I would not wish colon cancer on anyone. Yeah, a colonoscopy is somewhat unpleasant, especially the prep. But, the alternative far worse.
Yeah, the cancer is no fun. I had colorectal cancer in 1996. Surgeon removed 2/3 of my rectum. That, together with the after-effects of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy (poison), makes it no fun to use the toilet 3 times a day.
I've had more colonoscopies than I can shake a ..... stick at. Now I'm 68, and insurance tells me the procedure should be done only at 10 year intervals. I wonder if they are trying to kill a known cancer risk.
I lost my brother to colon cancer in December. He had never had a colonoscopy, and when he finally did, they found stage 4 colon cancer. Did surgery but it came back, metasticized to his lungs, thyroid, and elsewhere. Pretty much no hope at that point.
Everyone needs to have a colonoscopy!!
My youngest son at age 48, was diagnosed with cancerous polyps in 2019. He'd never had a ColoGuard test, and only went to the doctor when he found blood in his stool.
The doctor/surgeon said they were the biggest polyps he'd ever seen, and wished my son had come to him 10 years earlier, but he would have only been 38 at the time, and they didn't screen people that young back then. They did two resections on him. Took several inches of his colon, along with about 70 lymph nodes, and he went through 6 months of chemo. While on the chemo he developed bronchitis, and a blood clot in his lung, which is a known side effect of chemo. He had to give himself injections of Heparin the rest of the time he was on the chemo. He also developed severe neuropathy pain in his hands and feet. It took about a year and a half for the pain in his hands to go away, but he still have numbness and pain in his feet, which will probably never go away. He turned 51 today, and is cancer free, but because they took out so much of his colon, he will have frequent, and loose bowels for the rest of his life.
When I had my last colonoscopy in June, my doctor told me that they have been screening people at a younger age, especially males, because they have seen an increase in colon cancer among that group.