Not too long ago, my family and I got a very hard lesson
from life! My Uncle, Ruben Locke Jr. had suddenly died of a massive heart
attach while jogging. This guy looked to be in perfect shape. My uncle
exercised and ate right! Did all the things a young man at the age of 53 is
suppose to do, except have annual check ups with a doctor! He let a couple of
years slip past him with deadly results! If my uncle had made it to the
doctor’s office, a simple check up or health screen probably would have caught
his falling heart, giving the doctors a chance to operate and fix the problem!
Which in turn would have extended his life, and he would still be with us
today! I got the message from my uncle’s lesson loud and clear!
My family has a long history of Cancer on my dad’s side! My
great grand father died of cancer. So did my grand mother. My father got colon
cancer at the age of 53! I’m a pretty fit guy! I play basketball on a regular
basis to stay in good shape! I workout and I eat fairly good compared to most!
Thinking about my uncle, this year at the age of 43, I decided to take my
health seriously! I set up multiple check ups with my doctor! Regular physical
and blood test! All came back with excellent results! I was healthy as a horse!
But a couple years earlier, my doctor had suggested I do a health screen to
check for colon cancer because of my family history! He was especially
concerned with my father’s colon cancer and said we should do a colonoscopy,
which in a nutshell is a test to check for cancers in your colon. They go
through your butt hole, for lack of a better word! It’s a little uncomfortable,
but it’s usually over before you know it! I had blown off this test for like
two years, because my annual physical exams kept coming back with excellent
results! But this time, I wanted to cover all the basis, and thinking about
what happened to my uncle, I finally scheduled the colonscopy examine!
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| My Uncle Ruben Jr and his son Ruben 3 |
I took the health examine! Then headed to Florida with my
boy for his national football championship games! It was snowing in Chicago
when I left Midway airport! When I got to Florida, it was 70 degrees with a
warm breeze! I let opened the sunroof then proceeded to enjoy my week with my
family in Florida! When we got back from Florida, it was still snowing, but
more importantly, I had three phone messages from my doctor’s office! When I
finally called him back, he had informed me that I had colon cancer!
Disappointing but no real surprise! He said we caught the cancer very early,
thanks to the colonoscopy screening! Once I got past the shock of having
cancer, I realized that the screen test did exactly what it was suppose to do!
Catch the cancer early so we can do something about it and have a positive
outcome! The positive outcome of course was extending my life! By being
proactive, I would have a chance to grow old with my family!
Because we caught the cancer early on, my prognosis for the
future was great! The game plan was simple! Through surgery, the doctors would
cut out the cancer in my colon! I would need a week in the hospital to recover.
Then about two months at home to heal up back to 100%! Before the surgery, I
had to do a bunch of things to get ready for the surgery! I had to take a CT scan
to make sure the cancer didn’t spread! I also had to give a lot of blood to
help the doctors check for more changes in my body! I also had to consult with
an Oncology specialist and a general surgeon! We would make game plans for post
surgery, which thankfully did not include any chemo or radiation treatments!
Finally, there’s the nasty bowel prep that was the worst stuff I have ever
tasted! Helps to clear out your colon for the procedure if you know what I
mean! I don’t remember anything about the surgery! But I was in a lot of pain
afterwards. But considering colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer
deaths, the little pain I was suffering was a small price to pay for a chance
to live a long and health life!
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