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Notes on My Colon Cancer

516 points by whatrocks 6y ago

semireg 6y ago
Thank you. Almost teared up at the end when I read it was Stage II. Big congrats!
- whatrocks 6y ago
  Thanks for reading all the way :)
nerdbaggy 6y ago
I feel you on this. I found out I had kidney cancer after my appendix decided it was time to go. I only had 3% of my left kidney removed and that is it. No chemo or anything just sore for a few weeks. And man do I have guilt and felt like a fake cancer survivor. My experience was so minimal compared to a lot of people. But I realized I am a cancer survivor because of all the mental anguish cancer puts on me. It’s nothing I can ever explain, it is just this super terrible feeling of not knowing. Is my cough metastasized cancer? Probably not but my mind sure loves to think so. Having to deal with my own mortality was a big thing. I wonder if dying of old age causes as much stress and anxiety as knowing you have cancer and could die.
- jhardy54 6y ago
  > And man do I have guilt and felt like a fake cancer survivor. Just a data point from an third-party observer with no reason to lie to you: your survivor guilt [0] is normal, but you've done nothing wrong and your experience with cancer is valid and I appreciate you talking about it. It's easy to fall for the trap of minimizing your problems after comparing yourself to other people, and it takes courage to be vulnerable and honest about the things that get you down sometimes. TL;DR: Thanks for your comment. [0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_guilt https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_guilt
  - nerdbaggy 6y ago
    Thanks for that I really appreciate it
- knz 6y ago
  I had a partial nephrectomy several weeks ago due to kidney cancer. You're 100% right about the various feelings that come along with the experience. Good luck - remember the recurrence rates are comparatively low once you get past a few years.
- sg47 6y ago
  Stage 3 thyroid cancer survivor here at a similar age to the author. I totally feel like a fake cancer survivor but it's definitely turned me into a hypochondriac. I had to get a colonoscopy recently due to my GI issues and some of the symptoms were similar to the ones for colon cancer. I've tried to move on after 2 surgeries, RAI, medication adjustment but mentally it's been tough. I have to get tested regularly to make sure there's no recurrence. The stress and anxiety have been extremely tough to deal with for someone who has been mentally tough all their life.
  - defterGoose 6y ago
    Same here. TT at 32 last week. Also got a colonoscopy about 5 years ago for (unrelated?) GI issues. What are you looking at for screening going forward? I'm hoping the median synthroid dose im on ends up working out, but I still have to wait for pathology and RAI. Edit: if it makes you feel any better all the docs/surgeons ive talked to have expressed that if they had to choose a cancer to get, it'd be thyroid.
    - sg47 6y ago
      Fist bump. In my first year screening, they still found some thyroid tissues in the thyroid bed that hasn't been fully destroyed by RAI. I have an ultrasound and blood work in another 3 months. My synthroid dosage was too high initially as per plan which caused a lot of anxiety, heart racing, GI issues etc. After they lowered it, it's more manageable. RAI is a pain due to the low iodine diet and quarantine but there's no other choice. In my case, it had spread to the lymph nodes so had to get RAI. Hopefully, you don't have to go through it. This is one of the good 'cancers' for sure but it's still life changing in a lot of ways.
  - mdocherty 6y ago
    I'm really sorry to hear about your situation man, it might help to find someone to talk to and learn how some new methods of coping. Stay healthy.
  - hef19898 6y ago
    Fuck, that sucks. I hope you have someone to talk to, because that constant enxiety can wear you down. In my case it was a very good friend, close family had enough on their hands already to cope with.
- hef19898 6y ago
  I would never have believed it, but cancer changes you. And I can totally relate to the experience, while I wnet through chemo, it was an easy one. Seeing all the others, successfully going through it felt kind of like cheating to me, e.g. I never lost my hair or a lot of weight. Other had to be brouht to the brink of death in order to survive. One thing I realized was, that I was less afraid of death itself, but rather the process of dying which can be a rather lengthy and ugly thing. Worst thing to happen, eve wirse than the initial diagnosis, was the moment a couple of months after I inished chemo. Some hemorroids started to act up again, and it was a quite realistic scenario that the cancer was back. Damn, I was destroyed by that. The initial diagnosis didn#t realy surprise me, for some reason I kind of expected that after all the tests they did. The potential second one caught me completely off guard, it took me a couple of months to recover from that. looking back, I'd say that was the worst part of the whole thing.
- vmception 6y ago
  > Is my cough metastasized cancer? Probably not but my mind sure loves to think so. The same when an immediate family member has gone through or died of it. Instead of being a survivor it’s more like a countdown due to the similar hereditary and environmental factors. Doctors will say “no, don’t worry about that”, the same people could be writing an entry in a scientific journal after your case finally appears. “Hereditary and Environmental links in X cancer”
- bitcoinmoney 6y ago
  How did they find out?
prezjordan 6y ago
Thanks for this - you're a phenomenal writer. Informative, funny at times, and most importantly vulnerable. Glad to see you're doing well!
- whatrocks 6y ago
  Thanks - I've been reading a lot "about writing" recently, mostly as a distraction from editing my novel about robots and childhood. I think this is a common pattern for struggling writers - "if I just READ about WRITING, then that's almost as good as actually sitting down and DOING THE WORK." All that said, I just finished John McPhee's "Draft No. 4" and highly recommend. McPhee's a master of "creative storytelling" and I tried to incorporate some of his advice into this post (plus some gifs).
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stevecalifornia 6y ago
Fellow readers: Do not be afraid of a colonoscopy. Do not avoid it-- in fact, look forward to it. They are easy and painless. Waking up from the anesthesia I felt more relaxed than I ever have in my life. Also, the prep of clearing your system will reset your digestive system and you'll feel like a new person. I think the prep cleared out whatever it was that was causing us to investigate my digestive system in the first place. The night before mine, I googled to see if I could find anything that would make me feel less anxious and uncomfortable and I couldn't. Well, fellow reader, I hope this comment and the article put you at rest when it comes to doing this important and necessary procedure.
- nikomen 6y ago
  I just had a colonoscopy a few weeks ago because of some minor bleeding. Ended up just being hemorrhoids and a small polyp. Definitely worth having the peace of mind. The worst part or the prep was not sleeping much that night because I was up until 3am. Watching TV most of the night was relaxing, though. After the procedure I took it easy all day while the propofol effects wore off. Don’t wait to have a colonoscopy. The prep isn’t that difficult!
  - techdevangelist 6y ago
    I’ve got Crohn’s so I’ve had my share of colonoscopies, completely agree that the procedure is a breeze. And now that propofol is the standard it’s that much better, the older versed/morphine combo really hammered you. The prep is the worst bit and it’s better if you prep well for the prep; wet wipes, bidet, water bottle anything, some good reading material and a good even free from other disruptions (you’ll be disrupted enough...)
    - zikzak 6y ago
      Fellow sufferer here. My doctor ordered one for me when it wasn't really called for (MD, not gastro). I'd had one recently and kind of rolled my eyes. Did I really need it? They found high dysplasia tissue (cancer precursor). Now I have a permanent ileostomy but I'm still walking around being a father and what not. If you have Crohn's, do not avoid these!
minibronco88 6y ago
Hey Charlie, just wanted to thank you for posting such a vulnerable and funny memoir. I'm so glad everything is okay!
mtalantikite 6y ago
I’ve read that there are some emerging theories of a bacterial component of colon cancer, which I find interesting [1][2][3]. A friend, also in his 30s, recently was diagnosed with colon cancer and it seems like doctors are really noticing an increase in colon cancer among a younger population. It just seems so young to be dealing with it. Regardless, I’m glad the author is recovering and found it early enough! [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3625019/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3625019/ [2] https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jo/2019/5636272/ https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jo/2019/5636272/ [3] https://www.healio.com/news/hematology-oncology/20200127/gut-bacteria-may-be-factor-in-rising-colorectal-cancer-incidence-among-younger-adults https://www.healio.com/news/hematology-oncology/20200127/gut...
- mNovak 6y ago
  My fiance was diagnosed in her 20s. Still relatively rare at that age, but the doctors noted there's significant increases in prevalence in young people.
  - ikiris 6y ago
    hpv
  - hef19898 6y ago
    Same here, I was 28. Started to wonder if that could be connected to Tchernobyl, I was in Kindergarten back then. Since t didn't change a thing for me, I never looked for studies around this, so.
    - namenotrequired 6y ago
      Did you live near?
      - hef19898 6y ago
        No, luckily. But in a region in Germany that was quite heavily affected. Enough to still have radiated mushrooms and as a result radioactive wild boar, to level that they have to tested on an individual basis. Most cannot be consumed and have to treated as radioactive waste. Again, no idea if that's true, and I honestly don't care that much really. It's just a curious coincidence, if you ask me.
xydinesh 6y ago
Glad you got through this! I can only image that it is a huge relief. Good luck.
uberuberuber 6y ago
The specific robot used was likely the da Vinci Xi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q-YQwFjIj0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q-YQwFjIj0 Nice explanation of how a robotic sigmoid resection is performed: https://youtu.be/LpzxfMRlBVk https://youtu.be/LpzxfMRlBVk Firefly perfusion assessment time-stamp: https://youtu.be/LpzxfMRlBVk?t=1527 https://youtu.be/LpzxfMRlBVk?t=1527 Disclosure- Intuitive employee with no specific knowledge about this case.
- whatrocks 6y ago
  Thanks for the suggestions. I do plan on watching these videos about how the robot does what it does, but only after I put a little more time between me and my surgery!
ern 6y ago
I cannot stress this enough: Learn your family's medical history and write it down in a note on your phone. You'll be asked for this info 10,000 times before every single appointment. But, more importantly, your family history can be a signal to you and your docs whether are "higher-risk" for certain conditions. Doctors I've seen don't really care about anything beyond parents and siblings for family history. They wouldn't bother with grandparents' siblings, as referred to by OP. Has this changed recently, or is it different for some conditions?
