As most of you know, I was diagnosed with colon cancer back in November of 2019. Colon cancer, if detected early is curable.
Here in Canada, when you turn 50 your family doctor will recommend you do yearly colon cancer tests. They are free and easy to do. We jokingly call them the Poop Smear Test - as you simply have to smear your poop on a cardboard card and send them into a government health service and you're done.
Although they are not 100% accurate, for anyone with no history of cancer in their family it's the best way to go. I'm not sure how it works in the USA but I'm sure they're readily available there and hopefully covered. It's way less invasive than a colonoscopy.
Unfortunately for me, my cancer wasn't detected early so now I'm dealing with reoccurrences - I'm calling it whack-a-mole.
As much as I love my family doctor I am a bit pissed off as he never recommended me getting a colonoscopy. He simply had me do these yearly poop smear tests starting when I was 50 - and they were coming back negative. However, there's a huge history of cancer in my family so I should have been sent for a colonoscopy instead of relying on these poop smear tests.
To make matters worse, the earlier tests (which I was doing) were testing for blood in the stool and weren't very accurate. The new tests are done using DNA and are much more accurate and would have more likely determined I had colon cancer. But even still, if there's history in the family then a colonoscopy is the way to go.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is..
When you turn 50, started getting regular testing done. If there's no history of cancer in your family then do the DNA fecal tests. If there is history of cancer in your family, insist on a colonoscopy. They're a nuisance but it's worth knowing.
Also: Although Adrian (husband) had no history of cancer and was also doing the poop smear tests and they were coming back negative, when I ended up with colon cancer he told our doctor to get him set up for a colonoscopy. He did it, it came back negative and he's good now for 10 years.
John.
Here in Canada, when you turn 50 your family doctor will recommend you do yearly colon cancer tests. They are free and easy to do. We jokingly call them the Poop Smear Test - as you simply have to smear your poop on a cardboard card and send them into a government health service and you're done.
Although they are not 100% accurate, for anyone with no history of cancer in their family it's the best way to go. I'm not sure how it works in the USA but I'm sure they're readily available there and hopefully covered. It's way less invasive than a colonoscopy.
Unfortunately for me, my cancer wasn't detected early so now I'm dealing with reoccurrences - I'm calling it whack-a-mole.
As much as I love my family doctor I am a bit pissed off as he never recommended me getting a colonoscopy. He simply had me do these yearly poop smear tests starting when I was 50 - and they were coming back negative. However, there's a huge history of cancer in my family so I should have been sent for a colonoscopy instead of relying on these poop smear tests.
To make matters worse, the earlier tests (which I was doing) were testing for blood in the stool and weren't very accurate. The new tests are done using DNA and are much more accurate and would have more likely determined I had colon cancer. But even still, if there's history in the family then a colonoscopy is the way to go.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is..
When you turn 50, started getting regular testing done. If there's no history of cancer in your family then do the DNA fecal tests. If there is history of cancer in your family, insist on a colonoscopy. They're a nuisance but it's worth knowing.
Also: Although Adrian (husband) had no history of cancer and was also doing the poop smear tests and they were coming back negative, when I ended up with colon cancer he told our doctor to get him set up for a colonoscopy. He did it, it came back negative and he's good now for 10 years.
John.