience to take time away from work or family to drive to Amarillo to pick up a kit. Balducci said she can have one delivered to your front door.

“A lot of people don’t have money to take off and travel for health care,” she said. “We educate and demonstrate how to use the kit.”

She said the Panhandle has high incident and mortality rates for colon cancer when compared to other areas of Texas.

“Along with that, we have the lowest number of people screened for this disease,” she said. “We have a low-insured rate, a low-literacy rate and people with no access to health care.”

Balducci said the tests are 99.6 percent effective. If a test is positive, then a colonoscopy or further diagnostics are advised. The colonoscopies, when needed, also are paid for by the program.

Until recently, colorectal cancer screenings were advised for people 50 and older. But now, people age 45 or older should get screenings.

“Since 1994, the cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed under the age of 50 have grown by 51 percent,” she said. “And the cancers have become more aggressive.”

Balducci was born in Nampa, Idaho, and moved to Texas in 1999 when her mother was transferred to the Tyson beef packing plant.

She graduated from Palo Duro High School, attended Amarillo College and has a 6-year-old son, Michael. She is a certified community-health worker through West Texas A&M.

Balducci said she has personal connections to cancer, though not colorectal cancer. Her brother is a testicular cancer survivor, and both her aunt and grandfather are cancer survivors as well, she said.

Along with her commitment to preventing colorectal cancer, Balducci said she serves on the board of Texas Panhandle Charities.

“We have no overhead. Every penny we raise goes to the causes we champion,” she said.

Through Texas Panhandle Charities, money has been raised for Texas Panhandle Angels, which helps support children with cancer or blood diseases, the American Cancer Society and the High Plains Food Bank, Balducci said.

Balducci concluded that no one needs to die from colorectal cancer.

“This is one of the most preventable cancers,” she said. “It would be nearly non-existent if people would just get screened and catch it in the polyp stage.”