I just had a colonoscopy, my fourth.Folks, if you have read and enjoyed any of my writings, I would beg you to read this column. Even if you haven't. For some of you, it may the most important column I've ever written, or that you'll ever read.I have a very personal interest in this, for two reasons.First, my father died of colon cancer, so genetic factors greatly increase my own risk, as it seems to "run in the family."Second, I don't have so many readers that I can afford to lose any to this dreadful disease. Over the years I've been talking about this, and occasionally writing about it, I've had about a dozen men come back and tell me that they feel I saved their lives by climbing up on this particular soapbox and ranting a bit. Perhaps one of you readers will read this, take action, and join that small group.I'm not going to bore you with statistics; I hope to frighten you with them. About 150,000 people come down with either colon or rectal cancer every year. It is one of the leading killers of men past 50. This is tragic, because it is an extremely slow-growing cancer, often taking 10 years to go from the first visible signs to a condition like my dad had. It is easily detectible, and easily treated, if caught soon enough. In fact, except for skin cancer, it is the easiest of all cancers to treat, with the highest success rate.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/flight-safety/pelicans-perch-68the-human-borescope