- whatrocks 6y ago
  Well, the software I had to use didn't allow for grandparent's siblings (so I added those in the notes). But it did ask for grandparents (also also aunts, uncles, and cousins). My mom's one of nine, so this took quite some time!
  - pmiller2 6y ago
    That's interesting. I, too, have never been asked about history beyond immediate family (parents & siblings).
uranium 6y ago
Hey, in addition to all the cancer-survival stuff, congratulations on your marriage!
- whatrocks 6y ago
  Thank you!! I had to sneak that into the post, because it was "part of the story" and because we're so excited about it.
peter303 6y ago
The usual recipe is a colonoscopy at age 50, 60 and 70. To be supplemented by other yearly blood or DNA (cologard) tests. If you have family history or symptoms you accelerate the schedule.
- risyachka 6y ago
  The problem is that in lots of countries you can't possibly know your history because the medical system is low quality, people just die and you have no idea why your relatives have died. And if you are diagnosed with cancer - its basically a death sentence unless you have somewhere few hundred thousand dollars laying around, because the best operation surgeons can do in your country is cut out appendix like it is 1990s.
  - trevyn 6y ago
    >people just die and you have no idea why your relatives have died This system actually has advantages. From an outside perspective, it seems like Americans spend an awful lot of time in doctor's offices and obsessing over health issues (a strange way to spend one's life), when the end result will be the same.
peter303 6y ago
About a decade ago companies were promoting virtual colonoscopy. This converted a cat scan into a tube video using advanced computer graphics. You still had to do the bowel-prep agony for a clear view. If the virtual kind saw a problem, it would be followed by the regular camera kind. They were cheaper than a gastroentreologist. But for some reason they never caught on with doctors or insurance companies.
- UncleOxidant 6y ago
  There's also Cologuard which uses a stool sample to determine if there is any cancer DNA present - if so then a colonoscopy is ordered. Much cheaper than a colonoscopy but a lot of insurance hasn't covered it, though that seems to be changing as the insurance companies realize they could save money.
johnnyAghands 6y ago
Glad you're doing well man, and thanks for sharing your experience with us. As someone who has never liked anyone near his butt -- I feel like I should get over it and get tested on a regular basis -- and will remember to take book. Also will make sure it's real god damn book -- I mean how bad ass is that, reading about the exploits of the world's most famous samuarai while waiting for surgery. Wishing you good health!
- whatrocks 6y ago
  MUSASHI is so good! I'm still about 3/4 of the way through it. It's so heavy to carry I was worried it would be over my 10 lb limit during recovery haha, but I'm all good.
flowerlad 6y ago
Nots on da Vinci robot: High-tech surgical robots aren’t an improvement over traditional operations. [1] For some patients, the robots may be worse. [2] and [3]. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/11/health/robotic-surgery-cancer.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/11/health/robotic-surgery-ca... [2] https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/new-concerns-on-robotic-surgeries/ https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/new-concerns-on-ro... [3] https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/health/salesmen-in-the-surgical-suite.html https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/health/salesmen-in-the-su...
- knz 6y ago
  Not to discredit the potentially valid concerns of these articles but it's not quite accurate to say these aren't an improvement. I'm a few weeks out from a robotic assisted surgery related to kidney cancer and the recovery time is significantly shorter in duration (6 weeks instead of 3-6 months) than the non robotic surgery. My understanding is that the DaVinci surgical robot also allowed them to be more precise with how much tissue they removed as well. Hopefully the medical community can get a better sense of when it's appropriate to use such technology but it would be a mistake to dismiss the benefits because of misuse by some surgeons.
pkrotich 6y ago
I was afraid to read it - but I'm truly glad I did. I know I'll be closely "inspecting" my poop going forward. I had just started examining my testicles after reading yet another account of testicular cancer. His library [1] is also worth checking out! [1] https://www.charlieharrington.com/library https://www.charlieharrington.com/library
- whatrocks 6y ago
  Thanks! I've been writing these #3Sentence reviews of everything I read and posting to Goodreads for over a year now. It's just fun to go back and skim this little library for a quick taste of where my brain's been traveling.
aprdm 6y ago
This is an amazing write up, thanks for sharing and congratulations on the marriage.
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inoffensivename 6y ago
This is a very important post, thank you so much for sharing.
icecap12 6y ago
Nice write-up, I'm happy to hear it was only stage 2! Colon cancer runs rampant in my family. My dad was a stage 3 survivor (it's now been 12+ years), however his younger sister (my aunt) just died about 6 weeks ago after an 18 month battle. She was a former nurse, and had basically missed getting one of her regular colonoscopies. At that time, she was supposed to go every 5 years and I think she went 10 - too long for her age. She ended up with a blockage, which by that time meant things were realistically too late. She was only 64 and in otherwise excellent health. A second, younger aunt on that side suffers from diverticulitis and has had bowel surgery. The cancer gene also runs on my moms side; an aunt there had both colon and breast but survived both. So, I'm pretty much screwed. As a result of those risk factors and various symptoms, I've personally had two colonoscopies (one just a month ago). I'm close to 40, and I had a 2mm polyp removed. There's a high chance that such a polyp would have developed into colon cancer within a few years. I'm now on the 3-year plan for colonoscopy checks. The good news is, in general, colon cancer is one of the most successfully treated diseases if caught early enough. Gastroenterologists will tell you that there's no excuse to die of colon cancer if you get regularly checked. What I would tell people is to get checked by age 40. If you have any symptoms don't hesitate to call a gastro and get in for a check. For most people, it is hemorrhoids or something else - but I've got a friend (39 years old) who was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer - the point is this thing is hitting people in their 30s, so it needs to be taken seriously if you're symptomatic. On the topic of prep, it's not that bad. It's basically 24 hours of suckage because you're on liquid diet for a day, and taking the prep that evening (typically split-prep, some before bed, some in the middle of the night). Try to schedule your colonoscopy for the first thing in the morning so that you don't have to go more than a day without solid food. (edit: spelling correction)
- mgerb 6y ago
  27 at the moment and reading this thread has gotten me worried as I have a family history of colon cancer. Both of my parents get checked regularly and have had polyps removed. I wonder if I should just go or if it isn’t realistic to worry about it at my age yet.
  - f2000 6y ago
geerlingguy 6y ago
Colonoscopies are both terrible and awesome at the same time, but you can make it go a lot smoother (pun intended) by avoiding tons of hard to digest food in the two days leading up to the prep, and being very hydrated on prep day. Alas, I don't have a colon any more, but when I did, I wrote: https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2017/colonoscopy-or-mount-vesuvius-followed-blissful-sleepytime https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2017/colonoscopy-or-mount-...
- _0o6v 6y ago
  Hey Jeff. Your blog's great and I can relate to a lot of it. I somehow avoided an ostomy after having a vast amount of my guts removed, but I sometimes wish I did have one. Do you think your quality of life has improved since having one?
diebir 6y ago
Something to note. You do not have to be "sedated" for colonoscopy. I have had two and requested no sedation for the last one. It is mildly uncomfortable, but not painful. The "sedation" is not really anesthesia, but rather a drug that messes with your short term memory (and makes you goofy). If you don't like the idea of somebody messing with your brain circuitry, ask not to be sedated. Do get the anesthetic though. As a cancer survivor, paranoia saves lives. If something seems out of order, go see a doc.
- denial 6y ago
  Do you by any chance know the name of the anesthetic you used?
cableshaft 6y ago
I've had the blood bit off and on (mostly off lately, but it happened again recently for a day), but I've always been told by doctors that it's just hemorrhoids, I'm too young to get cancer. Then Chadwick died, and I'm like, man, he got diagnosed with Stage 3 the same age I am now, and I'm in terrible shape compared to him. I'm thinking I should probably get a colonoscopy next summer, after this wave of Covid dies down again. Wouldn't be surprised if I at least have some pre-cancerous polyps.
- frogperson 6y ago
  Don't wait till next summer, the 5 year survival rates between stage 3 and stage 4 are huge. You have to catch this early.
  - gautamp8 6y ago
    I second this. Lost my brother 2.5 years ago to CRC, what happened with Boseman happened with us 15 years earlier. He was 27. After a year long of chemotherapy for treating Stage III, his cancer returned within 15 days. No family history of any kind of cancer. It's extremely aggressive in young age. Might sound scary but please get screened earlier if possible. It can mean life and death.
- mNovak 6y ago
  That's how my fiance found it. Had been happening on and off (mostly off) for 10 years before someone finally recommended a scope. Even then she was in her 20s.
- winslow 6y ago
  Don't wait until next summer. There's no guarantee that covid numbers will be under better control. Giving a potential cancer/tumor a whole year to grow and spread is IMO a bigger risk than covid.
- elihu 6y ago
  Just had a colonoscopy a little less than two weeks ago. The office was definitely less crowded than last time I had one (pre-covid). Now's a good time to beat the inevitable rush, and you might be safer with fewer people around compared to if everything opens up again but covid isn't fully under control. If you think of each day that goes by a 1% chance of getting cancer, that might work as a motivator. (I don't know if that's an accurate probability, but really I wouldn't risk it. I had a nasty bleeding tumor removed a few years back and it was no big deal because it was caught early and hadn't become cancerous yet. If I had waited a year things might have turned out a lot worse.)
charliebrownau 6y ago
Look into Juice Diet, Grape 40 day Diet and Weed cure for Cancer, 3 alt solutions away from Big Phama
gautamp8 6y ago
