Early Detection

I am not writing this blog post to get sympathy, I am writing this post to raise your awareness. 

On August 11, my father had a colonoscopy.  He is 53 and the doctor felt that it was time to have one done.  He was getting an upper G.I. anyway and the doctor just basically said "since you are already going to be there..."  Well that basically saved his life.  While conducting the colonoscopy the doctor removed a polyp.  The polyp caused extensive bleeding which in turn caused the doctor to speed up the lab results showing him what he already thought - cancer.  So on August 12 my dad was informed that he had colon cancer.  On August 17 he had a colon dissection and had the cancerous area removed. 

In less than one week my dad went from having colon cancer to being cancer free.  The cancer surgeon said that if he would have waited even three months the polyp could have grown and required chemotherapy and if he would have waited 3 years the cancer would have spread. 

Today, August 29, I visited my doctor and scheduled a colonoscopy.  I know that I can wait until I am 43 (10 years before my dad was diagnosed) but why wait, why not get screened now and not have to worry about it for 10 more years! 

Early detection is critical in all forms of cancer.  Please get regular physicals and go to the doctor if you feel that your body is trying to tell you something.  It could save your life.