From the Colon Cancer Forum: My father is 66 and has never been sick a day in his life. No surgeries, no illness other than the flu once about 20 years ago and the occasional cold. However, he wouldn't get a colonoscopy until his rectal bleeding became quite severe. [He was just diagnosed with stage 3 rectal cancer.] I am frightened beyond words. I've been walking around in a complete daze, unable to think of anything else. Read more...

Do you know anyone who has high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes? If so, please encourage them to follow colon cancer screening guidelines. According to research presented at the 73rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology, individuals who have those three conditions are 75% more likely to develop colon cancer than people who don't. Need some help convincing them? Check out How to Get Someone You Love to Get Screened.

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sign up for the free Colon Cancer Newsletter
and join the discussion in the Colon Cancer Forum.
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Check ups that determine whether cancer has occurred are stressful. When they're scheduled regularly, these check ups can cause people to live life in intervals. This is the case with my girlfriend Sara, who has FAP and gets an upper and lower endoscopy every six months. (Learn how Sara copes with her check ups.)

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To stay up to date on colon cancer,
sign up for the free Colon Cancer Newsletter
and join the discussion in the Colon Cancer Forum.
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If you're scheduled for a surgical resection of the colon and are wondering what it's like, you may want to check out a blog post entitled My Colon Cancer Abdominal Resection. Not a snazzy title, but the post itself provides a lot of details. Although everyone's hospital experience is different, reading a firsthand account of someone's experience can help diminish the number of unknowns. Read more...