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raindeerpie t1_iy88iwj wrote

Reply to comment by jeb_hoge in Congressman Donald McEachin Dies by Soloemilia

so this has me worried. when are you supposed to get screened? what are the signs. is it one of those once you reach a certain age thing? i suppose i should talk to my doctor.

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jeb_hoge t1_iy89mcs wrote

I am not a doctor, but I'm almost 49 and can tell you what I know.

First off, the medical community and health care insurers have different opinions on the age where people in general should get screened.

If you have a family history of colorectal cancer, doctors will tell you to get screened as young as 40. My doctor started getting serious about recommending it at 45, and that's when I found out that my insurance was like "whoa, dude, you don't need it until 50!" But then I found out my grandfather had had colon cancer in his 70s and that shifted the equation in my favor.

I don't think there are early, easy* to detect signs for colorectal. You're not going to feel lumps like breast or testicular cancers, so it's pretty much going to be an invasive medical exam unless your doctor is okay with the "poop in a bag and send it in" method.

And I think it's the pain-in-the-ass butt probing method that makes a lot of people avoid it, but it's under general anesthesia (awesome nap) and you'll lose five pounds easily during the prep, so I absolutely see it as a win.

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raindeerpie t1_iy8apca wrote

thanks for the reply. this makes me feel better since I don't have any family history of cancer. i just hate seeing these diagnosed to dead in under a year stories. scares the shit out of me.

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jeb_hoge t1_iy8bb5k wrote

I suspect that a lot of times, people have symptoms that they just talk themselves out of worrying over. Sort of the opposite of hypochondria.

A co-worker I used to have talked about how every year, his birthday present to himself was to get a physical and go for every screening that his doctor recommended, because he loved his life so much that he didn't want to ever be caught by surprise. It was the most positive, life-affirming way I've ever heard to talk yourself into seeing a doctor, and I've adopted it since I hit my mid-40s and needed a reality check over getting "old."

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raindeerpie t1_iy8csbw wrote

i do the same. sans the wife. yearly physical, optomoligist, and bi annual teeth cleaning. super easy and free with any basic insurance. no reason not to and it will avoid so many expensive problems when you really get old.

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bmore_in_rva t1_iy8k8nc wrote

Congressman McEachin was diagnosed back in 2013 or 2014 and had rare complications that arose from the treatment.

CDC says you can wait until you're 45 unless you have family history. (In my case, my doc wanted me to get a baseline colonoscopy 10 years before the age at which my family member was diagnosed. Because my mother was diagnosed in her late 30s, I was supposed to get one in my late 20s.)

They didn't do general anesthesia for mine, it was the "twilight" stuff, but even though they say you might not be asleep from the twilight stuff, it always puts me out.

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