It was Gilbert Arroyo’s wife, Margarita, who pushed him to have a colonoscopy. Gilbert, 51, was prone to procrastinating when it came to his health, but he made a promise to Margarita that he would start to prioritize it, including going for important tests and doctor’s appointments. On the top of that list: a colonoscopy. It’s a good thing he did; that scan helped detect his cancer when it was still at an early stage.

A decade earlier, Gilbert’s father passed away from colon cancer and, before that, the elder Arroyo had also dealt with both skin and prostate cancer. Cancer in general has been prevalent in Gilbert’s and Margarita’s lives. Her father died from the disease, as did numerous aunts and uncles on Gilbert’s side. Though he was nervous going into the test, Gilbert knew he couldn’t keep putting it off.

Four days after his colonoscopy, Gilbert received the results he had been fearing: A mass was detected—and it was cancer.

Gilbert, who works as a porter in New York City, was blindsided. “Even though colon cancer ran on my dad’s side, I just didn’t think it was going to happen to me. You hear stories about other people getting it, but when it actually hits you, it’s a shock.”

After absorbing the devastating news, he went to see his primary care doctor. Gilbert would need to have surgery to remove the mass, and his physician referred him to Giovanni Bonomo, MD, a board-certified colorectal surgeon affiliated with Florina Cancer Center and the director of colorectal surgery at Staten Island University Hospital.

Even before meeting Dr. Bonomo, Gilbert was impressed. “I looked up his reviews and every single comment was five stars across the board,” he said. Though Gilbert’s family suggested he also speak with other doctors or even head into Manhattan for treatment—he and Margarita live on Staten Island—Gilbert had a gut feeling about Dr. Bonomo.

And from that first appointment, Gilbert was glad he trusted his gut. He immediately felt at ease. “Talking to Dr. Bonomo was like talking to somebody I’ve known for a long time,” he said. Together, they agreed Gilbert would undergo a right colon hemicolectomy, and it was scheduled for a few weeks later at Staten Island University Hospital.

A minimally invasive procedure done robotically, Gilbert’s right colon hemicolectomy involved making a few small incisions. From there, the mass, along with about a foot of his intestine, were removed, and then the remaining intestine reattached. Gilbert was told that the cancer, which was categorized as stage 1, was localized—meaning it hadn’t spread—and that the surgery successfully removed it all.

After the surgery, Gilbert spent three days in the hospital and found the entire team to be both accommodating and attentive. “Even before I pressed the call button, they were coming to my bed: ‘Do you need anything? How’s your pain level?’” he explained.

He spent those initial days on a liquid diet before switching to a low fiber diet to aid in his post-surgical recovery. Once discharged, he recovered at home for about six weeks, resting and leaning on his family for support.

Margarita was there around the clock. “If there’s something I can do for myself, I will do it,” Gilbert explained. “But my wife was like, ‘No, I’m doing everything for you,’” he said. His mother and niece, who live in Brooklyn, and his sister, who lives on Staten Island, also came by to visit and offer their support. “My mother kept saying that my father was looking out for me,” he said.

These days, Gilbert is doing well—and is now considered cancer-free. He doesn’t need chemotherapy or radiation and will have another colonoscopy around the year anniversary of his surgery to make sure everything looks good. Then, depending on the results, will continue having routine colonoscopies every few years after that.

That’s not the only good news: At the tail end of his recovery, he was offered a new job—one he’d been hoping would come through—and loves it.

And, overall, he’s grateful to Margarita for pushing him to make that initial colonoscopy appointment. “I said, ‘You know you saved my life, right?’ And she started laughing and I said, ‘No I’m being serious. You saved my life because, if I had never met you, I probably would’ve never gone for my colonoscopy until it was too late,’” he said. That summer marked the couple’s seventh wedding anniversary, and they had plenty to celebrate.