wrote in message
ups.com...

Bryan wrote:
"During my last, very rare visits to a doctor several years ago he
scheduled
me for one of those [colonoscopy]. I still haven't shown up for it."
-- anonymous unless he who said it wants credit

This ng seems to have a lot of over 40 members.
If you want a few more years of boating, and someone has told you to get
a
colonoscopy, swallow your pride, set your concerns for dignity aside,
and
het 'er done!
Early detection is what makes colon cancer curable!
Just remember to bring wine and flowers (chocolates not necessary) to the
appointment.

That's my last pubic service message. There won't be any others.

I have a very lucky brother in law. Maybe 4 years ago, when he was
about 55 and on a vacation in San Francisco, he started crapping blood.
He put up with it for a couple of days while his vacation finished up,
and then went to the doctor for probably the 2nd or 3rd time in his
adult life when he got back to Washington. Colon cancer. Very advanced.
A colonoscopy would have detected the growths in an earlier stage,
perhaps when still benign.

Today, he's still alive. They operated and removed the tumors. He is
lucky because the cancer hadn't spread beyond his intestines. He is
lucky because there is an 80% chance of recurrence with in the first 2
years following these operations, and while his "count" is still above
normal in his blood the doctors can't find any active cancers at this
time.

He isn't so lucky in that, as a result of the operation, he had to make
a choice between
carrying a "bag" or wearing diapers the rest of his life. He went with
the diapers. Sounds like a miserable existence to me, but at least he's
still alive and can put in a day's work in a business that's his sole
joy in life.

His two slightly younger sisters (one of them my wife) went in for
colonoscopies, and were OK, but they will be watched carefully due to
family history. The Mrs said she didn't want to hog all the fun and
insisted that I get one too, and I was OK as well.

My doctor and (even my neurologist) always asks everybody over 50 if
they have had a colonoscopy. Colon or intestinal cancer is one of the
easiest deadly conditions to detect and correct at an early stage if
one gets scoped out, and one of the deadly conditions from which one
can easily die if not discovered.


Damn you, Chuck. :-)

Now you've done it. The diapers got to me.

RCE