This one may be too much information....

I'm gonna share today.   It may be too much information:   You can stop reading now if you already know too much about me.

I had a colonoscopy on Wednesday.   That's a procedure where they....well, you'll just have to look that part up. 

Everyone (everyone) should consider colonoscopy beginning at age 50.  If you have a family history of colon cancer or any of the risk factors, you should consider colonoscopy at 40.

I started having these things at 40.   I have a rather profound family history of colon cancer and so I was strongly encouraged to start then.   My grandmother died of colon cancer.  My mom had most of her large intestine removed because of it.  I have cousins that have had colon cancer or who have had pre-cancerous polyps removed.

According to the American Cancer Society, in 2011 about 148,000 people in this country will be diagnosed with colon cancer.  It is the fourth most common cancer in both men and women.  About 1 person in 20 will develop colon cancer during their lifetime.

A lot of other cancers started in the colon and move (metastasize) to other places.  That's one reason why it is so incredibly important to pay attention to colon cancer.

Yet, colon cancer is one of the most preventable cancers known.  Early detection gives it an almost 100% success rate.   Two tools are important in that process:  the Fecal Occult Blood Test  and the colonoscopy.

A Fecal Occult Blood Test as part of my annual physical with my primary care physician revealed a very small amount of blood in my stool. 

Polyps (small growths in the colon that can be a precursor to cancer) and cancers in the colon can bleed.    So although it wasn't quite time for my every-5-years colonoscopy, I called to make an appointment with Dr. Ed Brown, my gastroenterologist.

I have had colon polyps (small growths that can be a precursor to cancer) removed before but my last colonoscopy revealed none so I was put on a 5 year cycle for a repeat colonoscopy.  But now it was time for another.

A lot of jokes can be made about a colonoscopy.  My favorite is from comedian Jerry Clower, who said "if you hear the word 'procto,' gather your split-tail gown around you and go hide in the swamp."

It really isn't that bad.  The bad part is the clear liquids that you have to drink for 24 hours before the colonoscopy and the cleansing process.  On Tuesday, I craved solid food.  Anything.  I've never been more tired of bullion and jello.

The colonoscope itself is a long, flexible instrument with what is essentially a camera at its end.  The doctor administering the test is able to examine the entire length of the colon.  But you don't care because you're asleep.   It really only sounds bad.  Like I said, the bad part is the cleaning out.  

On Wednesday, Dr. Brown removed three polyps which means that I'm back on a 3 year cycle.  That's OK.  I'll do whatever it takes. 

                                                                        

Changing approach to Total Joint Replacements

It really started when I heard that a couple of buddies from high school were discussing their total knee replacements.  David "Tree" Birkholz was a standout basketball player at my high school and Hank Evans and I played football together there.

I've not really seen much of either of them since so it seems like they should still be in their 20's.   I just can't think of them as 57 and 56 and having a surgery that most people think is only for senior citizens.   Goodness, they're both younger than me!

I had my first knee surgery in 1972 and met my first physical therapist, Ray Patterson, when I was sent for rehab.   As I have done numerous times since then, Dr. Patterson asked me what my major was.

At that time, as a college sophomore, it was Wildlife Biology.  I thought that meant you got to hunt and fish all the time (two activities which are surprisingly absent from my adult life considering that I had a gun, rod, or bow in my hand from age 6 to 22).  But I had discovered that jobs were few and far between in that field so I was looking around for a new career.

As odd as it sounds, I was trying to decide whether to be a football coach or a doctor.   Ray Patterson, in his wisdom, replied "great...you're going to be a physical therapist.  It's the perfect marriage of both of those."

Lo and behold, he was right.  That knee injury has given me a career that I have loved and which certainly seems to have been a good fit for the gifts I was given. 

Since then, Dr. Ken Bell of Maryville Orthopedic Clinic has operated on both of my knees and has kept me quite active but due to no small amount of abuse, I don't have the healthiest knee joints around.  It really isn't a question of "if" I will have to have my knees replaced.  It's "when."

Total Rehabilitation employee, Alcoa High Head Athletic Trainer, and unofficial daughter Peggy Bratt had her right knee replaced at age 41.   She went from struggling to run on the field to take care of one of her athletes to half-court basketball and an essentially pain-free knee.  

So I talked to Dr. Bell and here's what he told me.   He said they're replacing knees and hips in people that are younger and younger.   That they're getting better long term results than any of us dreamed possible.  (Dr. Bell, who has a total hip replacement, is an aggressive mountain biker--I know--I often chase him down a rocky hill that he rides easily and I white-knuckle all the way down.)  

He attributes most of those advances to the improvement in materials that they are using.  He said that the materials being used now are more than ten times more durable than materials used as recently as 10 years ago.   And the prediction on those older models was that they would last 20+ years.  10 times better than they used to be and the older models would last at least 20...hmmm...you can do the math on that one.

Folks that avoided joint replacement surgery in fear of having to have it again in 20 years really don't have much to fear.  We don't know exactly how long these things will last but it isn't likely that you will wear it out any time soon.

So instead of putting off getting joint replacement surgery as long as you can, maybe you should consider it if your joint pain is affecting your lifestyle. In other words, if you can't do the things that you want to do, joint replacement surgery might just let you get back to the things you love.

I'm not scheduling knee surgery any time soon but it's good to know that when the time comes, the prospects are good.