Colon Cancer Screening Was the Last Thing on His Mind...

[postulater]

4. My father had a regular colonoscopy. They took out a polyp.

They said it was cancerous so they wanted to take out 18 inches of his colon to get rid of the cancer.

The biopsy of the colon they took out showed no cancer. They said they had to go back in, take the rest of his colon, and hang a colostomy bag on him for the rest of his life.

That didn't sound right and he was weakened from the colonoscopy and surgery so he decided to heal up and have another look later.

He lost what seemed like 30% of his mental capacity with each anesthesia episode.

Six months later he took his biopsy samples to Mayo Clinic. They spent a week reviewing his case and testing.

They said they found no cancer on any of the biopsies or tests and that he should just followup with annual regular colonoscopies.

He never had cancer.

But within a year he developed abdominal adhesions from the surgery and was hospitalized for six weeks during which he was drugged enough to be picking imaginary bugs off the wall and jerking out his catheter.

He lost another fifty percent of his mental capacity from that hospitalization, barely recognized any family after that and died within a few months.

Had great insurance and the doctors used every bit of it they could. It didn't help him half as much as a smarter doctor would have.