The Screening That May Have Saved My Life
My name is Alan Helgeson. March is important for awareness of Colorectal Cancer. This is my story.
Every month of the year has a number of health care observances-times when we should take a moment to think about various things.
According to the American Cancer Society, chances for men to develop colorectal cancer is about 1 in 24 for and 1 in 26 for women. It is also the second leader cause of cancer related death.
The awareness part is for people that meet criteria to do a colorectal screening. These screenings are important because they often find things that can be easily taken care of that left unchecked, may develop later into colon or colorectal cancer.
Sadly, for these cancers, symptoms might not appear until a time when things may require much more aggressive medical treatments.
The recommended age for screening starts at age 45 but there are other factors that could change that.
There may be risk factors that are out of your control like family history and age but the ones that you can affect include things like obesity, smoking, and heavy alcohol use.
As colorectal screening is considered preventive care, it is likely covered through your insurance provider, but you should check your specific coverage information.
Ok that is the ‘WHY’ and now the ‘HOW.’
Talk with your primary care physician. They can get you connected with the right screening options.
If you do not have a primary care physician, check with your local clinic and they will be happy to connect you.
One of the most common screenings is a colonoscopy. We all know someone who has had a colonoscopy and shared, in detail, the prep story.
As a guy that has had two screening colonoscopies, I admit, the prep is not my favorite thing.
I will also say that both times, I am so grateful because my physician was able to find and remove something that very well could have been a much bigger issue if I had chosen to NOT do this because I was afraid of the prep story Mike told me.
Shame on you Mike. Do not listen to your ‘Mike.’
While a colonoscopy was the screening test I had, there are other ones available, and I would encourage you to do your research and to talk with your physician.