Saturday, November 16, 2024

It was the 8 percent that wasn't detected that killed him, but at least he did it His Way.*

 Look, I get that colonoscopies aren't fun to prep for and we all have much, much better things to do than drink disgusting liquid, sit on the toilet, and then go through a procedure that is really, really nasty if we think about it for more than five seconds and which leaves us exhausted and depressed no matter what the test results are.  But can we please all just get a grip?  Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, the procedure is also 100 percent covered by insurance.  It's extremely important for early screening of colon cancer, and is only necessary once every ten years as long as the test comes up clean.  

(Not that you're going to convince me that this guy doesn't have a primary care provider and plenty of medical insurance.  Give me a break.)

In other words, maybe it's something we shouldn't avoid just because it's a dreadful 72 hours or so out of our lives once a decade.  Maybe it's not something we should cut corners on.  Maybe it's not something that should take a back seat to convenience.  Not to mention- if the test comes back positive, you are advised to get an actual colonoscopy.  Which is exactly the same advice I'd give you if your test came back negative.

I'm not going to clean my own teeth or fill my own cavities.  If I ever decide I want to jump out of an airplane, I'm not going to try to save a few bucks with a gently-used parachute off Facebook Marketplace.  When I go for therapy, I'll go for therapy- and that means, I'm not checking out Better Health because it's more "easy" and "convenient."  And when it comes to cancer screenings, I'm not taking the easy way out with this stupid nonsense.  I think life's too short, but if there's a market for this stuff, that means there's plenty of guys out there who think that life isn't short enough.

*Frank Sinatra died of bladder cancer, by the way.  I wonder how far along it was before it was detected. 

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