This Sunday, people around the nation celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. From Chicagoans turning the river green to folks in Savannah having parades and debauchery, most cities had some form of St. Patrick’s Day fun going on. And can we be honest? We’re friends, right? Most of the St. Patty’s celebrations that I’ve been invited to include green beer… lots and lots of green beer. That’s where the problem starts.

Last year, the American Cancer Society published a report on alcohol use and increased cancer risks. The study stated, “Alcohol use has been linked with a higher risk of cancers of the colon and rectum. The evidence for such a link is generally stronger in men than in women, although studies have found the link in both sexes.” Duh, duh, duuuuh. (That was the scary sounding music.) Uh-oh, maybe that fifth green beer wasn’t the best idea.

I’m not going to say don’t wear your green shirt and shamrock lei. Heck, I am not going to say don’t have the green beer. But don’t drink an excessive amount of green beer. And what kind of friend what I be if I didn’t offer you another green solution…

What if you try the “mean green?” No, it doesn’t have midori in it. It has kale and cucumbers in it. That’s right. It is vegetable juice! Why vegetable juice? Because fiber rich foods help cut down your risk of developing colon cancer. Don’t believe me, just ask Dr. Oz. Last year, he did a whole show on cutting your cancer risk. He stated that women who ate a high fiber diet had a greater than 20 percent reduction in their risk of cancer compared to those with low fiber intake. Isn’t that good news?

It sounds like a win-win for me. You get your St. Patty’s Day festive colored drink, but instead of depleting your health, this drink enhances your health. And that is truly a reason to celebrate!

Tomorrow is National Colon Cancer Screening Day. WAIT! Wait! Did I stop you? Good. I know that the minute I say the words “Colon Cancer Screening” your mind immediately jumps to the dreaded colonoscopy. Ohhhh! There is something about the word “colonoscopy” that strikes fear into the hearts of men. But let’s rename it. Let’s call it “the test that will save my life and guarantee me more time with the ones that I love.” I know that is a mouthful. But it doesn’t scare you as much as the “c” word, does it? I didn’t think so.

Let me tell you why I call it “the test that will save my life and guarantee me more time with the ones that I love.” Nearly two years ago, my husband started noticing blood in his stool. At first he didn’t say anything about it. But guess who does the laundry? You guessed it. I do. So I noticed the evidence and asked him about it.  My husband being the big strong giant that he is reassured me that it was nothing. I asked him to talk to a doctor about it. I even encouraged him to have a colonoscopy, but he said we didn’t need to spend the money because he was fine. He ignored the symptom and life progressed.

Fast forward to one year ago; my giant of a husband was totally devoid of energy. He had his department physical – did I mention that he was a policeman? – and was declared severely anemic. When the doctor told him that he had to be leaking blood somewhere in his body, we both immediately knew where the leak was. At that moment, we both knew that something that we ignored was coming back to bite us. 

I am not going to bore you with the tedious details, but needless to say, he ended up having the colonoscopy, was diagnosed with stage 3B colon cancer and had to have surgery and chemo. But the one thing the oncologist said that really kicked me in my stomach was if my husband had the colonoscopy sooner, he might have caught it earlier and avoided chemotherapy. The colonoscopy that he avoided to save a few bucks could have caught the cancer that cost us so much more.Lost work, chemotherapy, two surgeries, multiple hospital stays due to complications – those are just the things that we can add up on a calculator. And guess what? He still had to have the colonoscopy. I almost lost out on time with Chris – my husband, father, friend, lover – because of fear of a test, fear of the colonoscopy. 

So now do you understand why I am adamant about calling it “the test that will save my life and guarantee me more time with the ones that I love?” So quit putting it off. Call your doctor. Make your appointment and get screened.

President Barack Obama

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. President,

Let me begin by saying “thank you” for taking the time to read my letter.  I know you must get inundated with tons of USPS mail and email everyday, and the fact that you took a moment to read my letter means a lot to me.  I also must send a shout out to Sasha and Malia from my daughters, Asyen and Maya.  My daughters loved it when your girls took quirky cell photos during the inauguration.  

Now to the reason that I am writing you today…  Mr. President, could you please increase funding into colon cancer research According to the American Cancer Society, more than 102-thousand people will be diagnosed with colon cancer this year.  That means that 100-thousand families must hear the words”you have cancer.”  100-thousand families that must visit a slew of doctors to figure out the best course of treatment.  That means that 100-thousand families must deal with surgery and/or chemotherapy.  And that isn’t the worst of it.  Approximately, 50-thousand people will die from colorectal cancer.  

Luckily, my husband wasn’t included in that last number.  My husband was diagnosed with cancer in May and started chemotherapy in July.  Blessedly, six months later, he is doing well.  While he does have a few lingering side effects, he is back at work and doing well.  But everyone isn’t so lucky.  Quite often colon cancer is not diagnosed until it has spread to other areas of the body.  Mr. Obama, we need to increase funding into the causes of colon cancer.  While more research needs to be done to find less harsh treatments, I don’t think we should solely focus on treatment.  We should focus on prevention.  

But I know that getting money in these tight economic times is hard.  That is why I am asking that you bring your wife, Michelle, into the discussion.  The First Lady has done amazing work in the field of combating childhood obesity.   Some of her same initiatives can be used to lay a framework for healthy eating in our children.  We can ensure that an entire generation of children is better protected just by changing what we serve in school lunches.  Let’s remove the processed foods and replace them with unprocessed fruits and vegetables.  Let’s feed our children a fiber rich diet.  You know that for many of our school children their school lunch is the best meal that they will get all day.  Let’s make sure that the meal that we are feeding them is a meal that prevents illness not promotes it.  

Mr. President, together we can change the future.  A lasting testament to your presidency could be that in 2020 that 100-thousand new colon cancer cases is a distant memory.  That 100-thousand people would no longer have to hear the words “you have cancer” and that 50-thousand people would no longer have to say “goodbye.”

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Neysa Ellery Taylor

I know that my grandfather, great aunt, paternal uncle all had cancer. My husband knows that his paternal grandfather, uncle and few cousins all died from cancer. But guess what? We didn’t know what types. You know why? Because cancer is scary. Once someone says they have cancer, all thoughts go to “what can I do to help?” not “what type of cancer do you have?” Asking that question seemed rude in some way. So we didn’t ask. Until now…

When Chris was diagnosed with colon cancer, it felt like it came out of the blue. We really felt sucker punched by the diagnosis. But after he announced it to his family, relatives opening the medical history floodgates. “Did you know that aunt so-and-so had cancer?” After a bit of familial research, we determined that cancer loomed all around us. How stupid of us to never see how close the wagons were circling? Even more stupid was the fact that we didn’t make changes to our diet and health routine to try to combat the family history.

Now Chris is doing his own research into our family health history. He is asking his parents and elder relatives for details on hereditary diseases. He’s already done his chemo for his fight with colon cancer, but he is looking out for our kids. He is making a health history list for them. Not so that they can be afraid of the future or worry all the time, but so they can be appropriately armed with good information about prevention.

So what should you do? Ask questions. Talk to your parents and senior relatives about their health history. Make a list and share it with your children. Update it frequently. And live the best lifestyle you can. Being informed can make a huge difference.

27 years old.  27 years old.  That is how old our kids will be when they are first screened for colon cancer.  When Chris was diagnosed with colon cancer one of our first concerns were for our kids.  Is it hereditary?  How can we protect them?  And the oncologist said that our kids would need to be tested “ten years earlier than when Chris was diagnosed.”  So for our little ones that means age 27. 

At age 27, they will have to sit down with their doctors and discuss the best screening options for them.  Do you know what goes into a screening?  Me either… until Chris went through it.  Believe me, it sounds scarier than it really is.  The first, and simplest test, is the Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT).  It’s a long name for a fairly easy test.  Your doctor will give you a kit to take home, and you will collect samples of your stool.  You seal up the kit, return it to your doctor, and voila!  The test is done.  Yes, I know.   It is weird collecting your own poo, but hey, it could save your life.  Believe me, it’s an easy test, but it is also the least effective screening available.

The next test that Chris had was the colonoscopy.  To be honest, there are other tests you can take between the FOBT screening and colonoscopy.  There is the Flex-Sig test or the Air Contrast Barium Enema.  Both are effective tests, but if the results come back with less than positive results, then you have to do a colonoscopy.  So discuss your risk factors with your doctor; you may want to just jump ahead to the colonoscopy too. 

So back to the colonoscopy…  Let’s be honest, for most folks the thought of a foreign object going there is not very pleasant.  But believe me when I say, you have nothing to worry about.  For Chris, the worst part was not eating for 24 hours and cleaning out his digestive system.  Some doctors make you drink a gallon of laxatives to clean out your system.  Others have a few pills.  Ask your doctor about which option is best for you.  So you spend a night making a lil’ poo – well, ok a lot of poo, but the next morning, you go to the gastroenterologist’s office and have the colonoscopy performed.  You get a small IV and little sedative and wake up not remembering a thing.  And that’s a good thing because, as I said before, who wants a foreign object going there?

At age 27, my kids will have a colonoscopy.  That’s in stone for me.  No waiting.  No “but I feel fine.”  It’s too important to mess around with.  It is too important because the key for beating colon cancer – for almost any kind of cancer – is catching it early.  So our family will be on the lookout especially around age 27.