I’ve always been a planner. I don’t regret it, as it’s saved me a lot of problems and hassle. Unfortunately, you can’t plan for everything as I recently found out.  I don’t like to talk about very personal things, but this needs to be mentioned.

I’ve been having some digestive symptoms, but it’s things I could have easily continued to ignore.  It really didn’t make sense to me because I have been eating healthier than ever.  I cook most of our meals, I make sure to include tons of salad and vegetables. Seriously WTF.  I did go to the doctor and reluctantly mentioned it.  As I feared, a referral to a gastroenterologist and colonoscopy was recommended. I am more comfortable with medical stuff now as I’ve been around the block a few times with some surgeries under my belt.  Still, I was filled with dread. The whole process seemed like a form of torture.

For the most part, it really wasn’t that bad. If I hadn’t had a horrible reaction of nausea to the prep, really it would’ve been ok. Getting that nasty tasting liquid down was the biggest challenge and the most difficult part. I can’t chug liquid and it took me an hour to get it down. It tasted so bad, I can’t even explain it.

Anyway, I wish I could say I got through it and wont have to do it for another 10-15 years, but that’s not what happened at all. Turns out, just a check to make sure everything was ok, turned into a discovery of some sort of 45 mm growth that I’m not even sure is just a polyp at this point.  I have 2 options and basically this thing needs to be removed.  I won’t know for sure if it’s cancerous or not until then, but there’s a high chance because of the size.  Apparently, it could’ve been there for 5-10 years!  I’ve learned a lot about the colon and now I understand how important those screenings really are.

This was not even in my mind as a possibility. I am still shocked. That’s the reason I’m writing about this.  I heard that colon cancer is on the rise in my age group and disregarded it.  Never in a million years did I think it could happen to me.  I have no family history, I’m healthy (or so I thought), I’m not even at the screening age of 45 yet and by then it might’ve been too late. This isn’t something that’s talked about much and that can also make it difficult or embarrassing to get treatment. Like I mentioned, I’ve had previous surgery experience (one in particular in which I lost all modesty). If I hadn’t, I’d have felt a lot more nervous and reluctant about this. But these doctors deal with this stuff all the time and you have to keep that in mind.

So if you have a symptom (especially any kind of bleeding), if something feels off, or you notice a change in your body, don’t ignore it. Better to have the inconvenience of an unpleasant procedure that turns up nothing, than to end up with a full blown serious health issue.