"I'm mad at the world, Joey, I'm a teenager."

an hour ago

7 min read

My dad was Memaw's son. He was a good dad and I miss him. He had to put up with my mom‘s antics, he held a full-time job as a police officer, he adopted two children into our family that had special issues and circumstances, and he had to put up with me. He died at the age of 60 in 2003. He had a lot of health issues, but on his death certificate they put down the cause of death was colon cancer.

Colon cancer is a deadly disease because it hides its symptoms until it’s almost too late. By the time you start exhibiting any symptoms, you are in the later stages of the cancer. This is why it is so important to get the screening for colon cancer, which is called a colonoscopy.

Recently, actor James Van Der Beek died of colon cancer. He was 48 years old and had six children. He was extremely young to die from was once considered an "old persons" cancer. Up until a few years ago, the medical community suggested that you have your first colonoscopy at the age of 50. Or you have your first colonoscopy if you had a parent die from colon cancer, 10 years before the age your parent died. So in my case, my dad died at the age of 60 from colon cancer. Subtract 10 years and that means I had to have my first colonoscopy at the age of 50. For James Vanderbeek’s children, since James was 48 when he died from colon cancer, his children will have to have their first colonoscopy at the age of 38.

Because there has been more colon cancer deaths under the age of 50, the medical community has now said the first colonoscopy should be done at the age of 45. A colonoscopy doesn’t guarantee that it will detect the cancer, but it increases the likelihood substantially. Approximately, the death rate for colon cancer is about 13 people per 100,000 every year. Last year, almost 53,000 people died from colon cancer. So why is colon cancer still a big death scare?

One of the main reasons that colon cancer is still around, even though we have the screening for it, is because people don’t want to do the screening. People do not want to have a colonoscopy. Part of the reason is because of fear. Part of the reason is because of the prep work. Part of the reason is that people just feel that it will not happen to them. Let’s address all of these reasons.

First, let’s talk about the fear. There are two types of fear. One is finding out that you have cancer. And the second one is going through the procedure, especially if you’re not prepared for it. I understand how people have that fear of finding out they have cancer. It is just easier to bury your head in the sand and hope that you don’t. But obviously that’s not a realistic way of going through life. You have to think about your family, your children, your friends, and everyone who loves you. You need to do everything you possibly can to stay as healthy for as long as you can.

The second fear is the procedure itself. This also goes along with the second reason for not having the colonoscopy. People don’t always know what to expect. They hear horror stories and just want to avoid the whole situation. Let’s talk about the procedure itself, including the preparation before.

I have had three colonoscopies so far in my life. My doctor wants me to have them every five years and that’s what I do. The first thing is that for a traditional preparation, the doctor sends you to the pharmacist to get the prep materials. That usually includes a packet of dry materials, almost like a Kool-Aid packet. The second prep material is a big jug. Sometimes the dry materials are already in the jug. The doctor will also send you a detailed information sheet.

You schedule your colonoscopy. The procedure itself is not very long, but because you have a slight anesthesia, you’re usually out for the day. So you need to plan on a day that someone can drive you there and back. Also, have nothing scheduled for that day. By the day after the procedure, you’re able to return to work and anything else.

The week before the colonoscopy, the instruction sheet will give you some advice on things to eat and things not to eat. That’s because they want your colon as clean as possible so that they can see as many polyps as possible. Some of the things that you are not to eat about a week before is seeds, nuts, or popcorn, raw vegetables, and corn. There are other things, but it gives you an idea. You also need to talk to your doctor about whether you should take your medication up to the day of the procedure. Some medication does interfere with the procedure and the doctor may want you to skip that day or some other instructions.

The day before the procedure is the rough day for several reasons. First, you are not allowed to eat anything solid that day. No solid foods at all. You can also only drink clear liquids like apple juice and broth. You can have coffee and tea, but nothing in them like cream.

So here’s the second reason it’s a rough day. You have to drink this concoction that’s like a laxative. The instruction sheet will tell you how much you need to drink, but basically what you will need to do is drink that whole jug by the end of the day. There’s things you can do with that like keep it cold, mix it with something flavored, drink it through with a straw, etc. But I will warn you--it doesn’t taste very good. And it will cause you to have diarrhea— constantly— for the rest of the day. The whole idea is that eventually you will get to the evening, have a final bout of diarrhea, and it will be clear liquid. That means that your entire colon has been cleaned out and they can do a good colonoscopy screening and see everything.

People hate this prep for good reason. But it’s only for one day and you will survive. There are some advances in changing the prep. For example, there’s one now called Colon Guard where you just send in a sample of your poop instead of going through the whole colonoscopy. But realized that there’s pros and cons to that method. The biggest con is there can be a false negative or a false positive to the test. Another alternative that’s in the works is to take a pill that would clean you completely out without having to drink the preparation. You will have to talk to your doctor about which one you can do and what is the best one for you.

Day two is the procedure. The procedure itself is not too difficult. You wear comfortable clothes and usually go to the hospital as an outpatient. Someone has to drive you. You go into a room and you will change into a hospital gown. The nurses will do some preliminary test and hook you up to heart monitor, etc. You will get an IV because that’s how they will give you the general anesthesia. The doctor that will perform the screening and the anesthesiologist will come to talk to you before the procedure. Then you are wheeled down to a room, given some general anesthesia in the IV and the screening will be conducted. You won’t be totally out, but you won’t feel anything. You might not even be aware of what’s going on. What they do is roll you to your side and stick a camera into your bottom, watching on a TV screen to see if you have any polyps. If you have any, they do remove them and send them away to see if they’re cancerous. It sounds like it’s a very evasive screening, but realize that the doctors do this all day long. You won’t do anything that’s going to embarrass you in front of them and the screening is very important. Will you pass gas? Yes probably. And that’s OK. The procedure takes about 10 minutes and then they will take you back down to your room. By the time you get to your room, you are fully awake. They keep you for a little while just to make sure you’re OK, then you get dressed, and you go home. For the rest of the day, you might be a little groggy, a little tired, but that’s normal. You can eat as soon as you want. For me, it’s not uncommon for us to stop somewhere and grab some food on the way home. And that’s your two days.

Finally, some people do not get a colonoscopy because they either feel that they don’t need it because there’s no history of colon cancer in their family and it won’t happen to them. Obviously, we all know that these are lies that we tell ourselves. Colon cancers are real cancer, there are real people die from it, even at a young age. Also, some people don’t get a colonoscopy because they’re too lazy to schedule it. I can’t even address that. It is way to ridiculous.

So, yes, I am filled with bad news. You need to get a colonoscopy screening. How soon is a conversation between you and your doctor but I do believe the recommendation is as early as age 45. How often you need to get the screening is again between you and your doctor, but I think the recommendation is every five years. It’s two days of your life. It’s not the most fun. But it could be the most important two days of your life.