Posted on 08/16/2010 10:46:29 AM PDT by Congressman Billybob
On 23 April I had a routine colonoscopy, and found out that I had cancer. I knew then I’d have to write this column once I knew the outcome. I had 25 days of chemotherapy, simultaneous with radiation therapy, followed by surgery on 11 August.
The pathology reports came back yesterday. They were, as my surgeon said, ‘the best possible, given the circumstances.” They were clean margins and clean lymph nodes. The margins are the areas all around the site of the surgery. The lymph nodes are where cancer usually spreads first, from its original site.
In laymen’s terms, I am cancer-free. Going in my purpose for this column was, and still is, to save some lives. Three of the most common cancers in America today are colon and prostate cancer for men and breast cancer for women. All three have a common characteristic. They can be often and easily cured if they are detected early.
Let me repeat that, and pardon me for shouting, but THESE CANCERS CAN BE EASILY CURED IF THEY ARE DETECTED EARLY.
What stands in the way of early detection? The tests for these cancers, especially colon and breast, are obnoxious. Everyone winces and shudders when the tests are mentioned. I know.
I felt the same way when a routine examination with no symptoms showing, saved me from colon cancer once before. That one was only pre-cancerous. But it would have developed to the point of killing me years ago, if I had let it go.
After one time at the rodeo, you get cautious. I got routine exams on a routine basis. The readers of my columns are, I know, older and better educated than most. Many of you are woman or men “of a certain age.” Or, you may have risk factors for cancer in your personal or family history.
If there is any reason in your age or risk factors why you should have a routine exam for any of these cancers, set this column aside and make the call. A day or two’s worth of discomfort, yes, and embarrassment, is a small price to pay for a couple decades of not being dead.
I’ve written about my situation as if it was, or had become, a day at the beach. It isn’t and it hasn’t. Chemotherapy and radiation both tear up your systems. When my father died of cancer, forty years ago, both of those treatments were crude, in their infancy, and nearly as harmful as the cancer itself. Today, the reverse is true. Both treatments have been refined, and are used together to shrink the cancer in advance of surgery. That’s exactly what happened in my case.
With the good news I got yesterday, I ought to be in a good mood. Well, there is this gastric tube down my nose that is continuously draining my stomach. That is to compensate for the fact that my colon has not fully awakened from its slumber. And, did I mention that I’ve given up all pain killers to aid in that process?
Try being stitched up down your front like a baseball. Add to that your must cough to clear your lungs, to avoid pneumonia. Then add that I have refused any pain shots. Since 11 August I have eaten nothing but ice, and two cups of apple juice. Life ain’t easy for a boy named Sue.
I am not, however, complaining. As Maurice Chevalier said of old age. “It is fine, considering the alternative.” The alternative is what I came to talk with you about, today. There are people reading this right now, whose lives can be saved, if you get an exam right now.
Let me repeat that, YOUR LIFE MIGHT BE SAVED IF YOU GET A CANCER TEST TODAY.
I expect and hope that about five people will have their lives saved by my relating my experiences in this column. And, yes, the title of this column was a deliberate pun. If this works for you, please let me know.
Note that I haven’t mentioned my doctors or nurses. There were nine doctors, and many more nurses. I am grateful for the excellence of their medical care.
Changing subjects abruptly, part of the goal of my surgery was to be ready on 12 September to March down Constitution Avenue with 38 of my fellow citizens, dressed as the signers of the Constitution. I get to be Ben Franklin. There should be about a million Americans there. I hope the American press might even notice and cover that event.
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About the Author: John Armor practiced before the Supreme Court for 33 years. John_Armor@aya,yale.edu His latest book, now in print, is on Thomas Paine. www.TheseAreTheTimes.us
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Bears repeating.
Actually, you sleep through the whole procedure, and even after you wake up, you don't remember very much.
Also, please keep in mind, should the diagnosis be bad, that radiation treatment and chemotherapy are much, much better than they were twenty, or even ten, years ago. Much better.
Once you reach "that certain age", or if you have a family history of colon cancer, GO GET THE COLONOSCOPY. You won't regret it.
Good news! I hope you feel all recuperated very soon, and I look forward to seeing your photo, with you dressed as Ben Franklin, on FR!
these days, they put you completely out for the Colonoscopy, and you wake up none the worse for wear.
As has been commented before, what sucks is the “cleansing” beforehand. Argh.
Wow I bet that 20 year old is really pissed at you.
I haven’t had the colonoscopy, but I just wanted to say something about the Versed that was given. I had Versed when I had some oral surgery a couple of years ago. I can describe it thusly: I little Iv injection, then the doc said “open your mouth wide”, and then he said “Get out of the chair, we’re finished.” That Versed is really an amazing drug. And no. I didn’t leave anything out between open your mouth wide and get out of the chair. As far as I knew, that was all that happened. Versed also contains an amnesiac, which makes it the best way to go as far as I’m concerned.
Actually once you are done with the “cleansing” phase, it feels really good. People in Switzerland go to clinics and pay $1,500 a day for “colon cleansing” which is just an expensive way to accomplish exactly what the “go juice” does.
I missed your earlier column. I am so glad the first I hear of this is on the side of good news rather than uncertainty. Fantastic news!
Thanks for taking the time to write this. Am so happy to hear how well you are doing.
It should be noted that everyone handles it differently. I lost my mother to lung cancer 2 1/2 years ago. She made it through the radiation just fine, able to function and go places, but the first round of chemo about killed her. She passed out and they had to revive her and she wound up hospitalized after wards. She never did recover from that.
All of us cancer survivors know that testing can save your life. If you are reading this and are in a risky group or of a certain age, what are you waiting for? Call your doctor and talk about getting on the schedule.
Sounds like you’re gonna be a skinny Ben Franklin.
Congrats!
I’ve heard that the risk of colon damage from the invasive diagnostic procedure is as great as the risk that you might have cancer.
Anyone else heard this?
I am turning 50 in a month. I know that is the start date for another whole series of these things.
I am not looking forward to them, but I am not going to avoid it.
Thanks for a nice reminder.
I've only heard/read that connected to people on their 80's on up.
bttt
Thanks for posting the Berry article. The only one I thought was funnier was the one where he and a friend tried out a potato gun.
Congratulations on being cancer free!
You’re right, early detection saves lives. Even when it seems your chances are slim to none. Because everyday lives are saved from cancers that were once a death sentence for all who got them.
But you have to act fast. Once you are diagnosed, you have to get on it!
I’m a lung cancer survivor. Lost 1/4th of my left lung March 9, 2006 and I’m thanking God every day for my blessing. And now today, I’m thanking God for your blessing too!
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