This is sort of a public service announcement - Please don't reply for I am pretty embarassed by it: On February 20th, I had a test preformed which one could say is a right of passage for those entering my age group. As a result I will thankfully still be swimming 5-years from now instead of under going radical chemotherapy treatment for colon cancer.
I had put the test off for over a year-and-a-half because I felt like I was in a low risk group and there were vanity reasons as well. Anyway, friends, family and my doctor bullied me into it and when it was time, the doctor preforming the test found an adenomatous polyp and consequently removed it. (It looked like a freaking mushroom too. Of course the screen made it look like the size of a toadstool...) Just so you know, this is not fun talking about but he whole procedure took ten minutes to find and remove. That's all! I felt no pain, nor discomfort.
Ultimately, the polyp came back as benign. However, I was warned in the test results that there was a fair chance it would have developed into colon cancer within 5-10 years if not treated. The literature also said that 30% of us have them.
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2 comments:
It might be embarrassing to post on your blog, but it is a good thing to let people know things can be happening in your body even if you can't feel them. Also an ache in your body can be much more than a sports injury. At only 20 I started having problems with one of my breasts, it really hurt my collegiate swimming career, but I can't control that. I can only tackle the problems when they rear their head. In college we always joked about the discomfort of the doctor doing the breast exam during our swimming physical, but I quickly discovered why it was a necessary. No matter how young you are, things can happen. It is best to dive in and take care of the matter as soon as possible rather than delay problems or procedures until something turns more serious. Examples like Lance Armstrong and Eric Shanteau are good, they show show a health setback can be a strengthening experience.
Agreed. It takes a big person to share such a story. Kudos.
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