The Struggle Has Ended

Greg Hewlett passed away on January 17th after nearly eight years of battling colon cancer. While we grieve his loss, we are comforted to know that he is with his Lord.

If you would like to leave your thoughts on Greg, please see this thread.

If you would like to make a charitable donation in Greg's honor, please see this thread.

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Colorectal cancer awareness month (get a colonoscopy!)

March is colorectal cancer awareness month. I am doing my part by being very aware of the disease right now.

You, on the other hand, can go to all sorts of web sites like this one to get info, prevention stuff, statistics, run in 5k's, download posters, read White House proclamations, blah blah blah.

But if you want the bottom line, here it is - if you're over 50, you ought to have had a colonoscopy by now. If you're not yet 50, then start planning now. It takes years for a polyp to develop into cancer. Detect and cut it out early - then you have a 90% chance of survival. If you don't, then it will be detected late like mine. Then you'll be all regretful, they'll feed you chemo, they'll start sticking tubes in your rear on a regular basis, you'll have to send your paychecks to the hospital, and all sorts of ugly things will happen. You really don't want that.

Do me a favor - if you're older than 50, go get the colonoscopy. Wives, nag your husbands. Husbands, nag your wives. Bug your parents about it. Ask your friends. Trust me. It's not that bad. Really. I actually look forward to the drugs they give before it.

I'd love to hear that my cancer scared somebody into doing something they ought to have done already and saved their life. Email me the good news when you do it.

And for a relevant laugh, read this. It's a column by Dave Barry that I ironically read a few weeks before I was diagnosed.


2 comments:

Nils said...

You and Dave Barry have a singular gift for making me laugh at stuff I didn’t think could be funny.

Tricia said...

ditto.