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As you consider some positive steps to take in 2021, I'd like to once again recommend to all my friends / followers in their mid 40s and up to schedule a colonoscopy. The @AmericanCancer Society recommends baseline colonoscopies at age 45 now, not age 50. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/detection-diagnosis-staging/acs-recommendations.html
Do it for @chadwickboseman , who died this past year at age 43 after being diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer in 2016... at age 39. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/colon-cancer-chadwick-boseman-tips/2020/09/03/13d224f2-ed29-11ea-99a1-71343d03bc29_story.html
Closer to home, many @universityofga football fans followed the inspiring story of Brian Deitz, who died in August 2020 after a 6 year battle with colon cancer. He was 44, so first diagnosed at age 38! #DeitzChallenge https://www.onlineathens.com/story/sports/high-school/2020/08/12/truest-warrior-wersquove-ever-knownrsquo-oconee-county-mourns-death-of-brian-deitz/114785956/
I was lucky... I was diagnosed with stage 1 colon cancer in March 2020, and had surgery to remove the tumor (and 13 cm of my sigmoid colon) on March 12 (!) 2020. Zero symptoms. Felt fine. Detected through a routine colonoscopy (which I had at age 50). Big 2020 surprise for me!
The new @AmericanCancer "get your first colonoscopy at age 45" recommendation is recent, but if I had gotten screened at 45, very likely my tumor would have still been a small polyp and could have been removed with no hassle. My colon surgery was not fun!
Anyway, I don't think the word has really gotten out that colonoscopies need to start at 45 for everyone, & earlier for those with family history. I know MANY people who have died of colon cancer in their 40s. Remember @katiecouric 's 1st husband? He died at 42.
And Couric herself recently had two polyps discovered during hers. You know she has been screened regularly. Removal of polyps literally nips this cancer in the bud. https://www.today.com/health/katie-couric-husband-undergo-his-hers-colonoscopies-t168440
So if you're over 40, talk to your doctor and show them the American Cancer Society guidelines. If your insurance company isn't proactive about this, get your doctor to push / prescribe / advocate. And thank you to all the medical researchers working on screening tools.