Thank you for writing this experience so wonderfully. I can really relate to this journey. Lost my brother to Colorectal cancer 2.5 years back, he was 27 at the time. What happened with Boseman happened with us 15 years earlier(Stage III transitioning to IV). We didn't have any family history of cancer. He was wild type for all kind of known mutations (KRAS, NRAS and BRAF) for the cancer. In simple terms, doctors didn't know what exactly caused his cancer. I'm also at a good risk of getting it at some point probably. I'm 23 rn, last colonoscopy didn't show any polyps fortunately. Trying to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle. Every cancer writeup is kinda scary for me. At the time of diagnosis, my brother was going through stressful situations(his startup, personal life), not able to focus much on physical and mental health. I'd like to know if Chris thinks there was something else that triggered/fueled his cancer apart from genetics.
- whatrocks 6y ago
  I'm very sorry to hear about your brother. Glad to hear you are staying on top of your situation. As far as triggering my cancer, I have no idea. And I don't think anyone is going to give me any more clarity than that. I don't think it's possible to do so. What they have told me is that more and more young people are getting colon cancer, and they aren't quite sure why.
  - gautamp8 6y ago
    Thanks for the response. Yeah, medical science is still so much limited when it comes to cancer. I did lot of research on Integrative cancer care post our experience and realized how positive changes to lifestyle impacts the mind and body. Now trying to help others going through similar challenges through self hosted support group sessions. I've subscribed to your writings, looking forward to them. I'm also a Software Engineer professionally. :)
jeswin 6y ago
If anyone is fighting CRC or is a caregiver, I highly recommend The Colon Club boards (https://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/index.php https://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/index.php). I was on the forum to discuss my mom's CRC, and there's a lot you can learn from there (such as side-effects, experiences, trials, insurance etc). Not to mention the emotional support and inspiring stories. For trials, there's also https://trialfinder.fightcrc.org/ https://trialfinder.fightcrc.org/ - created by Dr. Tom Marsilje (a cancer researcher) - who had an inspiring journey both as a patient and researcher.
- gautamp8 6y ago
  I can vouch for Tom's trial finder too. Used it during my brother's treatment. Tom was an inspiration.
f2000 6y ago
Prepping for the colonoscopy is worse than the procedure itself. Get a good doctor, the risks are low but not 0 and, of course, you can google up the worst outcomes. A dear neighbor was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer at 45 years old and departed us at 49.
FullyFunctional 6y ago
I just lost my mother-in-law to cancer. It's just a few years ago it was my father-in-law (also cancer). And a three other family member within the last ten years. Definitely was the case for the most recent three that it was discovered much much too late. I cannot advise strongly enough to have even the minor thing check and checked again. In the case of my MIL, the biopsy first came back as a fungus which we _now_ know was an impossibility. Like so many other commenters, I had my scheduled colonoscopy and it was a walk in the part except drinking that horribly disgusting prep liquid. That was gross, but I've probably had worse in my young and very stupid years.
plessthanpt05 6y ago
If the author reads this (or anyone else cares to chime in), are there any other symptoms that were/are noticed?
- gautamp8 6y ago
  Colon cancer usually comes with incomplete evacuation, traces/bloody stool, any surprising/major change in bowel habits. Many other diseases have similar symptoms(IBD) so it's difficult to distinguish a bit. In general, any kind of inflammation in body could be a trigger to cancer.
- whatrocks 6y ago
  You can Google and see more symptoms. Things like unexplained weight loss and overall fatigue are signs. They also say "gas" can be a sign, and I actually did notice I was "tooting" a lot more than normal, although after a certain amount of time, you forget what normal is. I'm not sure if that itself was another symptom, but it certainly was part of my overall feeling of my situation that did lead me to book the doctor appointment.
Google234 6y ago
Is it ever appropriate to start the chemotherapy every if you are pretty sure it’s only stage 2 like in this case? I feel like I would be paranoid enough to not risk it.
- whatrocks 6y ago
  Not sure. My meeting with the "survivorship" clinic is coming up, and I'll be discussing that with them, among other things I'll need to do to stay on top of this. Obviously there is a physical cost to chemo, and they don't want to overprescribe if not needed. So, in my case, I don't think I'll be getting it, but that may change over time.
andrewstuart 6y ago
It's hard to believe any doctor could dismiss bleeding from the anus without referring it to be investigated. And yet they do. This is the second time I've heard of a doctor dismissing such symptoms which then turned out to be cancer.
colonoscopie 6y ago
FWIW (and not to stop you from getting a colonoscopy—you should!), I have had symptoms like this on and off through adulthood (20 years or so). For this reason and a couple other IBS symptoms, I've gotten two colonoscopies, one capsule endoscopy, and one sigmoidoscopy in my day. And all have come back negative for anything whatsoever. Again, if you've got symptoms, see a doctor. But if you're like me and freak out at everything and assume you're dying at the drop of a hat—it's likely not something awful.
- jetpackjoe 6y ago
  Thanks... I've had bloody stools before, (I'm 32), but when the doctor checked, they found a fissure, which I guess was good enough for them to explain the bleeding... Well, now the symptoms are back, and no fissure to be found, so I'm seeing a gastroenterologist tomorrow. Fingers crossed, but I'm thinking I'll get to find out how painless a colonoscopy really is.
Kosirich 6y ago
Since "becoming an adult", I've lived in three cities in two countries, which means that've generally had no idea who my primary care doctor is or was, only that I'd need to find one to give me a referral to get this wart on my foot removed. F?%k, this is way to relatable. Same as the author I'm an expat which hasn't had a GP check in 5 years, not counting getting a dermatologist procedures. I feel like this is an experience of a lot of expats. Those of us coming from small towns mostly had a GP from when we were 6 all the way until we left the town for good. It's difficult to get that relationship with someone else and I'm afraid that it might be a contributing factor to people getting less checked. Also, in my case all the family members went to him, so he kinda knew the family history. I still mourn for him, he would always greet me at the door of his office with something like "wtf, you again? why are you here?". He was an excellent diagnostician...
- Cthulhu_ 6y ago
  Not only expats; I've moved a few times but hadn't bothered to change my GP for over 5 years because I never needed it (thankfully). The last time I needed it was because the skin on my hands was fucked (cold + dry air and a newfound habit of actually washing my hands; vaseline cream helped) and chronic neck pain (treatment didn't help, but changing my backpack apparently did?). Anyway I bought a house a few years ago and I'm a bit more settled so I've moved to a local GP, and I hope to never need it.
- noisy_boy 6y ago
  Same here. I feel odd hearing the commercials nudging me to "ask my doctor..." - I don't have a "my" doctor. I just go to the nearest network clinic, they have my details on the computer and whoever is attending that day looks at them.
- Diesel555 6y ago
  Relatable to a lot of people in the military. Pretty much every visit is with a new person who doesn't know you, they just know the record they reviewed minutes before.
makach 6y ago
God damn it! I get upset when reading this article! The doctor mentioned at the beginning of the article is obviously not doing his job! "Don't worry about it?!" "you don't need another physical exam!?" Making assumptions without examination is incredibly unprofessional and carries with it potential critical consequences. If you have an issue and bring it to your doctor and your doctor fails to follow up with an examination and makes assumptions, it is time to find another doctor.
- elihu 6y ago
  Yep, I was in almost exactly that situation and the doctor said something along the lines of "it's almost always a hemorrhoid, but we'd better schedule you for a colonoscopy just to make sure" and sure enough there was a tumor that wasn't cancerous yet, but could very well have become so and killed me in a few years if nothing had been done. (It runs in the family apparently; my grandmother on my mom's side was from a large family, with seven or eight siblings. They all died of colon cancer. She got it too, but since she went to the doctor with her symptoms instead of staying at home, they were able to remove part of her colon before it got really bad and she lived for many more years.) Moral of the story: go to the doctor if you're bleeding from unexpected places.
  - hef19898 6y ago
    Thank gd that caught in time in your case. I was beyond the not-yet-cancerous stage when I had the "better have good look now"colonoscopy. Still early enough to still be around, so!
- quietbritishjim 6y ago
  Also, he wrote: > Not bright red, more like muddy-red. Poopy-red. Hemerroids are usually a very bright obviously blood-like red. I appreciate he wrote the above description with the benefit of a lot more knowledge than he had when he first saw a doctor, but they should've asked about the colour even if he didn't offer it, and that should've raised extra suspicion immediately.
- kypro 6y ago
hzay 6y ago
Great article. My father had a colonoscopy for a polyp (luckily non-cancerous). We were extremely worried, and it was so sudden that I couldn't read up on it. Does anyone have recommended reading for basic cancer knowledge? I'm 32, know nothing, no family history of cancer AFAIK, but I have a large family and I want to start preparing and getting information. Thanks in advance!
- thornjm 6y ago
  It's a tough read without much prior knowledge but the seminal work is: Hallmarks of Cancer by Hanahan and Weinberg (I think this is an updated version: [1]). It introduces the fundamental features of all cancers. Every cancer ends up with pretty much all of these traits because of strong survivorship bias. Those that don't develop these traits die off. [1] https://www.cell.com/fulltext/S0092-8674(11)00127-9 https://www.cell.com/fulltext/S0092-8674(11)00127-9
  - hzay 6y ago
    That's great, just what I was looking for! Thank you.
codecamper 6y ago
Cologuard. Also, lots of microRNA tests coming down the pipe. Get them every year and catch cancer when it is stage 0.
elric 6y ago
You can also get "fecal occult blood tests". Which has nothing to do with the devil, but it's a test which can detect blood hidden in your poo. There are at home test kits. These are as simple to use as dabbing a stick in a turd a couple of times and waiting for the result. Similar to a home pregnancy test. Our local bowel cancer charity recommends these. If positive, get a colo(no)scopy. If negative, retest in another year or two. These are sent out to everyone over 50 IIRC. They're also recommended to anyone who is younger and possibly at risk.
