Dexcool cocktail party last night!!

[Captned]

All right you old farts, when should a fellow REALLY plan on getting his first exam/ Not asking for me of course, uh, for this other guy I know who's, uh, getting older.....

Captned

[dwaynec]

Depends. If you get a regular (annual?) physical and they take blood tests, you may already be having checks made. The thing that the Dr. looks for is your PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) level. If it is elevated above a specific level he may tell you that it is time to get the finger.

Don't worry about the size of the finger. During the test, even the smallest finger feels like a baseball bat.

[holtcl]

For normal-risk patient (e.g., no family history, asymptomatic) colorectal cancer screening typically should begin at age 50; for prostate cancer screening typically should begin at age 50, or 45 if at elevated risk (e.g., for African American men). Best again to talk with one's provider.

American Cancer Society has good web site for more info. National Cancer Institute also has good web site.

[SKYCHENEY]

Okay old farts. I had my colonoscopy at 37. Not for the preventative thing, but some other worrisome symptoms. As it turned out, all was okay and only required a change in diet to clear everything up. But, I'm still glad that it did it. As has been stated, the prep is the worst part and even that isn't too bad. That said, I'm still going to postpone the next one as long as possible. I'll wait til 50 for the next one. Of course as that day closes in on me, I'm sure I'll find an excuse to push it back to 55.

Is there no topic that doesn't get discussed on this site?

[Maynard Rupp]

Easy on the "old farts" thing Sky, I represent that remark. The worst part of a colonoscopy is the last 2 hours of the prep day. That is when you pour that stuff in and out it comes. Kinda makes you feel like a "four foot long funnel" eh?

[bobk]

Geeez, some guys are wuses.

I had decided early in this thread to stay silent, but gotta chime in.

I've been through this at least a dozen times, first at about age 40 as a free check at the DuPont medical facility way back when they did these for free as part of the annual medical exam. That one found several polyps which were removed. Same scenario for the following few years, then backed off to two year intervals when no more showed up and finally to five year intervals. Two years ago more polyps were found, so I'm back to annual checks. A pain in the butt, but worth it to prevent colon cancer which took two relatives. That is the one preventable cancer if you stay on top of such things.

Bob