JACKSONVILLE, Fl -- A day in bathroom prison. Who doesn't dread that prep for a colonoscopy?
I am not a grumpy person. But just thinking about spending a day off from work bonding to the potty made me extremely grumpy.
However, I made the appointment. I drank the stuff.
And, boy, am I glad I did.
If you know about the whole process, the test itself is under anesthesia, and it's a breeze. (My doctor calls it a "nice nap.")
The day of diarrhea before --to clear out your system-- is just plain yuck.
But here's what I learned.
Dr. Anhtung Chau, my doctor at Borland-Groover, showed me the images from my colonoscopy. Turns out they found three polyps, growths in my colon.
Two did not worry the doctors. But a biopsy showed the third polyp was a pre-cancer.
It could have turned into colon cancer in a few years. Dr. Chau told me, "Probably 5 to 6 years if left untouched, it could be cancer."
What I'd never thought about before was the power of the colonoscopy to eradicate any threat of cancer from the polyp inside me.
Consider this.
My polyp was about the size of a small peanut, half an inch. I had no symptoms. I had no idea that thing was even inside me. And, of course, there was no way for me to find it.
But during the colonoscopy, Dr. Chau cut it out.
It will never threaten me with cancer.
As Dr. Chau explains, "All colon cancer comes from polyps. So if you do a colonoscopy, they remove the polyps. You prevent cancer from forming."
And the five to six years? Life zips by. I get busy. I could have easily missed scheduling a colonoscopy in time to get rid of the pre-cancerous polyp.
I could have had colon cancer before I ever realized it.
Now Dr. Chau says I should come back for another colonoscopy in three years, instead of five, because of the type of polyp they found.
I also talked with Dr. Kyle Etzkorn, Gastroenterologist at Borland-Groover. He realizes people can feel uncomfortable about a colonoscopy, even though they're asleep for the procedure. But he says think about his role as no different from a dermatologist.
He says, "A dermatologist will remove pre-cancerous moles and spots on the outside of the body, and as a gastroenterologist, we remove polyps from the inside of your colon..."
So when should you start colonoscopies? The American Cancer Society recently lowered the age from 50 to 45 to have your first colonoscopy.
Why the new guidelines? According to the ACS, cases of colorectal cancer for people age 55 increased 51 percent between the years of 1994 and 2014.
So my advice?
Cancer is scary. A day in bathroom prison is tolerable.