How to Get Your Wife to Get Screened for Colorectal Cancer

6. Recruit

You've tried being reasonable: "Here are the facts; I'm sure you'll do what's right." You've tried setting an example: "I'll go first and tell you what it's like." You've tried making it easy: "I'll take you, bring you home, and make sure we have the house to ourselves." You've tried being sweet: "I love you and want you to be healthy." You've tried being sour: "It's hard to believe I married a woman who won't get one test every ten years for the sake of her husband, her children, and her grandchildren."

Now it's time to recruit. This should be a last resort because once you extend your activism to friends and family, you no longer control the method. You could end up with one very angry, annoyed wife. Maybe that would work – make her get screened to stop the madness. Or, maybe she still wouldn't get screened and she'd be mad, too.

You know her best, so it's your call. Should you enlist her mother and father? Should you teach your three-year-old to say "I love you mommy, please get a colonoscopy?" Or should you enlist your home in the battle by placing gentle reminders around the house?

It's a tough decision. Where do you draw the line between caring for her and driving her crazy? Encouraging her to take care of herself and encouraging her to ignore you? Being supportive and undercutting her right to make decisions about her own health? Your lives are so interlinked – her future is your future – that decisions about her health impact your well-being. (What would your life be like without her?) But ultimately, it's her decision. All you can do is try your hardest and know when to drop it.

Good luck in your quest.

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