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A few years ago when my husband turned 50, I jumped on his case to schedule his inaugural colonoscopy. Fifty is the magical age, at least when it comes to screening for colon cancer. While my husband isn’t predisposed to colon cancer, I’ve known enough people who have been diagnosed with the disease way too late or just in the nick of time. And I certainly didn’t want to see that happen to my guy.

The thing is that people often think they’re beyond the reaches of colon cancer, or that the disease is fairly rare, but the truth is that in the United States colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the third leading cause of cancer both in men and women.  In fact, in 2011, the American Cancer Society predicts that about 141,210 new cases will be diagnosed and 49.380 people will die of the disease in our country alone. And though there is certainly a genetic component to colon cancer, even if you don’t have a relative who’s had the disease, you’re not necessarily immune.

So, having done enough reading on the topic to know what’s what, I continued to remind my husband, sweetly and sometimes not so sweetly, to schedule his colonoscopy. Which he finally did, if a wee bit reluctantly.

Interestingly enough, my mother-in-law, who had her first colonoscopy performed a few months earlier, literally raved about the procedure, telling us that we were going to “love, love, love it.”  

Not only was the procedure “quick and easy,” she felt “incredibly light afterward” and “it was just incredible,” she told us.

I admittedly had my doubts about whether my husband and I were going to “love” our colonoscopies, but who was I to be the naysayer?

For his part, my husband didn’t exactly rave about his colonoscopy, especially the preparatory part, where you have to drink an entire gallon of formula that’s ironically called Go Lightly and requires you to stay tethered to the toilet indefinitely. For those of you who haven’t yet had the pleasure of having a colonoscopy, please trust me when I tell you that you won’t be “going lightly.” 

No way. No how.

As it turned out, my husband’s experience was quite different than his mom’s. Rather than being knocked out and remembering nearly nothing, my husband was fully awake and alert, chatting it up with the doctor about the joys of yoga and tai chi and witnessing every twist and turn of the scope on the video in the procedure room. Thankfully, his colonoscopy was “clean and perfect” and he doesn’t have to return for another 10 years.

Now you’d think that his experience would have assuaged my fears. But last year, when I, too, turned the magical age of 50, I admittedly wished I hadn’t pressed my husband so hard to schedule his colonoscopy.

Because after the way I pushed him, he certainly had every right to push me with equal vigor. And truth be told, I wasn’t all that excited about joining the Colonoscopy Club. By then, I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to love, love, love it. And I definitely knew I didn’t want to watch the whole “show” on the videocam like my husband had done. Me? I wanted to be knocked out and awakened when the whole thing was over.

Well, as the saying goes, be careful what you ask for. I did eventually schedule my colonoscopy, and my husband, who never once nagged me to book my appointment, dutifully accompanied me.

At first, things were going swimmingly. I signed the consent form, I chatted with a nurse, I turned on my side, and the fun began. All was going well until I heard myself let out a little yelp that sounded like something you might hear in the vet’s office from a puppy being pinched by a needle.

Apparently, I was experiencing cramping, as a result of the scope scraping against some scar tissue in my abdomen from a surgical procedure performed several years ago.  Before I knew it they were pumping me with extra anesthesia, and the proverbial screen went black. The next thing I knew, I was being wheeled down the hall, woozy with sleep. Like my mother-in-law said, it was over before I even knew it. The good news is that I got the “all clear” sign, and I won’t have to “go lightly” for another 10 years. 

The not as great news was that I was knocked out the entire day.  I’d be lying if I said I loved the procedure, or that I felt incredibly light afterward. But would I do it again? You bet! The doctors didn’t find anything out of the ordinary this time. But next time, you never know. Though you’ll never catch me at a cocktail party trying to convince you that you’ll love, love, love your colonoscopy, I do hope you get yours, when that special time comes. Because no one’s immune to colon cancer, and a colonoscopy just may save your life.  

Ellen Brown is a certified professional coach, based in Cleveland, OH, and a regular columnist on ShareWIK.com.  Visit her website at http://ellen-brown.com. 

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