- hef19898 6y ago
  > They're also recommended to anyone who is younger and possibly at risk. This! If you have cases in your family, genetical disposition or not, get them as soon as possible. My doctor recommended at least 10 years before the earliest case in your family, which would put my kids at 18. Missing a cancer diagnosis early on is probaly the worst thing you will regret in your life.
- cableshaft 6y ago
  Thanks for mentioning these. Ordering one now. Didn't realize I could do them from home without a doctor's visit. Last time I did one I had to go to the doctor to get it like 6 years ago.
imtringued 6y ago
A famous Youtuber John Bain known as "Totalbiscuit" died because of colon cancer in his 30s.
hef19898 6y ago
I commented quite a little bit in this thread, but I guess it doesn't hurt to write a summary. I was diagnosed with colon cancer ten years ago at 28 without any family history. It started inocent enough with blood in the stool. Sure enough, I was too young to have cancer, so that hemoroids for a year. It did suck so, that really were hemorroids, because that explained everything. Until it became to frequent, and my doctor recommended a colonoscopy. It was a cancerous polyp, caught early, so. I had surgery where they removed around 30 cm of my colon and some lymph knots, one of which had cancerous cells. went on to get 6 months of easy, as compared other people I saw and met, chemo therapy. The worst part was, when roughly one month after the chemo finished I again had blood in the stool, a lot of it. At that point I was on a high, after all I just finished chemo and survived, right? Damn, that sucked, worse than the initial diagnosis, back then I almost expected it. Luckily, it wasn't cancer, but it took my months to recover from that scare. looking back, I'd say that was harder than everything before, also because people around me kind of got the hard time going through cancer. They didnt really get why the fact not having cancer was so much harder for me. What I did learn from that is, that I'm less afraid of death than I am from the process of dying, if this makes sense. And that life is too short to care about certain things. It changed me, and then it did not, it is hard to describe. The things that really helped me was my son, aged 3 back then, having a wife that regularly kicked my ass when I needed it. Especially the one time I was cloe to give up (silly me, but it made sense back then). And having a good friend to talk to about stuff that wasn't for families ears. One thing, so, that very very few people got was the stress and hardship cancer means for ones family. As a patient you can get, and are offered, all the support from your environment. Your family not so much. And man, was I an ass sometimes back then. Luckily, I have no genetic preposition for cancer. Still, my kids will get colonscopies aged 16. better be safe than sorry, and a cancer diagnosis is nothing you want to miss. I undertand why people are afraid of the diagnosis, but this is nothing that can be ignored. The earlier cancer is caught, the easier the treatmen and the better the chances of survival. And sometimes, a couple of months can make all the difference. So yes, get a colonoscopy early, as early as possible and do not wait. Coloniscopies are no big deal, the worst part being the prep and even that got better over the years. And even you find it intrusive and unpleasant, which some people do, it still beats surgery, chemo therapy and potential death.
tibbydudeza 6y ago
Had one when I was 23. Cue severe embarrassment when the nurses came around to to my bed to "administer" the colon cleansing procedure , believe nowadays they give you a laxative to drink the night before. Got a mild sedative and it was not painful at all.
- lonesword 6y ago
  Had one when I was 24[1]. I got a sedative, but was wakeful enough to watch the procedure on a screen above me. The worst part was when they pump air into your ass to widen the colon, and all you want to do is fart it right out. [1] - Turned out to be polyps, non-cancerous.
Wonnk13 6y ago
This mimics my own diagnosis. Stage 2 non metastatic as a fairly healthy runner / cyclist. That was four years ago. now age 32 and healthy as ever.
- onewhonknocks 6y ago
  I'm very glad that you are doing well!
- whatrocks 6y ago
  That's great. Congratulations! One thing I didn't understand before this was how meaningful hearing stories of success like yours would become for me and my family.
jstummbillig 6y ago
Beautiful writing. Thanks for the best time I ever had reading about someone having had cancer and all the best to you.
aszantu 6y ago
just wanna drop gutsense.org
_0o6v 6y ago
This was a good read. I have Crohn's disease and in 2015 had 5 ft of small intestine and half of the adjoining colon removed. Unfortunately my insides were so fucked up that they had to properly open me up (i.e. not keyhole, more doorframe). Then I got sepsis after the operation and was in the high-dependency unit (US equivalent is ICU I think?) for a bit. That was fun. I was there for a few days, but remember about 2 hours of it. My family visited apparently, I had no idea, but I was talking to them, so I'm told. I couldn't walk for weeks, other than staggering around (which they encourage you to do otherwise the scar tissue will heal too tight). The wound took about 3 months to properly close up, I had a nice deep hole in my abdomen for much of that, you get used to the gory stuff. I'm generally better now though. Crohn's still dictates much of my daily life though, but you learn to live with it.
- fakedang 6y ago
  Similar situation here. I was traveling, which made it even worse - I literally collapsed at the airport out of fatigue, which turned out to be severe internal bleeding. Thankfully didn't get any further complications although if I had delayed, it would have definitely put me at risk for colon cancer. It's actually funny that the doctors in my case actually detected polyps in my intestine when I was 18 (showed symptoms since I was young, but all the doctors in India just waved it off as stress - for a 14 year old!). But again, they just waved it off for a long time and gave me meds that suppressed the symptoms. It was only when I was on work travel that the wonderful folks at the Zurich university hospital pinpointed it. Got a second opinion, and indeed it was Crohn's. Indian doctors just kept discounting it because Asians have a lesser tendency to get it, but recent research shows that your diet factors more than where you're from. My only advice to anyone in my position or similar would be to take full control of your health and try to get the best possible treatment, instead of trying to reinforce your biases. Had I not been able to get checked at a much better facility then, I might have been in a far worse position now. Don't count on family to be of help as much either, unless it's a spouse. For what it's worth, around the same time as that incident, my grandfather passed away at a ripe old age of 94. He previously complained about stomach aches and toilet issues, often getting grumpy af, but family members just brushed it away as signs of old age (including my parents). In the end, when he was shifted to a proper hospital in India during his final hours (quite literally), the doctors surmised that it might have been stomach cancer all those years. But of course, by then it was too late to take a biopsy and he passed away with the next couple of hours. That advice about recording your family health issues in a notebook is spot on.
shorts_theory 6y ago
This story was surprisingly compelling. The writing style really brought me in and I am very glad that the cancer was treated successfully!
- whatrocks 6y ago
  Thank you! I had just finished reading John McPhee's book 'Draft No 4' on "creative nonfiction" and I felt inspired to try it out!
sizt 6y ago
OMG. How did we survive without colonoscopies in the past. What people miss is that these treatments are invented by out of work surgeons. In this case, out of work surgeons who used to do open heart surgery but were obsoleted by catheters, statins, and blood pressure medicines. They had to find something to do to pay for the wife's Mercedes. Hey. Guess what we found. Colon cancer ! Anyway, by the content of this thread, everyone is more interested in the finest pain medication available by prescription.
- ilamont 6y ago
  Both grandfathers had colon cancer in the age before colonoscopies. One had the lower part of his colon removed, which he had to live with for decades afterwards. The recommendations for colonoscopies are not a joke or get-rich scheme - they save lives. As for this comment: What people miss is that these treatments are invented by out of work surgeons. The technology was actually invented by a gastroenterologist at the University of Michigan in the 1950s based on pioneering research of Narinder Singh Kapany on fiber optics. Ignoring the fact that there are very few "out of work" general surgeons, most colonoscopies are not performed by general surgeons but by trained GI specialists assisted by technicians and specialized equipment.
- greedo 6y ago
  As a colorectal cancer survivor, please just don't do this. You're doing a huge dis-service to the HN community.
lawwantsin17 6y ago
Thank you for this man. This is what people should find on WebMD. Instead of what we find.
dreamcompiler 6y ago
"Not bright red, more like muddy-red." That's the giveaway, right there. Bright red blood on your toilet paper is usually just hemorrhoids. Uncomfortable but treatable and not life threatening. Deep red or "muddy red" blood on your toilet paper means the blood came from deeper within your intestine, and it should always be checked out regardless of how young you are. If your doctor refuses to do so, get a new doctor.
- greedo 6y ago
  This is highly inaccurate. If you have rectal cancer, the blood will be bright red. The bottom line is that if you ever have ANY bleeding from your anus, or in your stool, visit your doctor immediately. (15 year survivor of colorectal stage 3 cancer)
  - dreamcompiler 6y ago
    I said "usually" on purpose. Rectal and anal cancer are real things but they're less common than colon cancer in the general population. I agree with your advice: Any blood in your stool should be checked out. Don't let your doctor talk you out of it.
StanLindsey 6y ago
Is there a list anywhere of procedures you can undergo that are worth asking for? Beyond the standard blood pressure, temperature and listening to your heart which feel very comprehensive. I really feel like I'm due an MOT on my body.
jayintaipei 6y ago
This is scary. I had an upper and lower endoscopy several years ago, doctor cut out a sizable but not yet cancerous polyp. He told me to get another colonoscopy after three years (or was it one?) but I haven't done it yet. The last time I went to a doctor to do it was maybe two years ago. She said, "You're too young, how could you have had a polyp?" and sent me home with a take-home DIY stool sample kit instead. I didn't have insurance, so I just ignored it. Now I live in Taiwan where everyone has insurance but I STILL haven't done it. I'll make an appointment today.
sprague 6y ago
If you have consumer-grade microbiome test results, you may be interested in what I learned about CRC. Some of the bugs that are associated with it are surprisingly rare, and it would be interesting to see if you have any: https://psm.personalscience.com/caseStudyCancer.html https://psm.personalscience.com/caseStudyCancer.html

