Deeper Thoughts

In the past two weeks, I personally know of 6 people in their 50's who have died of Colon Cancer.

The oldest of these people was 54 years old.  Black, White, Male, Female, Asian, they all had one thing in common - they had never had a Colonoscopy.  They had tumors in their colons that grew to a size that blocked their colon, their colon ruptured, and they ended up dying from the complications.

I am familiar with the ravages of Colon Cancer.  A little over two years ago, my Mother's Colon ruptured.  At the age of 84, she had never had a colonoscopy.  She had a tumor in her colon that ruptured.  All of that stuff in her colon spilled into her abdominal cavity.  Two emergency surgeries, one bout with pneumonia, and one bout with congestive heart failure - she spent 6 weeks in the ICU before all was said and done.  She will never again poop the way the rest of us do.  She has a colostomy bag that will be her friend until the day she dies.

Four people had ruptured colons that same night as my Mom.  She was the only one who survived.

Did you know - Colon Cancer is the most treatable form of cancer - IF it is caught early?

A colonoscopy is not the worst thing that can happen to you.  Having your colon rupture is.  Dying early because of complications from colon cancer is a horrible thing.

I had my colonoscopy the summer after my Mom's bout with colon cancer.

The preparation wasn't pleasant.  But honestly, it was only one night.  I've had stomach bugs that were worse than the prep for the colonoscopy.

24 hours after the colon prep, I was enjoying a wonderful dinner with my family.  Happy and secure in the knowledge that three polyps - one of which was in the exact same place as my Mothers' was - removed.

I'll have to do it all over again in a couple of years.  But it's okay.  I'll be watching my youngest child graduate from the community college in May, and three days later, I'll be watching my middle child graduate from college.  After all, doesn't that matter more than a few hours of inconvenience the night before a colonoscopy?

Take the time to take care of yourself!