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Get Your Butt Checked!- split from Changes to Political

Hamish Seggie said:
Good move.
I've  never had a colonoscopy either - yet.

:highjack: and  :eek:ff topic:

Sorry, Mike and Mods, move this if you like ... BUT, this matters.

Hamish, I get one every five years, have done since I was 60 ... doctor's (and wife's) orders. Colorectal cancer is easy to detect and easy to treat IF caught early enough. Ditto for skin cancer, by the way; I speak from (happy, so far) expetience, too.

A colonoscophy is the easiest and surest way to detect colon cancer, or (touch wood he says tapping his head) to prove that you're clear ... as I have been thus far. All men over 60 needd to get the test; it's simple, quick, and painless, albeit a wee tiny bit undignified.

I lost my first wife to cancer ... no one wants to wish that experience on their spouse, trust me. Get the damned test, guys. And gals, you get your tests, too, for the most common and easily detected cancers. Please, friends, don't make your spouses go through what I did.  :'(


 
Ici aussi - and it mother at age 52 after 5 years.

It ain't that bad.
 
E.R. Campbell said:
:highjack: and  :eek:ff topic:

Sorry, Mike and Mods, move this if you like ... BUT, this matters.

Hamish, I get one every five years, have done since I was 60 ... doctor's (and wife's) orders. Colorectal cancer is easy to detect and easy to treat IF caught early enough. Ditto for skin cancer, by the way; I speak from (happy, so far) expetience, too.

A colonoscophy is the easiest and surest way to detect colon cancer, or (touch wood he says tapping his head) to prove that you're clear ... as I have been thus far. All men over 60 needd to get the test; it's simple, quick, and painless, albeit a wee tiny bit undignified.

I lost my first wife to cancer ... no one wants to wish that experience on their spouse, trust me. Get the damned test, guys. And gals, you get your tests, too, for the most common and easily detected cancers. Please, friends, don't make your spouses go through what I did.  :'(


I can't second what ER Campbell said enough.  And more and more, younger folks are getting colon cancer too due to all the 'stuff' put into the food supply system.

I had a friend pass away 2 years ago, at the age of 35, from colon cancer.  An absolutely horrid way to go, truly. 


They didn't screen or test her for colon cancer because she was 'too young'.  And by the time they finally did, it was Stage 3 and progressed to Stage 4 shortly after.

Get the test once a year folks.  Absolutely worth the 5 minutes of awkwardness.  :2c:
 
Just had a colonoscopy done a couple of weeks ago. Three very small polyps removed, hopefully nothing to worry about (I'll know more on Thursday). Had I waited and done nothing.....

Thanks to the Versed and Fentanyl, I felt nothing and barely remember any of it.

A day or two of discomfort instead of a very unpleasant disease.
 
To the mod that split this thread and its glorious title:

a9c7Hp.gif
 
The most annoying part is the cleansing regimen.  Bi-peglyte has a slightly off-putting taste.  Survival rates for Stage 1 colorectal cancers are excellent, but there are some decided inconveniences resulting from resection, which vary depending on how high or low the section removed lies.  If you can't get scheduled for colonoscopy (depends on where you are), seek alternative screenings/tests which could get you in the door if you test positive.
 
I've had one (I'm in my 30s) to investigate some issues I was having, and it's not that bad. The prep isn't fun, but nothing wrong with getting cleared out and having a professional confirm all systems are go. As stated previously by others, you are drugged up and don't really remember much - at least I didn't. You will just need someone to drive you home. I've had minor surgery before, and would take a colonoscopy any day of the week...

Hopefully this thread helps some out there get past any perceived stigma associated with this topic.

:salute:

 
I guess this is what my old man meant when he warned against running around in circles.

"If you run around in ever-decreasing circles the inevitable happens.  You disappear up your own arsehole."

Have we reached the culmination of Mike's efforts?
 
Waiting for number two, five years hence. Drink the glass of cleansing in one gulp and stay near a white throne. I am 73 YOA.

