Potter, then 45, was a Chrysler factory employee recovering from an Achilles tendon injury and scheduled a routine physical before returning to work.

Although the typical age to begin colonoscopy scans was 50, Potter accepted his physician’s request to perform the scan early, a decision that proved to be life-changing.

Potter, who has ties in Ossineke where he visits each summer, recalled the day he heard the news he had cancer.

“I felt like I was in a daze, my mind went crazy,” he said. “I’m gonna have to wear a bag for the rest of my life.”

Courtesy Photo Scott Potter and his sister Terri Potter Martino pose together in this undated courtesy photo.

At the University of Michigan hospital in Ann Arbor, the surgery required the removal of the colon, but with a direct connection from the lower intestine to the rectum, no colostomy bag was required.

Based on the abnormalities of the type of cancer, Potter was sent for genetic testing, it was here that familial adenomatous polyposis was revealed, a rare genetic condition that causes abnormal tissue growth in parts of the body, usually inherited from a parent.

Potter informed his siblings of the genetic findings and both immediately scheduled colonoscopies.

The brother was negative, but his sister, Terri Potter Martino, was diagnosed with colon and rectal cancer at the age of 30.

Martino, a registered nurse, chose the Cleveland Clinic as it was the hospital with the largest registry of people who were treated for familial polyposis.

Not only was Martino’s surgery extensive involving removal and reconstruction, but chemo before and after surgery was required, along with radiation treatments.

During her stay at the Cleveland Clinic, Martino discovered that the genetic gene also affects the thyroid and kidneys.

Both Martino and Potter’s thyroids were found cancerous and removed, and every three years they undergo a kidney scan.

“Scott was the one who saved my life,” Martino said. “I call him my hero because I would’ve never thought to be checked at my age.”

Martino also recognized her brother’s anxiety and stress culminating.

“I needed to be that rock for him and my own fears of not being here for my kids, there was no way I was dying,” she said.

Together these siblings weathered the tumultuous journey to cancer survivorship that has only brought them closer.

Potter is now retired and enjoying his dream home in Florida, while Martino spends every spare second spoiling her grandchildren.