Cancer Prevention: How to live a long life

For those who have never written anything I’ve published — “Guy sucks as a writer” — please make an exception and read this column because it just may save your life. No exaggeration. Or the life of someone you love.

“It’s reading your stuff that kills me.”

Come on. This is serious — March is Colorectal Awareness Month, so it’s time to take a deep dive into this deadly form of cancer. In fact, one of the deadliest, with a relatively high mortality rate.

By the way, to cut to the chase, the intent of this column is to convince adults 45 and over to get a colonoscopy if they haven’t already done so.

It’s often those with the thickest of heads, or those who take machismo to the next level, who are most prone to that sort of pig-headed thinking, and more guys than women seem to think in this caveman fashion.

I should know. I was once one of those people, waiting until the age of 67 before I had my first colonoscopy. Stupid beyond belief, but there you go.

Some people say:

“I just don’t believe in doctors. I gotta be real sick to go see one.”

I never took it that far even though some people really think like that. I’d go see docs for regular stuff, but when it came to the thought of a colonoscopy, I always found a reason to shy away from the subject whenever my primary physician brought up the issue during regular health checks — “You really need to get one. You have been putting it off for too long.”

Yeah, yeah, yeah. See you in another six months.

At long last, though, she was able to convince me to at least collect a small sample of waste, bring it into the lab, and they would check it for blood.

As long as I don’t have to drink that stuff and sit on the john for six hours, we’re good, I told her.

I wasn’t worried or concerned until the stupid test came back positive.

What?

In my head, I added two more words after “What,” but at least I didn’t say them to the receptionist.

Macho no more, I got in for a colonoscopy as soon as I could. Not sure why I avoided one for so long. Just the thought of having to go through it all, I guess. Having some tube shoved up my backside, with a camera, no less. But the pros of getting one so far outweigh the cons it’s not even close.

No hyperbole — it can be the difference, for some, between life and death.

I still had the stupid belief that if I felt okay, I was fine. Or at least with the serious stuff that mattered. Then last year, my long-tenured weekly pool-playing buddy went from fine to dead within a span of only approximately five weeks, and he was gone.

Cancer around the hip area that wouldn’t, didn’t, show up in the semi-annual blood tests he took. When the pain finally hit, though, and the hip area crumbled, it was time to say, adios, I love you, brother, because hospice care was where he was headed.

Our pool-playing days gone in a flash.

Colonoscopies are Easy

Granted, the stuff you have to drink the night before isn’t great, and neither is having to sit in the bathroom on and off for hours, but when you get word from the gastroenterologist the following day, after the colonoscopy, that everything is fine, everything else pales in comparison to the good news.

Thankfully, the colonoscopy I eventually got (thank you, Dr. Cardenas), turned out great. No real problems.

I got lucky, whereas one of my favorite actresses, Elizabeth Montgomery from Bewitched, and sadly, too many others like her, never got one. When the serious signs showed up, it was way past the point of no return, leaving her to die within weeks from colon (colorectal) cancer at the relatively still youthful age of 62.

If only…

A Silent Killer

According to the American Cancer Society, colon cancer is an abnormal growth of cells in the colon or rectum that can invade nearby tissues or spread to other organs. Normally, colon cancer starts as a polyp (small growth) that gets larger over time. While not all polyps are cancerous, some do turn into cancer, which is why getting screened is so important.

Every race, gender and ethnicity are at risk for colon cancer. Luckily, it’s treatable in about 90 percent of people when caught early.

I know this sounds dry, but these are the facts.

According to Cancer.org, Colorectal cancer screening is recommended for everyone beginning at age 45. If it runs in your family, the recommended age for getting your first colonoscopy drops, depending on several factors that you need to discuss with your physician.

Cancer — one of the many curses inflicted on humanity for reasons only God knows.

So what do we do about it?

Prevention is everything when it comes to the cancer curse.

The sad part is, even if someone gets an annual blood test, or two a year, there are some cancers that just don’t show up well in the blood work.

Colorectal cancer is one of them. A big one, especially if diagnosed late, because life expectancy is tied to the time of diagnosis.

The gold standard for the colorectal cancer screening is a colonoscopy. It detects rectal cancer and precancerous polyps. A colonoscopy allows the gastroenterologist to visually inspect the entire area and remove polyps if necessary, order biopsies if any suspicious areas are seen. This is, by far the most accurate way to detect colorectal cancer.

The good news is, most insurance companies, and Medicare, will pay for it.

Granted, this has been a relatively long column, 968 words so far, but the idea of not getting such an important cancer — screening tool as a colonoscopy makes no sense, which is why I used up so many words writing about it.

If you haven’t already talked this over with your physician, do so, please, sooner rather than later.

None of us wants to be that guy, or woman, who once had the chance to screen for a certain type of cancer, but chose not to, only to have deep, deep regrets.