A couple of months ago I received an email forward of a humorous depiction of a man’s experience having had a colonoscopy. I laughed so hard that I thought my insides would burst from the intensity of my giggling.
A colonoscopy is a medical procedure that most of us should will experience. It is our best indicator of numerous things, but especially of colon cancer (also called colorectal cancer or bowel cancer).
According to the Canadian Cancer Society:
- colon cancer is the third most common cancer
- in 2012, an estimated 23,300 Canadians will have been diagnosed with colorectal cancer and 9,200 will die of it
- it is the second leading cause of death from cancer in men and women combined
- apx. 10,300 women will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer and 4,200 will die of it.
- apx. 13,000 men will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer and 5,000 will die of it.
- one in 13 men is expected to develop colorectal cancer during his lifetime and one in 28 will die of it.
- one in 16 women is expected to develop colorectal cancer during her lifetime and one in 32 will die of it.
All of the above mentioned facts make the reason for the procedure no laughing matter. At the same time, avoiding this procedure, simply out of fear is also not funny, or wise.
In this guest post, Dave Berry weaves a humorous tale in his article, A Journey into my Colon.
I encourage you to click on the link, read, laugh, then consider how much less frightening this procedure can be when we consider how treatable this cancer is, when diagnosed early (plus he has a down-loadable certificate 😉 ).
itsawonderfilledlife 