While the public continues to learn more about the risks of colon cancer and the impact it has on both younger and older people, I decided that there was simply there no point in adopting a complacent attitude toward getting a colonoscopy.
With scads of colon cancer and colorectal polyp incidences in my maternal lineage, a primary doctor who said colonoscopy guidelines suggested my getting scoped sooner rather than later, and several loved ones urging me to get screened, I called the local cancer center and booked an appointment for a colonoscopy. Believe me, I wasn’t particularly thrilled about making that phone call.
But, there I had it – an appointment was set and the prescription for my lovely preparation fluid was called into my local pharmacy. The appointment for the big day fast approached, and I ceremoniously enjoyed my last “real meal” (Jimbo’s BBQ, a local institution and personal favorite spot for some delicious southern favorites straight out of the pit) with my love the night before my prep was to begin.
The next afternoon, I began chugging away the gallon of polyethylene glycol electrolyte solution and soon found myself hibernating in the restroom. I also discovered that the acrid fluid I was required to drink for getting a colonoscopy was far more palatable if I chased it with hot chicken broth and other tasty fluids that my girlfriend and sister helped prepare for me – and pinched my nose with my thumb and forefinger while gulping it