For everyone over 50

[ubuysa]

As a colon cancer survivor (I had surgery in 2009) I've just had my regular colonoscopy. Because I'm at risk (and because the Greek health care system actually works) I have one every two years.

Colon cancer (like all cancers) is a killer if not detected early enough. It can affect anyone (my 29 year old nephew has had it) but people over 50 are at greater risk. I want to help more people survive so please...

Do not ignore prolonged abdominal pain. Get yourself checked.

Do not ignore changes in your bowel habits, especially if you strain more or if the stool size gets smaller.

Never ignore blood in your stool. And yes, always have a look before you flush.

If you're offered a screening test then take it. The home test, which looks for blood in the stool, is not that accurate but it's better than nothing.

IMO everyone over 50 should consider a colonoscopy every 5 years if you can get one. That is the gold standard test.

During a colonoscopy they will also remove any polyps seen. Most polyps are benign, but all bowel cancers start at at a polyp.

Save a life by acting as soon as you get symptoms - your life.

Here endeth the lesson.

 

[Martinr36]

As a colon cancer survivor (I had surgery in 2009) I've just had my regular colonoscopy. Because I'm at risk (and because the Greek health care system actually works) I have one every two years.

Colon cancer (like all cancers) is a killer if not detected early enough. It can affect anyone (my 29 year old nephew has had it) but people over 50 are at greater risk. I want to help more people survive so please...

Do not ignore prolonged abdominal pain. Get yourself checked.

Do not ignore changes in your bowel habits, especially if you strain more or if the stool size gets smaller.

Never ignore blood in your stool. And yes, always have a look before you flush.

If you're offered a screening test then take it. The home test, which looks for blood in the stool, is not that accurate but it's better than nothing.

IMO everyone over 50 should consider a colonoscopy every 5 years if you can get one. That is the gold standard test.

During a colonoscopy they will also remove any polyps seen. Most polyps are benign, but all bowel cancers start at at a polyp.

Save a life by acting as soon as you get symptoms - your life.

Here endeth the lesson.

Brilliant advise, I've done the bowel test several times, and recently had an ultra sound test to check, thankfully everything has come back negative.
Good to hear you now OK, one of my nephews had testicular cancer, they caught that in time, took some semen to store before he had the op, he and my great nephew are both great

 

[TonyCarter]

We get a screening kit every 2 years, and then further follow-ups if anything looks abnormal or you report an abnormality.

 

[Ekans2011]

As a colon cancer survivor (I had surgery in 2009) I've just had my regular colonoscopy. Because I'm at risk (and because the Greek health care system actually works) I have one every two years.

Colon cancer (like all cancers) is a killer if not detected early enough. It can affect anyone (my 29 year old nephew has had it) but people over 50 are at greater risk. I want to help more people survive so please...

Do not ignore prolonged abdominal pain. Get yourself checked.

Do not ignore changes in your bowel habits, especially if you strain more or if the stool size gets smaller.

Never ignore blood in your stool. And yes, always have a look before you flush.

If you're offered a screening test then take it. The home test, which looks for blood in the stool, is not that accurate but it's better than nothing.

IMO everyone over 50 should consider a colonoscopy every 5 years if you can get one. That is the gold standard test.

During a colonoscopy they will also remove any polyps seen. Most polyps are benign, but all bowel cancers start at at a polyp.

Save a life by acting as soon as you get symptoms - your life.

Here endeth the lesson.

Totally agree; I, too, fought and beat ''the b.stard'' (testicular cancer, as I liked to call it) at the age of 22 with surgery and chemotherapy.

For the first five years, I got normal check-ups every six months, and then every two years or so, I had a CT scan for personal peace of mind.

Don't underestimate the symptoms. Prevention, when possible, is the best cure.

 

[SpyderTracks]

As a colon cancer survivor (I had surgery in 2009) I've just had my regular colonoscopy. Because I'm at risk (and because the Greek health care system actually works) I have one every two years.

Colon cancer (like all cancers) is a killer if not detected early enough. It can affect anyone (my 29 year old nephew has had it) but people over 50 are at greater risk. I want to help more people survive so please...

Do not ignore prolonged abdominal pain. Get yourself checked.

Do not ignore changes in your bowel habits, especially if you strain more or if the stool size gets smaller.

Never ignore blood in your stool. And yes, always have a look before you flush.

If you're offered a screening test then take it. The home test, which looks for blood in the stool, is not that accurate but it's better than nothing.

IMO everyone over 50 should consider a colonoscopy every 5 years if you can get one. That is the gold standard test.

During a colonoscopy they will also remove any polyps seen. Most polyps are benign, but all bowel cancers start at at a polyp.

Save a life by acting as soon as you get symptoms - your life.

Here endeth the lesson.

Bravo, didn't realise you'd recovered from it, fantastic, and thank you for the pointers.

It's all about early detection with cancer. My father was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. In the UK, they don't check PSA levels in blood tests, nor do they do exams by default, but they will if you ask them or if there's a history in your family, usually after 40ish.

My fathers they reckon he'd had for 10 years before he was diagnosed as symptoms don't show until usually you're in stage 4 (where it's spread to other parts of the body like bones or surrounding organs)

BUT the saving grace is that he is getting on and with effective hormone therapy (an injection every 3 months) he should be fine until he passes naturally from old aga. The hormone therapy (Estrogen) as a side effect reduces muscle mass so somedays he can struggle on a longer walk, if he's had a few glasses of wine, the stairs are more difficult, and he can suffer from balance issues, but he is almost 90.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Totally agree; I, too, fought and beat ''the b.stard'' (testicular cancer, as I liked to call it) at the age of 22 with surgery and chemotherapy.

For the first five years, I got normal check-ups every six months, and then every two years or so, I had a CT scan for personal peace of mind.

Don't underestimate the symptoms. Prevention, when possible, is the best cure.

Also fantastic, bravo, takes serious strength and support!

 

[Ekans2011]

Also fantastic, bravo, takes serious strength and support!

Actually, I only decided to get angry and fight; credit goes to the doctors and the Italian national health system, which was very effective at that time.

 

[ubuysa]

Because of my history I have a full set of bloodwork done every year which includes PSA, other cancer markers, etc. etc.

Men, in particular, commonly ignore symptoms. We either believe they will go away, or we think they're insignificant, or part of getting old, or (often) because we're afraid of finding out what they might reveal. I hadn't realised there were so many cancer survivors on here, but I'm sure they'd all say the same thing: never ignore symptoms that persist for more than a few days. If detected early, before it gets out, then most cancers can be cured. If you leave it and the cancer gets out then all bets are off.