516 points by whatrocks 6y ago

semireg 6y ago

Thank you. Almost teared up at the end when I read it was Stage II. Big congrats!

whatrocks 6y ago
Thanks for reading all the way :)

nerdbaggy 6y ago

I feel you on this. I found out I had kidney cancer after my appendix decided it was time to go. I only had 3% of my left kidney removed and that is it. No chemo or anything just sore for a few weeks. And man do I have guilt and felt like a fake cancer survivor. My experience was so minimal compared to a lot of people. But I realized I am a cancer survivor because of all the mental anguish cancer puts on me. It’s nothing I can ever explain, it is just this super terrible feeling of not knowing. Is my cough metastasized cancer? Probably not but my mind sure loves to think so. Having to deal with my own mortality was a big thing. I wonder if dying of old age causes as much stress and anxiety as knowing you have cancer and could die.

jhardy54 6y ago
> And man do I have guilt and felt like a fake cancer survivor. Just a data point from an third-party observer with no reason to lie to you: your survivor guilt [0] is normal, but you've done nothing wrong and your experience with cancer is valid and I appreciate you talking about it. It's easy to fall for the trap of minimizing your problems after comparing yourself to other people, and it takes courage to be vulnerable and honest about the things that get you down sometimes. TL;DR: Thanks for your comment. [0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_guilt https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_guilt
- nerdbaggy 6y ago
  Thanks for that I really appreciate it
knz 6y ago
I had a partial nephrectomy several weeks ago due to kidney cancer. You're 100% right about the various feelings that come along with the experience. Good luck - remember the recurrence rates are comparatively low once you get past a few years.
sg47 6y ago
Stage 3 thyroid cancer survivor here at a similar age to the author. I totally feel like a fake cancer survivor but it's definitely turned me into a hypochondriac. I had to get a colonoscopy recently due to my GI issues and some of the symptoms were similar to the ones for colon cancer. I've tried to move on after 2 surgeries, RAI, medication adjustment but mentally it's been tough. I have to get tested regularly to make sure there's no recurrence. The stress and anxiety have been extremely tough to deal with for someone who has been mentally tough all their life.
- defterGoose 6y ago
  Same here. TT at 32 last week. Also got a colonoscopy about 5 years ago for (unrelated?) GI issues. What are you looking at for screening going forward? I'm hoping the median synthroid dose im on ends up working out, but I still have to wait for pathology and RAI. Edit: if it makes you feel any better all the docs/surgeons ive talked to have expressed that if they had to choose a cancer to get, it'd be thyroid.
  - sg47 6y ago
    Fist bump. In my first year screening, they still found some thyroid tissues in the thyroid bed that hasn't been fully destroyed by RAI. I have an ultrasound and blood work in another 3 months. My synthroid dosage was too high initially as per plan which caused a lot of anxiety, heart racing, GI issues etc. After they lowered it, it's more manageable. RAI is a pain due to the low iodine diet and quarantine but there's no other choice. In my case, it had spread to the lymph nodes so had to get RAI. Hopefully, you don't have to go through it. This is one of the good 'cancers' for sure but it's still life changing in a lot of ways.
- mdocherty 6y ago
  I'm really sorry to hear about your situation man, it might help to find someone to talk to and learn how some new methods of coping. Stay healthy.
- hef19898 6y ago
  Fuck, that sucks. I hope you have someone to talk to, because that constant enxiety can wear you down. In my case it was a very good friend, close family had enough on their hands already to cope with.
hef19898 6y ago
I would never have believed it, but cancer changes you. And I can totally relate to the experience, while I wnet through chemo, it was an easy one. Seeing all the others, successfully going through it felt kind of like cheating to me, e.g. I never lost my hair or a lot of weight. Other had to be brouht to the brink of death in order to survive. One thing I realized was, that I was less afraid of death itself, but rather the process of dying which can be a rather lengthy and ugly thing. Worst thing to happen, eve wirse than the initial diagnosis, was the moment a couple of months after I inished chemo. Some hemorroids started to act up again, and it was a quite realistic scenario that the cancer was back. Damn, I was destroyed by that. The initial diagnosis didn#t realy surprise me, for some reason I kind of expected that after all the tests they did. The potential second one caught me completely off guard, it took me a couple of months to recover from that. looking back, I'd say that was the worst part of the whole thing.
vmception 6y ago
> Is my cough metastasized cancer? Probably not but my mind sure loves to think so. The same when an immediate family member has gone through or died of it. Instead of being a survivor it’s more like a countdown due to the similar hereditary and environmental factors. Doctors will say “no, don’t worry about that”, the same people could be writing an entry in a scientific journal after your case finally appears. “Hereditary and Environmental links in X cancer”
bitcoinmoney 6y ago
How did they find out?

prezjordan 6y ago

Thanks for this - you're a phenomenal writer. Informative, funny at times, and most importantly vulnerable. Glad to see you're doing well!

whatrocks 6y ago
Thanks - I've been reading a lot "about writing" recently, mostly as a distraction from editing my novel about robots and childhood. I think this is a common pattern for struggling writers - "if I just READ about WRITING, then that's almost as good as actually sitting down and DOING THE WORK." All that said, I just finished John McPhee's "Draft No. 4" and highly recommend. McPhee's a master of "creative storytelling" and I tried to incorporate some of his advice into this post (plus some gifs).

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stevecalifornia 6y ago

Fellow readers: Do not be afraid of a colonoscopy. Do not avoid it-- in fact, look forward to it. They are easy and painless. Waking up from the anesthesia I felt more relaxed than I ever have in my life. Also, the prep of clearing your system will reset your digestive system and you'll feel like a new person. I think the prep cleared out whatever it was that was causing us to investigate my digestive system in the first place. The night before mine, I googled to see if I could find anything that would make me feel less anxious and uncomfortable and I couldn't. Well, fellow reader, I hope this comment and the article put you at rest when it comes to doing this important and necessary procedure.

nikomen 6y ago
I just had a colonoscopy a few weeks ago because of some minor bleeding. Ended up just being hemorrhoids and a small polyp. Definitely worth having the peace of mind. The worst part or the prep was not sleeping much that night because I was up until 3am. Watching TV most of the night was relaxing, though. After the procedure I took it easy all day while the propofol effects wore off. Don’t wait to have a colonoscopy. The prep isn’t that difficult!
- techdevangelist 6y ago
  I’ve got Crohn’s so I’ve had my share of colonoscopies, completely agree that the procedure is a breeze. And now that propofol is the standard it’s that much better, the older versed/morphine combo really hammered you. The prep is the worst bit and it’s better if you prep well for the prep; wet wipes, bidet, water bottle anything, some good reading material and a good even free from other disruptions (you’ll be disrupted enough...)
  - zikzak 6y ago
    Fellow sufferer here. My doctor ordered one for me when it wasn't really called for (MD, not gastro). I'd had one recently and kind of rolled my eyes. Did I really need it? They found high dysplasia tissue (cancer precursor). Now I have a permanent ileostomy but I'm still walking around being a father and what not. If you have Crohn's, do not avoid these!

minibronco88 6y ago

Hey Charlie, just wanted to thank you for posting such a vulnerable and funny memoir. I'm so glad everything is okay!

mtalantikite 6y ago

I’ve read that there are some emerging theories of a bacterial component of colon cancer, which I find interesting [1][2][3]. A friend, also in his 30s, recently was diagnosed with colon cancer and it seems like doctors are really noticing an increase in colon cancer among a younger population. It just seems so young to be dealing with it. Regardless, I’m glad the author is recovering and found it early enough! [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3625019/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3625019/ [2] https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jo/2019/5636272/ https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jo/2019/5636272/ [3] https://www.healio.com/news/hematology-oncology/20200127/gut-bacteria-may-be-factor-in-rising-colorectal-cancer-incidence-among-younger-adults https://www.healio.com/news/hematology-oncology/20200127/gut...

mNovak 6y ago
My fiance was diagnosed in her 20s. Still relatively rare at that age, but the doctors noted there's significant increases in prevalence in young people.
- ikiris 6y ago
  hpv
- hef19898 6y ago
  Same here, I was 28. Started to wonder if that could be connected to Tchernobyl, I was in Kindergarten back then. Since t didn't change a thing for me, I never looked for studies around this, so.
  - namenotrequired 6y ago
    Did you live near?
    - hef19898 6y ago
      No, luckily. But in a region in Germany that was quite heavily affected. Enough to still have radiated mushrooms and as a result radioactive wild boar, to level that they have to tested on an individual basis. Most cannot be consumed and have to treated as radioactive waste. Again, no idea if that's true, and I honestly don't care that much really. It's just a curious coincidence, if you ask me.

xydinesh 6y ago

Glad you got through this! I can only image that it is a huge relief. Good luck.

uberuberuber 6y ago

The specific robot used was likely the da Vinci Xi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q-YQwFjIj0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q-YQwFjIj0 Nice explanation of how a robotic sigmoid resection is performed: https://youtu.be/LpzxfMRlBVk https://youtu.be/LpzxfMRlBVk Firefly perfusion assessment time-stamp: https://youtu.be/LpzxfMRlBVk?t=1527 https://youtu.be/LpzxfMRlBVk?t=1527 Disclosure- Intuitive employee with no specific knowledge about this case.

whatrocks 6y ago
Thanks for the suggestions. I do plan on watching these videos about how the robot does what it does, but only after I put a little more time between me and my surgery!