Great thread.
 
Depending on what instructions you are given, best to follow them - space the drink out over time if that is what is specified.  Even if you follow the instructions exactly, you might not meet standard.  In that case, you may be invited back and given the pleasure of the two-day prep.  Notwithstanding the fairly limited dietary restrictions for the days preceding the fast day(s), best to avoid stringy, fibrous, etc foods the day before fast.
 
It wasn't colon but rather prostate cancer that I want to talk about.  If I hadn't released I would probably be dead as DND doesn't test until 50.
At 46, after my first visit to my new family doc I got called back because of my PSA.
Cue specialist referral, three months of monitoring, a rising PSA, a biopsy, and a robotic radical prostatectomy.  All was good for a year.
Cue rising PSA again and six weeks of radiation.  All good for another year and a half. 
Cue rising PSA again, more scans, very directed high dose radiation and hormone replacement.
Six months now and holding.

I would be four years into the cancer progressing before my first check up at 50 if I went by the standard program.  Right now my only symptoms are from the treatments and hopefully it'll stay that way, but that's not likely.  I can look forward to a (hopefully long) lifetime of varied treatments, knowing it is there lurking, and monitoring developments in treatments

I encourage all men to get checked when they have a chance.  The Man Van here in Alberta offers travelling testing (outside of COVID).  Check in your province for something similiar.  A high PSA doesn't mean you have cancer but it is a strong indicator and your doc will have a good talk with you if it is the case.
 
I've had two colonoscopies - five years apart - starting when I was 50, both clear so I think I'm good for 15 years or something.  The first one I followed the prep instructions and it was, adventurous.  For the second one, I started eating very light four or five days beforehand.  Prep was a walk in the park.

I've had regular PSA tests and physical exams for as long as I can remember.  I'm currently a little behind (?!?) because Covid and need to get in.

I've had shots for pneumonia, shingles, Hep A & B, the flu.  If there's a vaccine, I want it.  The healthcare system is there for us.
 
Thanks Mike and Mods, for the split, the great thread title and, all, for the positive comments ...

A sad story, if I may ...

Almost 40 years ago we were stationed in the Netherlands, at HQ AFCENT in Brunssum. I was a LCol. One of my folks was a brilliant ~ no other word ~ young Signals MCpl named Dirk Abbink. He was a crypto tech, and a damned fine one. He did some absolutely marvellous work for us and in his last year I wrote a PER that was pretty much right justified. Not just that ... I wrote it, the senior Canadian, my old friend Colonel Al Tattersal (CME) endorsed it and the second reviewing officer was a Brit 4 star! Suffice to say, at Colonel Tattersal's request, Ottawa approved an acccerated promotion and we got to pin Sgt Abbink's third hook on his collar in Brunssum. All great stuff, right?

Well, he was rotating home, to Kingston ... he went to the British Medical Centre for the routine checkup ... they found polyps. Sgt Abbink was like me, fair skinned and "blessed" with lots of spots, about which we were both teased as kids, and so on ...

He went home and six months later I got the message from Kingston: he was dead.
.
.
.
Skin cancer is even easier to spot than colon cancer ... all you guys like us: watch those spots! Report the ones that change shape or colour. I got caught ... it's been over six years since my last "positive," but I check, and so does my wife, on an almost daily basis.

We can beat this if we use commons ense and follow a few simple rules.   
 
Yeah, but as you get older there are a lot more spots to check.  Unfortunately there's no clothing exchange to swap my old skin for a new one.
 
Brad Sallows said:
Unfortunately there's no clothing exchange to swap my old skin for a new one.

You'd get something either too big or too small anyway  :nod:
 
Reading this reminded me of an article I read shortly before my first colonoscopy.  If you're holding off on a colonoscopy because of a fear of the unknown, it provides a rather humorous (but accurate) view of the whole subject.

Hope you enjoy as much as I did.  (Edit:  I think it's worth mentioning here that I mean enjoy the article)

Dave Barry - A journey into my colon
 
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