Have Your Butts Checked, People. Seriously.

i helped take a colon tumor out yesterday that was the size of a brain. it was amazing. it had many different surfaces and lymph nodes poking out in all directions and really looked like some sort of extraterrestrial being. and you KNOW it didn't just pop it's ugly little alien head up yesterday. had the patient been having her routine colon cancer screens, maybe it would have been found a long time ago when it wasn't unholy huge and totally adhered to her small intestine and interfering w/ the blood supply to all the rest of her gut. maybe she wouldn't have needed a 4 hour surgery with likely chemo/radiation to follow and still be facing a horrible prognosis.

what IS a routine colon cancer screen you ask? good question. you should be getting colonoscopies/sigmoidoscopies starting at age 50 and then every 5-10 yrs...(unless your MD sees something concerning...then maybe more often. or if you have a first degree relative with colon cancer- then start at least 10 yrs before the age that they were diagnosed). PLUS get annual physicals including rectal exams (yippee!) and fecal occult blood tests. see this site if you have more questions or message me with questions and i'll find you an answer. it's imperative that you follow your MD's guidelines on screening. there are only a select few types of cancers that we can detect early by simple(ish) means. take advantage and don't miss this one. it's pretty common- colon cancer is the 2nd most common type of cancer en los estados unidos. and there's nothing pretty about tumors or having to carry your poo in a bag coming out through your side.

alright. enough lecturing and bumming you out. cancer is bad. we get it.

it's been a busy week. on call some and working late some and did a cool vascular case today and blah blah blah.

weight loss efforts are going great. i'm down 7.5lbs following weight watchers and working out at least 3 times a week. it's fun. i'm fitting into skinny jeans again. we still have (DRAG) another 6 wks left in the weight loss competition, so hopefully i'll keep rolling like i am now.

toodles.