ern 6y ago

I cannot stress this enough: Learn your family's medical history and write it down in a note on your phone. You'll be asked for this info 10,000 times before every single appointment. But, more importantly, your family history can be a signal to you and your docs whether are "higher-risk" for certain conditions. Doctors I've seen don't really care about anything beyond parents and siblings for family history. They wouldn't bother with grandparents' siblings, as referred to by OP. Has this changed recently, or is it different for some conditions?

whatrocks 6y ago
Well, the software I had to use didn't allow for grandparent's siblings (so I added those in the notes). But it did ask for grandparents (also also aunts, uncles, and cousins). My mom's one of nine, so this took quite some time!
- pmiller2 6y ago
  That's interesting. I, too, have never been asked about history beyond immediate family (parents & siblings).

uranium 6y ago

Hey, in addition to all the cancer-survival stuff, congratulations on your marriage!

whatrocks 6y ago
Thank you!! I had to sneak that into the post, because it was "part of the story" and because we're so excited about it.

peter303 6y ago

The usual recipe is a colonoscopy at age 50, 60 and 70. To be supplemented by other yearly blood or DNA (cologard) tests. If you have family history or symptoms you accelerate the schedule.

risyachka 6y ago
The problem is that in lots of countries you can't possibly know your history because the medical system is low quality, people just die and you have no idea why your relatives have died. And if you are diagnosed with cancer - its basically a death sentence unless you have somewhere few hundred thousand dollars laying around, because the best operation surgeons can do in your country is cut out appendix like it is 1990s.
- trevyn 6y ago
  >people just die and you have no idea why your relatives have died This system actually has advantages. From an outside perspective, it seems like Americans spend an awful lot of time in doctor's offices and obsessing over health issues (a strange way to spend one's life), when the end result will be the same.

peter303 6y ago

About a decade ago companies were promoting virtual colonoscopy. This converted a cat scan into a tube video using advanced computer graphics. You still had to do the bowel-prep agony for a clear view. If the virtual kind saw a problem, it would be followed by the regular camera kind. They were cheaper than a gastroentreologist. But for some reason they never caught on with doctors or insurance companies.

UncleOxidant 6y ago
There's also Cologuard which uses a stool sample to determine if there is any cancer DNA present - if so then a colonoscopy is ordered. Much cheaper than a colonoscopy but a lot of insurance hasn't covered it, though that seems to be changing as the insurance companies realize they could save money.

johnnyAghands 6y ago

Glad you're doing well man, and thanks for sharing your experience with us. As someone who has never liked anyone near his butt -- I feel like I should get over it and get tested on a regular basis -- and will remember to take book. Also will make sure it's real god damn book -- I mean how bad ass is that, reading about the exploits of the world's most famous samuarai while waiting for surgery. Wishing you good health!

whatrocks 6y ago
MUSASHI is so good! I'm still about 3/4 of the way through it. It's so heavy to carry I was worried it would be over my 10 lb limit during recovery haha, but I'm all good.

flowerlad 6y ago

Nots on da Vinci robot: High-tech surgical robots aren’t an improvement over traditional operations. [1] For some patients, the robots may be worse. [2] and [3]. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/11/health/robotic-surgery-cancer.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/11/health/robotic-surgery-ca... [2] https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/new-concerns-on-robotic-surgeries/ https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/09/new-concerns-on-ro... [3] https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/health/salesmen-in-the-surgical-suite.html https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/health/salesmen-in-the-su...

knz 6y ago
Not to discredit the potentially valid concerns of these articles but it's not quite accurate to say these aren't an improvement. I'm a few weeks out from a robotic assisted surgery related to kidney cancer and the recovery time is significantly shorter in duration (6 weeks instead of 3-6 months) than the non robotic surgery. My understanding is that the DaVinci surgical robot also allowed them to be more precise with how much tissue they removed as well. Hopefully the medical community can get a better sense of when it's appropriate to use such technology but it would be a mistake to dismiss the benefits because of misuse by some surgeons.

pkrotich 6y ago

I was afraid to read it - but I'm truly glad I did. I know I'll be closely "inspecting" my poop going forward. I had just started examining my testicles after reading yet another account of testicular cancer. His library [1] is also worth checking out! [1] https://www.charlieharrington.com/library https://www.charlieharrington.com/library

whatrocks 6y ago
Thanks! I've been writing these #3Sentence reviews of everything I read and posting to Goodreads for over a year now. It's just fun to go back and skim this little library for a quick taste of where my brain's been traveling.

aprdm 6y ago

This is an amazing write up, thanks for sharing and congratulations on the marriage.

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inoffensivename 6y ago

This is a very important post, thank you so much for sharing.

icecap12 6y ago

Nice write-up, I'm happy to hear it was only stage 2! Colon cancer runs rampant in my family. My dad was a stage 3 survivor (it's now been 12+ years), however his younger sister (my aunt) just died about 6 weeks ago after an 18 month battle. She was a former nurse, and had basically missed getting one of her regular colonoscopies. At that time, she was supposed to go every 5 years and I think she went 10 - too long for her age. She ended up with a blockage, which by that time meant things were realistically too late. She was only 64 and in otherwise excellent health. A second, younger aunt on that side suffers from diverticulitis and has had bowel surgery. The cancer gene also runs on my moms side; an aunt there had both colon and breast but survived both. So, I'm pretty much screwed. As a result of those risk factors and various symptoms, I've personally had two colonoscopies (one just a month ago). I'm close to 40, and I had a 2mm polyp removed. There's a high chance that such a polyp would have developed into colon cancer within a few years. I'm now on the 3-year plan for colonoscopy checks. The good news is, in general, colon cancer is one of the most successfully treated diseases if caught early enough. Gastroenterologists will tell you that there's no excuse to die of colon cancer if you get regularly checked. What I would tell people is to get checked by age 40. If you have any symptoms don't hesitate to call a gastro and get in for a check. For most people, it is hemorrhoids or something else - but I've got a friend (39 years old) who was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer - the point is this thing is hitting people in their 30s, so it needs to be taken seriously if you're symptomatic. On the topic of prep, it's not that bad. It's basically 24 hours of suckage because you're on liquid diet for a day, and taking the prep that evening (typically split-prep, some before bed, some in the middle of the night). Try to schedule your colonoscopy for the first thing in the morning so that you don't have to go more than a day without solid food. (edit: spelling correction)

mgerb 6y ago
27 at the moment and reading this thread has gotten me worried as I have a family history of colon cancer. Both of my parents get checked regularly and have had polyps removed. I wonder if I should just go or if it isn’t realistic to worry about it at my age yet.
- f2000 6y ago

geerlingguy 6y ago

Colonoscopies are both terrible and awesome at the same time, but you can make it go a lot smoother (pun intended) by avoiding tons of hard to digest food in the two days leading up to the prep, and being very hydrated on prep day. Alas, I don't have a colon any more, but when I did, I wrote: https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2017/colonoscopy-or-mount-vesuvius-followed-blissful-sleepytime https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2017/colonoscopy-or-mount-...

_0o6v 6y ago
Hey Jeff. Your blog's great and I can relate to a lot of it. I somehow avoided an ostomy after having a vast amount of my guts removed, but I sometimes wish I did have one. Do you think your quality of life has improved since having one?

diebir 6y ago

Something to note. You do not have to be "sedated" for colonoscopy. I have had two and requested no sedation for the last one. It is mildly uncomfortable, but not painful. The "sedation" is not really anesthesia, but rather a drug that messes with your short term memory (and makes you goofy). If you don't like the idea of somebody messing with your brain circuitry, ask not to be sedated. Do get the anesthetic though. As a cancer survivor, paranoia saves lives. If something seems out of order, go see a doc.

denial 6y ago
Do you by any chance know the name of the anesthetic you used?

cableshaft 6y ago

I've had the blood bit off and on (mostly off lately, but it happened again recently for a day), but I've always been told by doctors that it's just hemorrhoids, I'm too young to get cancer. Then Chadwick died, and I'm like, man, he got diagnosed with Stage 3 the same age I am now, and I'm in terrible shape compared to him. I'm thinking I should probably get a colonoscopy next summer, after this wave of Covid dies down again. Wouldn't be surprised if I at least have some pre-cancerous polyps.

frogperson 6y ago
Don't wait till next summer, the 5 year survival rates between stage 3 and stage 4 are huge. You have to catch this early.
- gautamp8 6y ago
  I second this. Lost my brother 2.5 years ago to CRC, what happened with Boseman happened with us 15 years earlier. He was 27. After a year long of chemotherapy for treating Stage III, his cancer returned within 15 days. No family history of any kind of cancer. It's extremely aggressive in young age. Might sound scary but please get screened earlier if possible. It can mean life and death.
mNovak 6y ago
That's how my fiance found it. Had been happening on and off (mostly off) for 10 years before someone finally recommended a scope. Even then she was in her 20s.
winslow 6y ago
Don't wait until next summer. There's no guarantee that covid numbers will be under better control. Giving a potential cancer/tumor a whole year to grow and spread is IMO a bigger risk than covid.
elihu 6y ago
Just had a colonoscopy a little less than two weeks ago. The office was definitely less crowded than last time I had one (pre-covid). Now's a good time to beat the inevitable rush, and you might be safer with fewer people around compared to if everything opens up again but covid isn't fully under control. If you think of each day that goes by a 1% chance of getting cancer, that might work as a motivator. (I don't know if that's an accurate probability, but really I wouldn't risk it. I had a nasty bleeding tumor removed a few years back and it was no big deal because it was caught early and hadn't become cancerous yet. If I had waited a year things might have turned out a lot worse.)

