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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 28, 2008 - 10:53am PT
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Home from the hospital where I had surgery to remove a section of colon containing a cancerous polyp. Got the cancer diagnosis about 10 days ago and it’s been an eventful time. Had surgery last Tuesday, was in the hospital for 5 days and will be home recovering for a while. Prognosis is good; the cancer had not spread and it’s pretty likely the surgery is the last treatment I’ll need.
Don’t put off the colonoscopy my friends. It’s not as bad as it sounds and it can be a lifesaver, granting you extra years to play in the mountains.
Rick
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Jan 28, 2008 - 11:04am PT
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thanks for the reminder Rick,
get well!
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WoodySt
Trad climber
Riverside
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Jan 28, 2008 - 11:14am PT
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My Dad had colon cancer in his mid sixties; they got it in time. I've had three colonoscopies over the years; and, right, not much to them.
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Bart Fay
Social climber
Redlands, CA
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Jan 28, 2008 - 11:55am PT
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Good Luck Rick. Heal well. Glad they caught it in time. Nobody likes the
threat of a colostomy, or worse. Hope all the fun is all behind you now.
I've been enduring them annually for over a decade. Those sadists. It’s the fasting
and prep that sucks. Dirt is our local colonoscopy expert. He'll be along any time now.
Edit: Rokjox you are quite the ray of sunshine this morning.
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Jan 28, 2008 - 12:02pm PT
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Good luck Rick. I am glad that you caught it early. Nothing has shown up my physical exams for colon cancer, but my PSA levels for prostate cancer were elevated and increasing, to the point that statistically I had a 36% chance of prostate cancer. I had the biopsy just before Christmas and, fortunately for me, I have no cancer.
I hope your healing is fast and complete.
Best, Roger
Edited. I was confusing colon and prostate cancers.
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bvb
Social climber
flagstaff arizona
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Jan 28, 2008 - 12:06pm PT
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amen, rick. it's never too early. hell, if you're male, go in at 40.
i got my first in 2002, and am going in for my next in march. getting an endoscopy at the same time.
gotta remind the doc to change scopes between the two procedures.....
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AbeFrohman
Trad climber
new york, NY
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Jan 28, 2008 - 12:11pm PT
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My dad always says, "Except for the part where they stick a camera up your a*#, its really no big deal."
But then he's remembered none of it, they dope him all up before hand. So how bad could it be?
Heal well.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jan 28, 2008 - 12:22pm PT
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Speedy recovery Ricky and thanks for the prompting!
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exposeur
Trad climber
santa cruz
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Jan 28, 2008 - 12:42pm PT
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ooh i got one of those when they couldn't figure out what was wrong with my tummy. also had an upper GI x-ray where they make you drink barium chloride (goopy chalky awful shit) and strap you to a wheel of fortune thing and spin you around so the barium gets through your gullet faster.
with the colonoscopy you have to drink the roto-rooter crap until you sh#t clear. i sh#t you not. hehe. and no water. so by the time i saw the doctor i was way loopy from dehydration and puked bile on his shoes before being wheeled into the op room, where they were playing some classic rock full blast and demerol'd me into submission.
the best part is they never found anything wrong with me. so i have "irritable bowel syndrome".
have fun! i can't wait till i'm over 50 or get another excuse.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jan 28, 2008 - 12:46pm PT
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Glad to hear it worked out, Rick.
And I'm sure EKat didn't really mean it when she said "You're bummin' me out!"
I had a screening colonoscopy last year, which came up clean. Well worth the effort. I had a sedative, but woke up part way through and got to watch the fun on TV. The stuff they give you beforehand, to clean you out, is less fun, but necessary.
My doctor says the single most helpful medical thing most of us male young-forever healthy climber types can do for ourselves is get an annual physical.
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
sorry, just posting out loud.
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Jan 28, 2008 - 01:12pm PT
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Rokjox, be that as it may, stay healthy.
be sure to vote for the candidate that will address your issues this coming election.
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Jan 28, 2008 - 01:26pm PT
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Well BV, I don't know what an endoscopy is but it SOUNDS like a colonoscopy!
