I've recently acquired a new hidden talent. I'm really good at growing pre-cancerous polyps in my bowel. When the doctor told me after my recent colonoscopy that I would have had 1-2 years before they would have turned cancerous, I wasn't surprised. Thankfully they were removed at the time they were found, but I'm now on an Annual screening programme. I do feel guilty however as these polpys take 8-10 years to develop, meaning my busy life saw me flitting around for years making this a low priority when I should have paid way more attention to a 'pre-cautionary colonoscopy'.
I had in fact already been given a referral form some 3-4 years earlier but didn't bother going past putting the form in my hand-bag. Guess I thought being a fitness instructor who maintains a healthy weight and has a good diet and doesn't eat much red meat was good enough. Wrong. I never had any symptoms either, although thinking back I wonder if what I thought was 'having eaten something bad' was actually the start of a symptom....who knows!
I guess I always knew it would be a possibility as my father had Bowel Cancer at the age of 36 and had a large chunk of his bowel removed. I was told that my brother and I would need to be screened at a young age because of Dad. My Dad's still around today - thanks to modern technology and cancer screening procedures like the Colonoscopy. I'm also lucky to have dodged a bullet -this time round at least.
I must admit, even though I'm generally a positive person- this has affected me. I spend a large portion of my spare time googling to see if there is any way to stop the darn things growing, because yes, they come back. Unfortunately, my type of Polyp- Sessile Serrated Adenoma/ Polyp was only discovered in 1996. And worse yet, it appears to be relatively rare compared to others. On the plus side, I'm now a walking Wikipedia on polyps!
The only thing I've found so far which has been proven to help is to take high doses of Asprin...but that has other side effects. Why is there not more Cancer research being done!
I think though that although you might have to live with things like this, you also have to evaluate what's important to you in life. I've chosen to 'Kick mine to Touch'. I'm also using my drive and ambition to push for Genetic testing for my family so it can help research and help others. After-all, I'm the 4th generation in my family to have the darn things! I'm on a 6 month waiting list for the genetic testing. I can't wait to contribute to helping find a cure for this nasty Cancer. I'm not one to just sit back and say 'poor me'. Nope. I've been pushing my family to get checked (another one has been found to have polyps and had to have them removed since I went in). I'm also pushing for the testing so we all know what this hereditary cancer actually is. It makes me feel good that I can contribute in some way to Cancer research and I'd love to think that perhaps my family can contribute to finding a cure- at least to this type of Bowel Cancer.
I did have a few moments of clarity going through this when I realised that my result could have been much worse. I was then digging through my hand bag looking for those 'other' referral forms that I'd been sitting on. My gosh- I've been poked and prodded in so many places now in the past month that I think I'm running out of places to be poked and prodded in!
I've also been very open with the staff in our office. I told them I was going for a Colonoscopy, and I also told them the results. It was really neat to have the conversation about genetics and finding a cure for cancer. We also discussed the moral dilemias around genetic modification. I have found out that with some forms of genetic bowel cancer, that if you choose to have children, through IVF, you can have the faulty gene removed so the next generation doesn't have the defect. I just think that is such a gift of modern science to do this. Others in my office thought it was morally wrong as you may modify other cells which might have a different impact.....
When I told my Dad that from the reading I'd done that it appears that he had past on his damaged DNA to me, he turned to his friend standing near me and said 'I think I must have damaged my DNA when I rolled the tractor all of those years ago' and laughed. Its that spirit we all need when we have cancer in our lives. He's still smiling and he also had 8 stents put in his heart in December last year- apparently his Cardiac Heart Disease is also genetic....hope I didn't inherit that one too with that faulty DNA!
In my moments of clarity, I did stop to think, if I do have problems when I go back in a year, what do I want to achieve or do with my life from now until then? If you only had that short amount of time. Interestingly, my thoughts were not as I excepted. I am already fortunate to spend the time I desire with my family and friends, although I'd like to see my Australian family a little more. The one thing I really wanted to do and achieve was to see my start-up company- Find My Study successful. Some people may think this is an odd thing, but for me, this is something I feel I have been working towards my whole career. It ticks so many boxes for me. I can do social good, I can change the world, I can help others, I can make money (hopefully!) and I can do something innovative and different in a sector I've been working in for most of my career. I then decided once I've done this and have made enough money to have a sustainable business, that I would like to push more for research in the cancer space. I'm far too young to be thinking about cancer! But sadly this is the reality for so many people. I'm one of the lucky ones- modern technology allowed me to have the fast track to cancer stopped, just imagine, only 50 years ago or even less, people in my position would have died from this dilemma.
My advice to you all is to get your checks done. Don't put these things to the bottom of the list like I did because you are 'too busy'. Without your health you have very little. Make it a priority and Kick those worries to touch!
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