[Sarah Barracuda]

My father died in 1998 of Colon Cancer..back then colonoscopies were considered “Invasive” and his doc advised him against it..instead he had a sigmo which only showed about 2 feet of the colon, his tumor was located much deeper than that and because they missed it, spread to his liver and was dead in a year. Anyone that experiences any changes in their bowel should get a colonoscopy no matter what their age

[Pearls Before Swine]

Sorry about Dad. Still, 1998 wasn’t so long ago. They could at least have augmented the sigmoidoscopy with a fecal occult blood test.

[trisham]

I’m so sorry.

[B.O. Plenty]

My lovely little daughter is a physician in Dallas. She said that of all the stupid ways to die, the stupid-est is from colon cancer.

Get a real colonoscopy...not a *virtual* one. It don't hurt. The ONLY discomfort is the prep...but even that is worth the effort since you will not die a stupid death...

[utahagen]

So sorry about your father. I have no formal medical background, but do have an interest in medicine. Insurance company guidelines about when people should get tested for various types of cancer are based on the risks those companies will have to cover various individuals who get cancer. In other words, people themselves should ignore those guidelines. Once I understood that colon cancer can be prevented (by removing polyps during colonoscopies), I had my first colonoscopy at age 31 and I've had one every three years in the nearly twenty years since. (I told that first doctor that, if insurance wouldn't cover the procedure, I would pay for it myself. Luckily, insurance covered it. You'd be surprised how few people push things like this.)

Anyway, freepers, be very aggressive about getting tested, and be prepared to pay for mammograms, colonoscopies, etc out of your own pocket if you have to — even if you're broke. (I've paid for my own mammograms when insurance said I was too young and had no family history.) Even if I had to put tests on credit cards...at least I'll be alive to pay off the debt.

[utahagen]

So sorry about your father. I have no formal medical background, but do have an interest in medicine. Insurance company guidelines about when people should get tested for various types of cancer are based on the risks those companies will have to cover various individuals who get cancer. In other words, people themselves should ignore those guidelines. Once I understood that colon cancer can be prevented (by removing polyps during colonoscopies), I had my first colonoscopy at age 31 and I've had one every three years in the nearly twenty years since. (I told that first doctor that, if insurance wouldn't cover the procedure, I would pay for it myself. Luckily, insurance covered it. You'd be surprised how few people push things like this.)

Anyway, freepers, be very aggressive about getting tested, and be prepared to pay for mammograms, colonoscopies, etc out of your own pocket if you have to — even if you're broke. (I've paid for my own mammograms when insurance said I was too young and had no family history.) Even if I had to put tests on credit cards...at least I'll be alive to pay off the debt.