Never could understand why some people consider items inserted there as "recreation", but it takes all kinds. I've known some women,...well lets not go there.
Annual physicals seem bad enough, and I hate the surgery type fasting/ cleansing routine but I know you are right about it Rick, and good for you for catching it, and heal up fast.
In fact I'm making an appointment to have one,....soon.
Funny (true) story regarding aforementioned recreation;
a friend is an ER doc in Boulder where an adult male came in with an apple stuck in his rectum. My friend inquired of the patient how the condition developed (like he HAD to ask!).
The patient stated that he was eating an apple in the shower and slipped.
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eeyonkee
Trad climber
Golden, CO
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Jan 28, 2008 - 01:28pm PT
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Good luck, Rick. I just had my first one a few months ago. Piece of cake. I remember distinctly the very last word I said to the doctor before I went under and then woke up an hour later and it was all over. Luckily, I had no polyps.
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Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jan 28, 2008 - 01:32pm PT
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A climber friend wasn't so lucky - excellent health, early 50s, etc. Started to have stomach problems, went for tests, eventually found colorectal cancer. They chopped out a bunch of his colon, a fairly serious operation. He had a colostomy bag for a while, until they could hook up the plumbing bag again, and his stomach and digestion have never completely got back to normal.
No family history of such problems, just out of the blue. His immediate family members now all have to get regular colonoscopies, as a preventive thing.
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Festus
Social climber
Enron by the Sea
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Jan 28, 2008 - 01:42pm PT
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Thanks, Rick, I'm one of those in the ballpark, and it brings up choice some of us may face.
Had a sigmoidoscopy done a few years ago, 'cuz my health plan GP said that was plenty good enough. Having read a little since, I'm not sure I buy that entirely, but's it's a big insurance/cash issue for those without excellent insurance or savings. Bottom line for healthcare providers (and those of us in HMOs, etc.) is that one procedure (colonoscopy) is much more expensive than what I had done, but it is more thorough and effective in spotting trouble.
The questions then are: How much more effective? .5%, 5%, 20%? Should I demand a colonoscopy and/or pay the difference out of my own pocket?
Any docs, healthcare pros, or procedure veterans care to weigh in on this one? You might save a few of us!
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taco bill
Trad climber
boulder, co
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Jan 28, 2008 - 01:45pm PT
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Get healthy Rick. My father in law has been going through the same thing. Glad you caught it early.
Adam
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scuffy b
climber
Stump with a backrest
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Jan 28, 2008 - 02:56pm PT
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Good Luck, Rick.
Of course, everyone should be going for the procedure.
My biggest complaint is that I get a fairy tale beforehand,
regarding the leadup and my interaction with the
anaesthesiologist.
Every time I have gone into general anaesthesia, there has been
no warning, I've never been informed that the drugs have been
applied. Nothing about counting backwards or anything.
It's just this. They wheel me into a room, then I wake up
somewhere else.
Does that sound like I'm getting my money's worth?
(they always tell me something will happen, like, "We're giving
you some Sodium Pentothal now")
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Bart Fay
Social climber
Redlands, CA
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Jan 28, 2008 - 03:23pm PT
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I am seriously going to ask the anesthesiologist to bring it on slowly next time. That's gotta
be one of the best feelings, that slipping out of consciousness. Pity that you
only get to feel it for a few short seconds.
Endoscopy is more fun in that regard. They take you down slowly so they can better keep
you in twilight as you need to move around to accommodate the scope. But, there is the
down side of the constant gagging from having a .55in tube 36inches down your throat.
I've only had six of those. :-) )-:
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Jan 28, 2008 - 03:33pm PT
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Ahah!!
So it is a misleading term.
An endoscopy is really a beginningoscopy.
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Rick A
climber
Boulder, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 28, 2008 - 03:37pm PT
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Thanks for all the support, everyone.
I wanted to post this because of my own delay in getting the procedure. I was approaching 53 before I got around to it. So, I can tell you from experience that it is something that is very easy to keep at the bottom of the to-do list.
Abe- I will borrow your Dad’s line, thanks. Reminds me of a famous saying about opera, (Mark Twain perhaps?) something like, “ Opera would be wonderful, except for all the singing.”
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