Today's the fourth anniversary of the death of actor Chadwick Boseman. He died of colon cancer on August 28, 2020; this was less than 3 months after I'd been operated on for the same disease (and survived); so I feel some strange sort of link.
If you're 45 or older, you really should get a colonoscopy. About 1 in 25 people get colon cancer, and a larger number (up to 2 in 5) get growths that can potentially turn cancerous. In their pre-cancerous form they're easily removed.
If you don't get checked for colon growths, however, and they do become cancerous tumors, they can grow without being noticed for years; and when they are detected, it is sometimes too late to do anything about it.
Prepping for a colonoscopy is no fun, but it's a heck of a lot easier and safer than having a large piece of your digestive system cut out. Don't treat it as something optional.
@DavidSalo I had my first colonoscopy early this year at age 52. I had no symptoms and no problems of any kind, but they found and removed two precancerous polyps. I'm very thankful I had it done. Prepping isn't the most fun thing, but it isn't the worst thing in the world either, and far better than full blown cancer.
@JasonStiff @DavidSalo I had my first colonoscopy at 48. My second one at 56. Had another one last year at 61 along with an endoscopy at Presbyterian. They found a tiny neurofibroma between my colon and intestines. They referred me to UNMH due to my autoimmune issues from lupus. Luckily the tumor is still very small,18 months later.
@Iveyjanette1 @DavidSalo I'm glad it was found and taken care of!
@JasonStiff @DavidSalo Yes! I have to go to the hospital for a PET scan in two weeks. Luckily I didn't have to undergo surgery to remove part of my colon and the tumor. That would have been life-threatening.
@JasonStiff
I agree.
I was diagnosed with colon cancer shortly after turning 51, and was already symptomatic at age 50. Doctors I spoke with said they were seeing more and more cases of colon cancer from people in their late 40s, so waiting until you turn 50, which was the standard recommendation, could be waiting too long.