"Cover Your Butt. Schedule Your CRC Screening"

If you ask Roger Rojas the choice is simple. "I'm just hoping someone will listen," he wrote to me.
          He's talking about colorectal cancer screening.  A tweet he wrote this morning caught my eye: 
          "At work, not feeling well. Tried to convince co-workers to get screened for colorectal cancer, maybe they can avoid this pain and discomfort."  
         The father of three had few of the usual symptom associated with colo-rectal cancer and at 34, was not a candidate for the screening.  Yet his hope is that those of us who CAN be screened take the opportunity to do so.
         My two cents worth?  I scheduled my first colonoscopy at MD Anderson when I was 46 since my breast cancer diagnosis and family history raised my risk to some degree.  Let me tell you something.  This is nothing.  A pap smear feels more invasive than a colonoscopy, if that helps you at all.  And the prep?  I think it's designed for people who weigh 250 pounds and eat hamburgers and french fries.  I rarely eat red meat, enjoy a lot of fruit and vegetables and the prep wasn't nearly as bad as I expected.
          If you want to understand more about the procedure colon cancer advocate and CBS anchor Katie Couric talks with Harry Smith before his procedure at: http://bit.ly/bO3m8E
          For more terrific information go to the ColoRectal Cancer Coalition:  http://fightcolorectalcancer.org/
          Nip a cancer in the bud (butt)... so to speak.  Like breast cancer, if caught early colon cancer is easily treated.  The physician can remove the cancer by scope before more invasive surgery is necessary, and before the cancer has spread.  Do what you can.


Livestrong,
Jody


Photo courtesy of C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition.