It seems like just yesterday I was waking up a child of the 70’s. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy these days to pull the covers over my head and stay in bed. The millennium is here. I couldn’t stop it from coming (even though I try with my groovy shirts and free flowing skirts), and if you are anything like me, your life is busier than ever. So, it’s important that you make time to take care of your health, and if it’s time – get screened for colon cancer.

Did you know that May is Women’s Health Month? It might seem silly to dedicate a whole month to reminding women to take care of themselves, but if you are a woman reading this – you know that more than likely your health ends up on the bottom of your to-do list. No longer do we live in the days of bellbottoms, wide collars and disco. Those were the days where we thought we were invincible. We are now a little older, far wiser and incredibly accomplished. For example, we now know that wings – a hot retro hairstyle – really wasn’t all that hot, and we know that there are health screenings we have to get in our 40s and 50s.

Starting at age 50, women (and men) should be screened for colon cancer. People who are at higher risk of colon cancer need to discuss with their physician if they should be screened earlier than 50. Also at age 40, women at average risk should have a mammogram every year unless a physician recommends an earlier start for breast cancer screening, according to the American Cancer Society.

In saying all that, did you know 80 percent of women routinely schedule mammograms and Pap smears, but only 60 percent of women over 50 are screened for colon cancer? A colonoscopy is just as important as a mammogram and Pap smear. Colon cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths for women in the United States – right behind breast cancer.

So, I am proclaiming that having a colonoscopy is now the thing to do – just like going to the roller rink was the bees-knees when we were kids. If you’re 50 or older, (45 for African Americans), it’s time. A colonoscopy is the only test that can detect and prevent cancer all at the same time. When it’s caught early, colon cancer is 90 percent curable. And preventing cancer is way cooler. After all, everybody your age is doing it – or at least they should be.

Plenty of women put off going to the doctor for various reasons, but please don’t put off being screened for colon cancer because you don’t think you’re at risk. Did you know that according to the American Cancer Society, you have a one in 20 chance of developing colon cancer in your lifetime?

So whether it’s your mom’s old rotary phone or your cell phone, take care of yourself during Women’s Health Month and make the call. Schedule your colonoscopy today.

I had the opportunity to write a guest post about Stop Colon Cancer Now’s music video, “Colonoscopy: It’s Not That Bad” for Ragan’s Health Care Communication blog.

I talked about how we used the YouTube video to help get the prevention message out during Colon Cancer Awareness Month and were able to get more than 1,000 first-timers screened on National Colon Cancer Screening Day. (more…)

Today is March 8, 2012, which means it’s the first annual National Colon Cancer Screening Day. StopColonCancerNow.com’s goal is to encouraged 1,000 first-timers to either have their colonoscopy or schedule their colonoscopy today, and I am one of those first-timers.

I am a 40-something-year-old woman whose parents both had polyps found in their early 50s when they went for their initial colon cancer screening. The discovery of polyps in their 50s means that I need to get my colon cancer screening in my 40s.  So I sucked it up and made the call TODAY on National Colon Cancer Screening Day.  I have people who love me and I want to be there for them for a LONG time. (more…)

Ok – I don’t even want to know where a lot of your minds went after reading this blog’s title, 1st Time at 50. I can only imagine (okay, I have two sons), but in all honesty, there isn’t much for us to experience for the “first time” at the age of 50, except maybe for getting our colon cancer screening.

If we are supposed to be experts at trying new things by the time we are 50, why do so many of us act like such amateurs at the thought of getting a colonoscopy to prevent colon cancer? I can think of a lot of things that we do for the first-time that are way more difficult than getting a colonoscopy!

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Bill Murray helped make one of our nation’s most overlooked holidays a b-list celebrity with the classic movie “Groundhog Day.” So as you celebrate the day that groundhogs know more about weather than weathermen, think about what would be the worst and best day to put on “repeat.” I am pretty sure that reliving a colonoscopy would not be on your top 10, but is reliving your loved ones tears at the news of your colon cancer better?

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