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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Three Pegs, the Same Hole

It’s not a comfortable topic.

A column by humorist and Miami Herald blogger Dave Barry on getting his first colonoscopy -- 10 years later than he should have -- drew two responses, one by an ``expert’’ and another from a person who, although she did not have a title, has been there. Both think the column will be helpful.

The American Cancer Society estimated that 148,810 Americans will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer this year, and 50,000 will die, wrote Phyllis Teitlebaum, the RN coordinator at the Cancer Resource Service, Baptist-South Miami Regional Cancer Program in Miami.

Most important, Barry pointed out that

The fear of having a colonoscopy is far worse than having one,

she said.

Ana Maria Bacallo of Miami described herself as part ``of the over-50 crowd that has had this dreaded test.’’

The bark is worse than the bite,

she said.

Barry got his first colonoscopy at 60, after his brother Sam reported that he had learned, by way of the procedure, that he had cancer. (Sam’s cancer was removed surgically. Barry's results were negative.)

Barry’s describes MoviProp, which they make you drink before the exam to clear out the colon, as ``a mixture of goat spit and urinal cleaner, with a hint of lemon’’

``Have you ever seen a space shuttle launch? This is pretty much the MoviProp experience, with you as the shuttle. There are times when you wish the commode had a seat belt.

Then
``you have to drink another liter of MoviProp, at which point, as far as I can tell, your bowels travel into the future and start eliminating food that you have not even eaten yet.’’

1 comment:

Scott Brodeur said...

The hint of lemon makes it palatable! It always does.