charliebrownau 6y ago

Look into Juice Diet, Grape 40 day Diet and Weed cure for Cancer, 3 alt solutions away from Big Phama

gautamp8 6y ago

Thank you for writing this experience so wonderfully. I can really relate to this journey. Lost my brother to Colorectal cancer 2.5 years back, he was 27 at the time. What happened with Boseman happened with us 15 years earlier(Stage III transitioning to IV). We didn't have any family history of cancer. He was wild type for all kind of known mutations (KRAS, NRAS and BRAF) for the cancer. In simple terms, doctors didn't know what exactly caused his cancer. I'm also at a good risk of getting it at some point probably. I'm 23 rn, last colonoscopy didn't show any polyps fortunately. Trying to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle. Every cancer writeup is kinda scary for me. At the time of diagnosis, my brother was going through stressful situations(his startup, personal life), not able to focus much on physical and mental health. I'd like to know if Chris thinks there was something else that triggered/fueled his cancer apart from genetics.

whatrocks 6y ago
I'm very sorry to hear about your brother. Glad to hear you are staying on top of your situation. As far as triggering my cancer, I have no idea. And I don't think anyone is going to give me any more clarity than that. I don't think it's possible to do so. What they have told me is that more and more young people are getting colon cancer, and they aren't quite sure why.
- gautamp8 6y ago
  Thanks for the response. Yeah, medical science is still so much limited when it comes to cancer. I did lot of research on Integrative cancer care post our experience and realized how positive changes to lifestyle impacts the mind and body. Now trying to help others going through similar challenges through self hosted support group sessions. I've subscribed to your writings, looking forward to them. I'm also a Software Engineer professionally. :)

jeswin 6y ago

If anyone is fighting CRC or is a caregiver, I highly recommend The Colon Club boards (https://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/index.php https://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/index.php). I was on the forum to discuss my mom's CRC, and there's a lot you can learn from there (such as side-effects, experiences, trials, insurance etc). Not to mention the emotional support and inspiring stories. For trials, there's also https://trialfinder.fightcrc.org/ https://trialfinder.fightcrc.org/ - created by Dr. Tom Marsilje (a cancer researcher) - who had an inspiring journey both as a patient and researcher.

gautamp8 6y ago
I can vouch for Tom's trial finder too. Used it during my brother's treatment. Tom was an inspiration.

f2000 6y ago

Prepping for the colonoscopy is worse than the procedure itself. Get a good doctor, the risks are low but not 0 and, of course, you can google up the worst outcomes. A dear neighbor was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer at 45 years old and departed us at 49.

FullyFunctional 6y ago

I just lost my mother-in-law to cancer. It's just a few years ago it was my father-in-law (also cancer). And a three other family member within the last ten years. Definitely was the case for the most recent three that it was discovered much much too late. I cannot advise strongly enough to have even the minor thing check and checked again. In the case of my MIL, the biopsy first came back as a fungus which we _now_ know was an impossibility. Like so many other commenters, I had my scheduled colonoscopy and it was a walk in the part except drinking that horribly disgusting prep liquid. That was gross, but I've probably had worse in my young and very stupid years.

plessthanpt05 6y ago

If the author reads this (or anyone else cares to chime in), are there any other symptoms that were/are noticed?

gautamp8 6y ago
Colon cancer usually comes with incomplete evacuation, traces/bloody stool, any surprising/major change in bowel habits. Many other diseases have similar symptoms(IBD) so it's difficult to distinguish a bit. In general, any kind of inflammation in body could be a trigger to cancer.
whatrocks 6y ago
You can Google and see more symptoms. Things like unexplained weight loss and overall fatigue are signs. They also say "gas" can be a sign, and I actually did notice I was "tooting" a lot more than normal, although after a certain amount of time, you forget what normal is. I'm not sure if that itself was another symptom, but it certainly was part of my overall feeling of my situation that did lead me to book the doctor appointment.

Google234 6y ago

Is it ever appropriate to start the chemotherapy every if you are pretty sure it’s only stage 2 like in this case? I feel like I would be paranoid enough to not risk it.

whatrocks 6y ago
Not sure. My meeting with the "survivorship" clinic is coming up, and I'll be discussing that with them, among other things I'll need to do to stay on top of this. Obviously there is a physical cost to chemo, and they don't want to overprescribe if not needed. So, in my case, I don't think I'll be getting it, but that may change over time.

andrewstuart 6y ago

It's hard to believe any doctor could dismiss bleeding from the anus without referring it to be investigated. And yet they do. This is the second time I've heard of a doctor dismissing such symptoms which then turned out to be cancer.

colonoscopie 6y ago

FWIW (and not to stop you from getting a colonoscopy—you should!), I have had symptoms like this on and off through adulthood (20 years or so). For this reason and a couple other IBS symptoms, I've gotten two colonoscopies, one capsule endoscopy, and one sigmoidoscopy in my day. And all have come back negative for anything whatsoever. Again, if you've got symptoms, see a doctor. But if you're like me and freak out at everything and assume you're dying at the drop of a hat—it's likely not something awful.

jetpackjoe 6y ago
Thanks... I've had bloody stools before, (I'm 32), but when the doctor checked, they found a fissure, which I guess was good enough for them to explain the bleeding... Well, now the symptoms are back, and no fissure to be found, so I'm seeing a gastroenterologist tomorrow. Fingers crossed, but I'm thinking I'll get to find out how painless a colonoscopy really is.

Kosirich 6y ago

Since "becoming an adult", I've lived in three cities in two countries, which means that've generally had no idea who my primary care doctor is or was, only that I'd need to find one to give me a referral to get this wart on my foot removed. F?%k, this is way to relatable. Same as the author I'm an expat which hasn't had a GP check in 5 years, not counting getting a dermatologist procedures. I feel like this is an experience of a lot of expats. Those of us coming from small towns mostly had a GP from when we were 6 all the way until we left the town for good. It's difficult to get that relationship with someone else and I'm afraid that it might be a contributing factor to people getting less checked. Also, in my case all the family members went to him, so he kinda knew the family history. I still mourn for him, he would always greet me at the door of his office with something like "wtf, you again? why are you here?". He was an excellent diagnostician...

Cthulhu_ 6y ago
Not only expats; I've moved a few times but hadn't bothered to change my GP for over 5 years because I never needed it (thankfully). The last time I needed it was because the skin on my hands was fucked (cold + dry air and a newfound habit of actually washing my hands; vaseline cream helped) and chronic neck pain (treatment didn't help, but changing my backpack apparently did?). Anyway I bought a house a few years ago and I'm a bit more settled so I've moved to a local GP, and I hope to never need it.
noisy_boy 6y ago
Same here. I feel odd hearing the commercials nudging me to "ask my doctor..." - I don't have a "my" doctor. I just go to the nearest network clinic, they have my details on the computer and whoever is attending that day looks at them.
Diesel555 6y ago
Relatable to a lot of people in the military. Pretty much every visit is with a new person who doesn't know you, they just know the record they reviewed minutes before.

makach 6y ago

God damn it! I get upset when reading this article! The doctor mentioned at the beginning of the article is obviously not doing his job! "Don't worry about it?!" "you don't need another physical exam!?" Making assumptions without examination is incredibly unprofessional and carries with it potential critical consequences. If you have an issue and bring it to your doctor and your doctor fails to follow up with an examination and makes assumptions, it is time to find another doctor.

elihu 6y ago
Yep, I was in almost exactly that situation and the doctor said something along the lines of "it's almost always a hemorrhoid, but we'd better schedule you for a colonoscopy just to make sure" and sure enough there was a tumor that wasn't cancerous yet, but could very well have become so and killed me in a few years if nothing had been done. (It runs in the family apparently; my grandmother on my mom's side was from a large family, with seven or eight siblings. They all died of colon cancer. She got it too, but since she went to the doctor with her symptoms instead of staying at home, they were able to remove part of her colon before it got really bad and she lived for many more years.) Moral of the story: go to the doctor if you're bleeding from unexpected places.
- hef19898 6y ago
  Thank gd that caught in time in your case. I was beyond the not-yet-cancerous stage when I had the "better have good look now"colonoscopy. Still early enough to still be around, so!
quietbritishjim 6y ago
Also, he wrote: > Not bright red, more like muddy-red. Poopy-red. Hemerroids are usually a very bright obviously blood-like red. I appreciate he wrote the above description with the benefit of a lot more knowledge than he had when he first saw a doctor, but they should've asked about the colour even if he didn't offer it, and that should've raised extra suspicion immediately.
kypro 6y ago

hzay 6y ago

Great article. My father had a colonoscopy for a polyp (luckily non-cancerous). We were extremely worried, and it was so sudden that I couldn't read up on it. Does anyone have recommended reading for basic cancer knowledge? I'm 32, know nothing, no family history of cancer AFAIK, but I have a large family and I want to start preparing and getting information. Thanks in advance!

thornjm 6y ago
It's a tough read without much prior knowledge but the seminal work is: Hallmarks of Cancer by Hanahan and Weinberg (I think this is an updated version: [1]). It introduces the fundamental features of all cancers. Every cancer ends up with pretty much all of these traits because of strong survivorship bias. Those that don't develop these traits die off. [1] https://www.cell.com/fulltext/S0092-8674(11)00127-9 https://www.cell.com/fulltext/S0092-8674(11)00127-9
- hzay 6y ago
  That's great, just what I was looking for! Thank you.

codecamper 6y ago

Cologuard. Also, lots of microRNA tests coming down the pipe. Get them every year and catch cancer when it is stage 0.

elric 6y ago

You can also get "fecal occult blood tests". Which has nothing to do with the devil, but it's a test which can detect blood hidden in your poo. There are at home test kits. These are as simple to use as dabbing a stick in a turd a couple of times and waiting for the result. Similar to a home pregnancy test. Our local bowel cancer charity recommends these. If positive, get a colo(no)scopy. If negative, retest in another year or two. These are sent out to everyone over 50 IIRC. They're also recommended to anyone who is younger and possibly at risk.

