The Not So Glamorous Day

Almost ten years ago my younger sister was diagnosed with colon cancer. She was in for the fight of her life. I won’t go into detail but it was scary and painful for her and she suffered immensely. She was only thirty nine and much too young to have to endure this.

A few years later my father was also diagnosed with colon cancer, he too suffered and with much prayer and faith he was able to fight this.

This wasn’t good news for me and my other siblings. We were instructed to make sure we all had colonoscopies to make sure we were all fine. Colon cancer seems to run in families, but not always. It can strike anyone. Most of the time it happens to older people but not always, just this year I lost a friend that was my age to colon cancer.

What exactly is a colonoscopy? This is what I found.

Colonoscopy is a procedure used to see inside the colon and rectum. Colonoscopy can detect inflamed tissue, ulcers, and abnormal growths. The procedure is used to look for early signs of colorectal cancer and can help doctors diagnose unexplained changes in bowel habits, abdominal pain, bleeding from the anus, and weight loss

OK, so I didn’t have any of this so what’s the big deal? So this is the big deal! If you don’t have any of this stuff going on by the age of fifty we need to have this procedure done. Seems as we age little polyps can grow on the colon wall. These can also be removed during the colonoscopy procedure. If left to grow, over the years these little growths turn into cancer.

I had never had this procedure and have to say it didn’t sound like something that I was looking forward to doing. But as you know I have learned my lesson about procrastination and how important early detection is when it comes to any cancer.

I made the appointment and made sure it was a few months into the future so that I would have some strength back and maybe find away to get out of having to do it. Maybe something more important would come up and I could cancel and just do this later, much later. But that didn’t happen.

A few days before my appointment I was instructed to go on a low fiber diet. This was easy enough, then the day before I was able to eat breakfast and then just clear liquids. At 5:00 in the evening I started drinking the solution to cleanse my colon. Every fifteen minutes I had to consume 8oz’s of this stuff. It had a lemon flavor and wasn’t really that bad. There was four liters in all to get down and at one point it looked impossible, but I did it! Oh yea, and I did spend most of the evening in the restroom.

My appointment was at 9:00 and after being checked in and an IV in place they gave me a sedation and the next thing I knew I was awake and only twenty minutes later. My sister had brought me and once I was dressed we were on our way home. I hadn’t had any food for twenty four hours so that was all I had on my mind.

If you’re reading this and your far from “fifty” file this away and remember to get yours when the time comes.

If you are “fifty” or more and you haven’t yet had yours, don’t put it off, days come and go and before we know it years have gone by.

As for me my results were good, I did have one polyp and it was a tiny one. They removed it and sent me on my way. Most people only have to do this test every ten years. I will have to schedule this procedure every five years because of the history of my family.