Colonoscopy!

Has it been 3 years already?  Yes, it has.  Three years ago a colonoscopy saved my life.  A pre-cancerous polyp was found and removed.  My doctor ordered me to come back in five years and to instruct my siblings to have colonoscopies as well.  This was not only because of what they found in me at my age, but also because of the fact that my father had colon cancer at a relatively young age.

And all of my siblings went in for their colonoscopies.  4 siblings, 3 of them also had polyps.  So my doctor saved their lives as well by encouraging them to get checked.

So do the math.  Dad with colon cancer+80% of his children with colon polyps in their '30s.

My doctor then decided that I should come back every 3 years.  And it's that time again!  Next month I go back for part 2.  Not that I am excited to have a colonoscopy again, but I am glad to know that the technology is there to keep an eye on things (that's a horrible way to phrase that, but oh well).

This past year my next door neighbor was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at age 46.  2 little kids, healthiest, fittest guy I know.  He has done everything right, had absolutely no risk factors, and yet he has colon cancer.  His case was almost identical to my dad's, including its location in the liver as well.  I told him at the beginning he was going to beat it, because my dad had battled nearly the same thing and come out on top.  He is fighting like a champ, and everything is looking like he will be a survivor.

Just like my adorable dad.  We are so lucky to have him still around to tell the kids excellent bedtime stories and take them to the air force base.  The kids love to hear his stories about everything, and they really love to see his scars from his cancer surgeries and hear the stories about where they came from.

Why did I write this post?  Just to encourage everyone reading it to go have a colonoscopy.  It's really not a big deal.  Sure, it's not that fun, but it's not scary at all.  The only thing scary is NOT having one done.