Is it time to see a doctor?

[Catching Coach]

I wanted to take this opportunity to use the power of the internet to encourage everyone to get the tests done that your doctor has been encouraging you to get done but you have been putting off.

As I have been dealing myself with treatment for rectal cancer for the past 8 months I have met so many people that have been putting off having the potentially lifesaving test for colo-rectal cancer done. Ah yes, the dreaded colonoscopy. It has amazed me how many people I have met that have put off this test even after they were showing initial symptoms. The most common initial symptoms are bleeding and diarrhea. These are so often written off as a result of hemorrhoids and a little irregularity. By far more men seem to not want to have this test done. Well guys, suck it up and get the test done. The prep time the day before certainly is no fun but you will most likely be sound asleep for the test. So stop acting like babies and go get the test scheduled.

So please take my advice and get the test done if you are due, if not for yourself, then for your family.

Dave Weaver aka...Catchingcoach

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Very good advice, Dave.

Similarly, my husband's PSA keeps creeping up to 5. He has had to have two prostate biopsies, but the good news is they haven't found any cancer.

 

[obbay]

Good point Dave! I've had a couple of them, I am not brave and they are no problem. In fact, the anesthetic 'cocktail' you get for this procedure makes me want to come back more often! the prep is the hardest part.

my mother had colon cancer that they didn't find until it was too late. A friend of mine who's father has worn a colostomy bag for years had his first one at age 45 (and then it was at the insistence of his wife). They found cancer and removed most of his colon within weeks. a few months after that procedure, by a fluke they happened to find the same cancer in his liver. he's recovering from that surgery and doing well.
Suffice it to say, there are too many reasons you should get a colonoscopy. if not for your health, at least do it for the anesthetic experience

 

[WinThemAll]

Thank you Dave!

I lost my mother almost two years ago to colon-rectal cancer. She was diagnosed in October, and passed away in June. She too thought it was a hemorrhoids at first. She was only 64.

 

[Screwball]

Yes, find it early. The colon cancer often goes on for awhile without major symptoms and then to the liver and that makes it even more life threatening.

 

[starsnuffer]

Great advice, Dave. Please do find it early. My wife has been on her father for 10 years trying to get him to go. He finally went a few months ago at 63 to get his colonoscopy, after he was experiencing some symptoms. He's now fighting off stage 4 cancer (it spread to his liver first, then his lymph nodes and lungs) and the prognosis is not pretty. All of this could have been avoided if he just went in for this simple checkup instead of being so stubborn.

-W