hef19898 6y ago
> They're also recommended to anyone who is younger and possibly at risk. This! If you have cases in your family, genetical disposition or not, get them as soon as possible. My doctor recommended at least 10 years before the earliest case in your family, which would put my kids at 18. Missing a cancer diagnosis early on is probaly the worst thing you will regret in your life.
cableshaft 6y ago
Thanks for mentioning these. Ordering one now. Didn't realize I could do them from home without a doctor's visit. Last time I did one I had to go to the doctor to get it like 6 years ago.

imtringued 6y ago

A famous Youtuber John Bain known as "Totalbiscuit" died because of colon cancer in his 30s.

hef19898 6y ago

I commented quite a little bit in this thread, but I guess it doesn't hurt to write a summary. I was diagnosed with colon cancer ten years ago at 28 without any family history. It started inocent enough with blood in the stool. Sure enough, I was too young to have cancer, so that hemoroids for a year. It did suck so, that really were hemorroids, because that explained everything. Until it became to frequent, and my doctor recommended a colonoscopy. It was a cancerous polyp, caught early, so. I had surgery where they removed around 30 cm of my colon and some lymph knots, one of which had cancerous cells. went on to get 6 months of easy, as compared other people I saw and met, chemo therapy. The worst part was, when roughly one month after the chemo finished I again had blood in the stool, a lot of it. At that point I was on a high, after all I just finished chemo and survived, right? Damn, that sucked, worse than the initial diagnosis, back then I almost expected it. Luckily, it wasn't cancer, but it took my months to recover from that scare. looking back, I'd say that was harder than everything before, also because people around me kind of got the hard time going through cancer. They didnt really get why the fact not having cancer was so much harder for me. What I did learn from that is, that I'm less afraid of death than I am from the process of dying, if this makes sense. And that life is too short to care about certain things. It changed me, and then it did not, it is hard to describe. The things that really helped me was my son, aged 3 back then, having a wife that regularly kicked my ass when I needed it. Especially the one time I was cloe to give up (silly me, but it made sense back then). And having a good friend to talk to about stuff that wasn't for families ears. One thing, so, that very very few people got was the stress and hardship cancer means for ones family. As a patient you can get, and are offered, all the support from your environment. Your family not so much. And man, was I an ass sometimes back then. Luckily, I have no genetic preposition for cancer. Still, my kids will get colonscopies aged 16. better be safe than sorry, and a cancer diagnosis is nothing you want to miss. I undertand why people are afraid of the diagnosis, but this is nothing that can be ignored. The earlier cancer is caught, the easier the treatmen and the better the chances of survival. And sometimes, a couple of months can make all the difference. So yes, get a colonoscopy early, as early as possible and do not wait. Coloniscopies are no big deal, the worst part being the prep and even that got better over the years. And even you find it intrusive and unpleasant, which some people do, it still beats surgery, chemo therapy and potential death.

tibbydudeza 6y ago

Had one when I was 23. Cue severe embarrassment when the nurses came around to to my bed to "administer" the colon cleansing procedure , believe nowadays they give you a laxative to drink the night before. Got a mild sedative and it was not painful at all.

lonesword 6y ago
Had one when I was 24[1]. I got a sedative, but was wakeful enough to watch the procedure on a screen above me. The worst part was when they pump air into your ass to widen the colon, and all you want to do is fart it right out. [1] - Turned out to be polyps, non-cancerous.

Wonnk13 6y ago

This mimics my own diagnosis. Stage 2 non metastatic as a fairly healthy runner / cyclist. That was four years ago. now age 32 and healthy as ever.

onewhonknocks 6y ago
I'm very glad that you are doing well!
whatrocks 6y ago
That's great. Congratulations! One thing I didn't understand before this was how meaningful hearing stories of success like yours would become for me and my family.

jstummbillig 6y ago

Beautiful writing. Thanks for the best time I ever had reading about someone having had cancer and all the best to you.

aszantu 6y ago

just wanna drop gutsense.org

_0o6v 6y ago

This was a good read. I have Crohn's disease and in 2015 had 5 ft of small intestine and half of the adjoining colon removed. Unfortunately my insides were so fucked up that they had to properly open me up (i.e. not keyhole, more doorframe). Then I got sepsis after the operation and was in the high-dependency unit (US equivalent is ICU I think?) for a bit. That was fun. I was there for a few days, but remember about 2 hours of it. My family visited apparently, I had no idea, but I was talking to them, so I'm told. I couldn't walk for weeks, other than staggering around (which they encourage you to do otherwise the scar tissue will heal too tight). The wound took about 3 months to properly close up, I had a nice deep hole in my abdomen for much of that, you get used to the gory stuff. I'm generally better now though. Crohn's still dictates much of my daily life though, but you learn to live with it.

fakedang 6y ago
Similar situation here. I was traveling, which made it even worse - I literally collapsed at the airport out of fatigue, which turned out to be severe internal bleeding. Thankfully didn't get any further complications although if I had delayed, it would have definitely put me at risk for colon cancer. It's actually funny that the doctors in my case actually detected polyps in my intestine when I was 18 (showed symptoms since I was young, but all the doctors in India just waved it off as stress - for a 14 year old!). But again, they just waved it off for a long time and gave me meds that suppressed the symptoms. It was only when I was on work travel that the wonderful folks at the Zurich university hospital pinpointed it. Got a second opinion, and indeed it was Crohn's. Indian doctors just kept discounting it because Asians have a lesser tendency to get it, but recent research shows that your diet factors more than where you're from. My only advice to anyone in my position or similar would be to take full control of your health and try to get the best possible treatment, instead of trying to reinforce your biases. Had I not been able to get checked at a much better facility then, I might have been in a far worse position now. Don't count on family to be of help as much either, unless it's a spouse. For what it's worth, around the same time as that incident, my grandfather passed away at a ripe old age of 94. He previously complained about stomach aches and toilet issues, often getting grumpy af, but family members just brushed it away as signs of old age (including my parents). In the end, when he was shifted to a proper hospital in India during his final hours (quite literally), the doctors surmised that it might have been stomach cancer all those years. But of course, by then it was too late to take a biopsy and he passed away with the next couple of hours. That advice about recording your family health issues in a notebook is spot on.

shorts_theory 6y ago

This story was surprisingly compelling. The writing style really brought me in and I am very glad that the cancer was treated successfully!

whatrocks 6y ago
Thank you! I had just finished reading John McPhee's book 'Draft No 4' on "creative nonfiction" and I felt inspired to try it out!

sizt 6y ago

OMG. How did we survive without colonoscopies in the past. What people miss is that these treatments are invented by out of work surgeons. In this case, out of work surgeons who used to do open heart surgery but were obsoleted by catheters, statins, and blood pressure medicines. They had to find something to do to pay for the wife's Mercedes. Hey. Guess what we found. Colon cancer ! Anyway, by the content of this thread, everyone is more interested in the finest pain medication available by prescription.

ilamont 6y ago
Both grandfathers had colon cancer in the age before colonoscopies. One had the lower part of his colon removed, which he had to live with for decades afterwards. The recommendations for colonoscopies are not a joke or get-rich scheme - they save lives. As for this comment: What people miss is that these treatments are invented by out of work surgeons. The technology was actually invented by a gastroenterologist at the University of Michigan in the 1950s based on pioneering research of Narinder Singh Kapany on fiber optics. Ignoring the fact that there are very few "out of work" general surgeons, most colonoscopies are not performed by general surgeons but by trained GI specialists assisted by technicians and specialized equipment.
greedo 6y ago
As a colorectal cancer survivor, please just don't do this. You're doing a huge dis-service to the HN community.

lawwantsin17 6y ago

Thank you for this man. This is what people should find on WebMD. Instead of what we find.

dreamcompiler 6y ago

"Not bright red, more like muddy-red." That's the giveaway, right there. Bright red blood on your toilet paper is usually just hemorrhoids. Uncomfortable but treatable and not life threatening. Deep red or "muddy red" blood on your toilet paper means the blood came from deeper within your intestine, and it should always be checked out regardless of how young you are. If your doctor refuses to do so, get a new doctor.

greedo 6y ago
This is highly inaccurate. If you have rectal cancer, the blood will be bright red. The bottom line is that if you ever have ANY bleeding from your anus, or in your stool, visit your doctor immediately. (15 year survivor of colorectal stage 3 cancer)
- dreamcompiler 6y ago
  I said "usually" on purpose. Rectal and anal cancer are real things but they're less common than colon cancer in the general population. I agree with your advice: Any blood in your stool should be checked out. Don't let your doctor talk you out of it.

StanLindsey 6y ago

Is there a list anywhere of procedures you can undergo that are worth asking for? Beyond the standard blood pressure, temperature and listening to your heart which feel very comprehensive. I really feel like I'm due an MOT on my body.

jayintaipei 6y ago

This is scary. I had an upper and lower endoscopy several years ago, doctor cut out a sizable but not yet cancerous polyp. He told me to get another colonoscopy after three years (or was it one?) but I haven't done it yet. The last time I went to a doctor to do it was maybe two years ago. She said, "You're too young, how could you have had a polyp?" and sent me home with a take-home DIY stool sample kit instead. I didn't have insurance, so I just ignored it. Now I live in Taiwan where everyone has insurance but I STILL haven't done it. I'll make an appointment today.

sprague 6y ago

If you have consumer-grade microbiome test results, you may be interested in what I learned about CRC. Some of the bugs that are associated with it are surprisingly rare, and it would be interesting to see if you have any: https://psm.personalscience.com/caseStudyCancer.html https://psm.personalscience.com/caseStudyCancer.html