cancer to have a colonoscopy? My girlfriend is 58 years old, her mother died of brain cancer at 61, her father had had colon cancer and her younger sister just had some pre-cancerous polyps removed. Her risk factor is very high, but she's 'scared' to go and have this screening done.
Being the great friend that I am, I got up the nerve and went first to show her that it's doable. I'm glad I went because they found a large precancerous polyp in me! (My family only has a history of breast cancer, not colon cancer.) Now I'm considered a high risk and have to go more frequently to get checked.
I'm one of those people that doesn't like to be drugged for anything and have an extremely high pain tolerance. When I had this done, I did it w/o sedation and watched the whole procedure on the monitor. Except for 2-3 seconds of very mild cramping, the procedure was totally painless.
I think she thinks that because I did it this way that she is a wimp if she gets sedated for this. I don't care how she does it.
I just want her to go and get checked. She also has lots of other risk factors like eating alot of red meat, fatty foods, being overweight and a smoker.
Any suggestions welcome.
I took her along to my appointments and when I went to the hospital and both her primary care physician and the gastronologist pleaded with her to make an appointment to have this done...she's so stubborn and procrastinates so much I want to scream!!!

I had it done at 31 after endometrial cancer. It was nothing.

Its her choice to have it or not dont be pushy.

Do you think she's actually scared of the procedure or the results of the procedure? Whatever she's afraid of, you need to express your concern for her. If she's afraid of the procedure, explain to her how minimally invasive it is, and that you are not the norm... most people get them done while under sedation. There is no shame in that... tell her that it's not about proving her strength, you just love her and want to spend lots and lots more years with her.
If she's afraid of the results, find some literature on how much better colon cancer survival rates are if detected early. Bottom line, let her know that the reason you want her to go is because you love her, and don't want to lose her!

Hi SerialMom

Im going to give you my point of view on this. I dont believe it is hereditary (any disease for that matter), unless the person eats the same way their parents did. I've taught and done colon cleanses for years. Colon cleansing is the most important one step into getting the toxins moving out of the body. Educating oneself on this will assist your health for many years.

Modern lifestyle has taken its toll on our digestive/elimination organs. Refined, processed, low fiber foods, animal fats, a lack of exercise and an ever-increasing level of stress all contribute to our current gastrointestinal health crisis.


The frequency at which a normal, healthy person should move their bowels has been a great misconception among the public and most medical professionals. For years, doctors have thought that anywhere between 1 bowel movement a day and 1 a week was normal. In the examination of more primitive peoples, we find that their bowels move much more frequently, 2 to 3 times daily on the average. This is due to the fact that these people eat better, get more exercise and have much less stress. What we have learned is that it is normal to have 1 bowel movement a day for each meal you eat, (if you eat 3 meals you should have 3 bowel movements).


The Merck Manual, the medical industry's standard text for the diagnosis and treatment of disease, tells us that colon degeneration is on the rise. The incidence of diverticulosis has increased dramatically over the last 40 years. It states, that in 1950, only 10% of adults over the age of 45 had this disease, in 1955 15%, in 1972 30% and in 1987 almost ?. The latest edition states that the incidence "increases rapidly" over age 40 and that "every person will have many" if they live long enough. Every American adult will have herniation of the large intestine.


Diverticula are saccular herniations that protrude through the wall of the colon. These "bowel pockets" are almost always asymptomatic, (you can't feel them). They are caused by a sluggish constipated bowel. These pockets fill with old fecal material which can be reabsorbed back into the bloodstream. This can infect the entire body causing all types of toxic reactions.


A sluggish bowel can retain pounds of old, toxic and poisonous fecal matter. Many times the real cause behind sickness and disease is this retention and reabsorption of this toxic waste

The first step in everyone's health program should be stimulating, cleaning and toning all the elimination organs, and the bowel is the best place to begin.

I would find a colon cleansing program for both of you and do them every quarter. This would ensure cleaning out excess waste and toxins in the blood. Not a favorite subject to talk about, but at least 80% of all illness and disease would be healed if we only knew about colon cleansing.



Best of health to both of you