You would be cranky too .. a cautionary tale about routine maintenance

[JoB]

This is a cautionary tale… about a subject none of us like to think or talk about… our bowels.

Did you know that your colon is one of the places in your body where cancer can hide undetected for literally years without any real indications of trouble? I didn’t.

Oh.. i knew that i had troubles… irritable bowel syndrome at best… colitis or worse at worst.. but never in my wildest dreams did i think i might have colon cancer.. until i dumped enough blood to make me do that colonoscopy that i had been putting off.

The startling truth is that by the time colon cancer makes itself known it is generally at an advanced stage… most commonly IIIC… that’s bad enough to be working it’s way through your lymph nodes but not quite working it’s way through the wall of your colon and not quite established elsewhere.

It could have been living and growing in your colon for up to 10 years without any real warning.. maybe increasing back or pelvic pain that won’t go away.. but no change in your blood work.. no warning that it is eating it’s way into the rest of your body.

Scary huh. No-one wants to find out that they have cancer and you sure don’t want to find out it’s that advanced.. or worse… colonizing elsewhere.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Colon cancer isn’t preventable, but colonoscopies really are the gold standard for finding and removing those slow growing cancers before they spread.

I ignored the small warning signs… traces of blood in my stool.. because i was often troubled by hemorrhoids and i had a pretty much lifelong history of irritable bowel.

No-one told me that placed me at higher risk for colon cancer. It does. Yes, they reminded me to get a colonoscopy at regular intervals but they didn’t tell me why it was so important.

The simple truth is that there is no test as efficient at finding these sneaky cancers than a colonoscopy. Mine was even undetected 6 months earlier on a prior pelvic scan that did not include colon prep and my blood work was consistently healthy.

I am ok. I had successful surgery in December and walked out without the dreaded bag. My first CT scan following surgery was clear. I am recovering from surgery and on the whole i feel better than i have in years. But whether i will stay ok is literally a coin toss.

If found during early screening your chances of 5 year survival are incredibly good.. and they stay that way right up to that IIIC mark… the point where your cancer generally announces itself… where they drop precipitously.

Yes, those stool culture tests are icky and there are lots of reasons that you could be bleeding just a little… and everyone knows the prep for a colonoscopy is inconvenient at best… but colonoscopies literally save lives… and in most cases pre-cancerous or even cancerous lesions can be removed during the colonoscopy.. generally preventing the need for either surgery or chemotherapy.

It’s icky… no-one jumps up and down at the idea of a colonoscopy .. but trust me.. finding out you might have a problem early enough to walk away with a smile is worth every bit of hassle.

I guess i don’t get to blame all of my cranky on that nasty not so little tumor… LOL… i wouldn’t expect me to suddenly become the poster child for sweet little old ladies… after all another Presidential campaign is upon us and i feel strongly about this one… but this is why i have been a little more cranky than usual and perhaps a lot more absent lately.

Please, don’t put off your colonoscopy…especially if you have a history with irritable bowel or a family member who has had colon cancer.

Had i done mine 5 years or earlier or perhaps even a year earlier i would have walked out of there with my coin firmly tucked into my pocket instead of waiting for it to come down heads or tails.

I am banking on heads.. i care too much about life to give it up easily…

but if my spinning coin gives you a wake up call it’s a tale well worth sharing.

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[JTB]

How wonderfully typical for JoB to take a very difficult personal challenge and turn it into a thoughtful message urging people to take care of themselves. Lovely, a term probably not routinely associated with this subject matter.

I’m less impressed with the modest inconvenience associated with this procedure. The most practical thing is you require a driver afterwards due to the meds, which leave you awake but very groggy. The nice thing about the meds is that most docs use Vistaril which provides amnesia for pain and knocks back anxiety as part of the drug cocktail. So it’s mostly a “oh, we’re done now?” experience rather than anything uncomfortable. Next day you’re back to work.

I know you’ll have the good thoughts and prayers of many people on your side, JoB.

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[miws]

Yes, thank you for sharing this valuable info, Jo. As you and others know, I had my first and so far only colonoscopy nearly four years ago now, and passed it with flying colors, and don’t need the next one until 2022.

Truly, the worst part of the whole procedure was fasting, closely followed by the crappy taste of what I called the “Go Juice”. Plus, in my case, got to share a little laugh with the staff that was prepping me for the procedure (BP cuff and IV for the meds) as I was sitting up on the bed back to everyone else while we were all chatting, and suddenly as new voice appears and says “Yeah, I the plumber….” turns out he was there to fix a toilet seat or something.

Mike

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[JanS]

hear, hear….have had about 6 of those unpleasantries…colonoscopies. If you turn 50, ya gotta do it. I’d rather the unpleasantry than bad news…

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[Jeannie]

JoB, I wish you the very best. And thank you for the important reminder. I confess, I was nervous about my colonoscopy – not just the prep with the nasty drink, but the notion of “going under” for the procedure. My fears were unfounded. Sure, the prep isn’t fun, but it’s no big deal. Treat yourself to some fancy Popsicles (not red or with fruit pieces, of course) for your prep. As for the sedation, it turned out I didn’t go under completely – in fact, I was able to instruct the anesthesiologist when to increase sedation if I was feeling any minor discomfort. Just be sure to pack something light yet delicious that you can treat yourself to on your ride home – it’ll taste so good, and you deserve it!

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