Value of Screening
I recorded a daily journal five and a half years ago depicting my personal battle with cancer on our non-profit website. The journal was meant to help others who find themselves battling this disease for the first time, themselves; to familiarize themselves with options, treatments, and levels of pain to expect. Tips were also included for the support chains so they could also know what to expect. I received two larynx check-ups each year to ensure the cancer did not come back. It did not and just out of the blue 5 1/2 years later the hospital decided that I needed a Colonoscopy to screen for colon cancer; not because I had symptoms or signs of colon cancer but because I was 61 years old and had never had a colonoscopy before.
Absolutely no symptoms, no pain, no discomfort, no irregular bowl movements nor abdominal troubles. So why should I take the time or spend the money. I spent quite a bit of time thinking of reasons not to do it; but I could only come up with reasons to do it. I was preparing to retire and move to paradise, so why not get it out of the way before paradise. Some insurances would not cover later treatment if I declined medical advice previously. And then since Alternative Medicine is preventive in nature and not applicable in this case; It would be Western "procedure" instead. My wife had had two colonoscopies before and they didn't seem to bother her at all. So I agreed.
3/10/2008: My Colonoscopy. Of course they put you out for the procedure. I, myself, had never had a problem with surgeries nor anesthesia. I woke up after the procedure. My wife had been brought back when I woke up. She asked what had taken my so long? The doctor made his rounds soon after that. The doctor explained that I had broken all clinic records. He had removed and biopsied 13 polyps, however, there were at least 8 more that needed to be removed separately. One was located near my appendix and one was so big that it was blocking roughly 97% of my upper right colon. (If this had been located further into the intestines where the solid waste is processed, I would have been some very serious and painful times. Where it was, the waste is mostly liquid at that point in the process. He said he could not remove that big polyps and scheduled me for a surgical consult. He also scheduled me for another colonoscopy to remove another 8 polyps. Normally I would question this, but he showed me the pictures of the polyps in living color.
4/16/2008: My second colonoscopy. Another 8 polyps removed and snips taken for biopsy. The Doctor again said that 21 polyps were far past the previous record for one patient in 40 days; and I still have at least 2 more and probably many more in the strip of colon they could not get into because of the blockage of the two big polyps. 21 polyps removed and I was still feeling fine. Within another 2 weeks was my meeting with the surgeon to discuss my options for treating the two big ones.
4/25/2008: The surgeon explained that there are some people who just predisposition to making polyps (sometimes is hereditary). He recommended that my children get screened no later than at 35 years of age. Since the symptoms are non-existent and do not include pain or discomfort while the results could be colon cancer, I agreed. He did mentioned that the snips he sent in for biopsy all came back benign or pre-cancerous, he mentioned that he was only able to snip a sample from the near end of the big polyp so there was always a chance that the inaccessible side of the big one was cancerous.
5/12/2008: My right colon was re-sectioned; the area between and including the two large polyps was removed and the colon was reattached. Five day hospital stay and around 3 week recovery period at home. The doctor also said that he removed an ailing gall bladder and repaired a hernia during the surgery. During the 5 days in the hospital, he also said that the sample of the big polyp came back with Stage II Cancer. However, it had been completely removed during the surgery.
I think I will have an annual colonoscopy as recommended. This makes a second bought with cancer. This time early detection through Western procedures was the key.
Absolutely no symptoms, no pain, no discomfort, no irregular bowl movements nor abdominal troubles. So why should I take the time or spend the money. I spent quite a bit of time thinking of reasons not to do it; but I could only come up with reasons to do it. I was preparing to retire and move to paradise, so why not get it out of the way before paradise. Some insurances would not cover later treatment if I declined medical advice previously. And then since Alternative Medicine is preventive in nature and not applicable in this case; It would be Western "procedure" instead. My wife had had two colonoscopies before and they didn't seem to bother her at all. So I agreed.
3/10/2008: My Colonoscopy. Of course they put you out for the procedure. I, myself, had never had a problem with surgeries nor anesthesia. I woke up after the procedure. My wife had been brought back when I woke up. She asked what had taken my so long? The doctor made his rounds soon after that. The doctor explained that I had broken all clinic records. He had removed and biopsied 13 polyps, however, there were at least 8 more that needed to be removed separately. One was located near my appendix and one was so big that it was blocking roughly 97% of my upper right colon. (If this had been located further into the intestines where the solid waste is processed, I would have been some very serious and painful times. Where it was, the waste is mostly liquid at that point in the process. He said he could not remove that big polyps and scheduled me for a surgical consult. He also scheduled me for another colonoscopy to remove another 8 polyps. Normally I would question this, but he showed me the pictures of the polyps in living color.
4/16/2008: My second colonoscopy. Another 8 polyps removed and snips taken for biopsy. The Doctor again said that 21 polyps were far past the previous record for one patient in 40 days; and I still have at least 2 more and probably many more in the strip of colon they could not get into because of the blockage of the two big polyps. 21 polyps removed and I was still feeling fine. Within another 2 weeks was my meeting with the surgeon to discuss my options for treating the two big ones.
4/25/2008: The surgeon explained that there are some people who just predisposition to making polyps (sometimes is hereditary). He recommended that my children get screened no later than at 35 years of age. Since the symptoms are non-existent and do not include pain or discomfort while the results could be colon cancer, I agreed. He did mentioned that the snips he sent in for biopsy all came back benign or pre-cancerous, he mentioned that he was only able to snip a sample from the near end of the big polyp so there was always a chance that the inaccessible side of the big one was cancerous.
5/12/2008: My right colon was re-sectioned; the area between and including the two large polyps was removed and the colon was reattached. Five day hospital stay and around 3 week recovery period at home. The doctor also said that he removed an ailing gall bladder and repaired a hernia during the surgery. During the 5 days in the hospital, he also said that the sample of the big polyp came back with Stage II Cancer. However, it had been completely removed during the surgery.
I think I will have an annual colonoscopy as recommended. This makes a second bought with cancer. This time early detection through Western procedures was the key.
posted by Shujin | 5:17 PM
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