I Had Colon Cancer And The Doctor Caught It Early

I had a colonoscopy a few weeks ago. In the months leading up to the procedure I was nervous. I’d heard that the cleanse would be awful. I was told I’d have to consume a liquid that tastes like salty gatorade and I’d be glued to the toilet for hours with the trots.

Nausea, cramps, a sore bum and hunger were also mentioned as side benefits of the prep experience. And if the first cleanse isn’t thrilling enough, you get to repeat the same procedure in the middle of the night…just in case the first attempt missed anything.

My colonoscopy was originally scheduled for August. As the date approached I studied the odds of having colon cancer, the false positive rate of the at home test and the fact that I have no history of colon cancer in my family. Armed with this information, I figured the likelihood of having cancer was minimal so I canceled my appointment.

I had a change of heart after I discovered there are pills called Sutab that you can take instead of drinking the liquid. If you go the Sutab route you take twelve tablets in twenty minutes, drink 32 ounces of water within a half hour, sit back and let nature take its course. I asked my doctor about this option and he said the pill was ok with him.

Sutab made prep day easy. I was done with my first cleanse in 90-minutes and had the rest of the night to myself. No mad dashes for the toilet but I did develop a sudden craving for Jell-o. The second cleanse began at 2:00 am and was equally easy. I was done by 4:00 am but then the munchies hit.

I was so hungry I thought about quitting and eating something…anything…to take the hunger pangs away. But I was within five hours of having the procedure completed. I figured if I was going to screw it up, do it the right way and have a steak. Don’t blow it on saltine crackers.

When I entered the operating room I asked the anesthesiologist if she’d do me a favor. “Can you knock me out with propofol now, before the doctor gets here and the nurses start setting up the room?”

“Sure, no problem. We’ll see you when we’re done.”

And just like that I had no memory of the procedure I feared.

I got the results of my test eight days after the procedure. I had three polyps removed. Two were benign. A third was cancerous. The cancerous polyp was small and the doctor was able to remove it cleanly. The only side effect for me is that I’ll need to have another colonoscopy in five years instead of the normal ten years for patients who don’t have cancer.

Colon cancer is among the easiest forms to cure if you catch it early. If your family has a history of colon cancer, take the test. A combination of Sutab and propofol made the experience easy.

And the results might have saved my life.