(See Part 1, below)
By Mark Lipten, May 2008
Last month, my wife wrote about my recent visit to the emergency room. In case you’ve forgotten or didn’t read last month’s column, here’s what happened: I laughed so hard at a joke my son told that I passed out at the dinner table and was taken by ambulance to Florida Hospital.
After a night of tests and a follow-up with my family doctor and cardiologist, I’m happy to say that all is well. For good measure, I also had a full annual physical and a dermatological exam. Still doing fine for a 50 year old — and that’s inside and out, which I verified when I also had my first colonoscopy, which was a breeze (and I don’t just mean the breezy back of the hospital gown!). The prep the day before wasn’t even that bad. Of the procedure itself and its aftermath, I remember nothing, not even the mega-snacks my wife says I devoured on the way home. That afternoon I took the longest nap of my life. Now I just have to remember to schedule another scope when I’m 60.
The reason I bring up colonoscopies is that it’s so important that adults who are 50 (or even younger, depending on risk factors) have this or one of the other screening procedures. There’s nothing funny about colon cancer. This year more than 140,000 people will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer and over 50,000 will die from the disease, despite the fact that colorectal cancer is one of the most detectable and treatable forms of cancer when people get screened. I had to laugh (don’t worry, not hard enough to pass out!) when I read a report on the top reasons why people don’t get screened. Of course people cite a lack of awareness or confusion about insurance benefits or a lack of insurance coverage. But the one that jumped out at me was this: the absence of social support for openly discussing and doing something about “the disease down there.”
Yes, people don’t want to talk about or think about the screening. Unfortunately, the åtopic of talking about and then having a colonoscopy is lumped in with our other conversational taboos: Income, Intimacy and, as the report said, “the disease down there.” I can sort of see the first two, but that third avoided topic kills over 50,000 people a year. So, I’m talking about it.
I’m lucky for a lot of reasons. I’ve celebrated my 50th year with a full menu of planned and unplanned medical procedures, and all the results have been good. I have excellent doctors and health insurance. But the best thing I have is a wife (Sandy, who usually writes this column) who nudges me just enough to do the right thing. Nudge the ones you love. And consider this your nudge.
Thanks for reading!