A Good Stick for a Blood Test

As a colon cancer patient, you will be getting many blood tests. I recommend you find the most experienced staff to take your blood. Experienced patients call it a “good stick.” Remember the staff who do their job well and thank them. You will want to find them next time you need a blood test.

I kept a file copy of the requested lab tests and make sure the results are sent to all the doctors that need to know the results. File folders track my progress and organize my papers. This helps me with billing and taxes time.

As the technician is drawing blood, review what lab tests are going to be conducted on your blood and find out when the results will go to your doctors. An exceptional patient is proactive with your health care.

If the lab technician is inexperienced they will keep trying to find a vein and end up bruising your arm. This is called a bad stick. Not a big deal if you just need a blood test for routine lab work and you can go home and calm down.

Unfortunately for me I got a bad stick while getting ready for my abdominal resection surgery. I had an inexperienced nursing student made numerous attempts at trying to find a vein and miss. I got more stressed from this treatment. I felt like a pincushion. She gave up on one arm, then my wife fainted. I asked for my brother to enter the prep area and help calm me down. Finally she got an IV started in my other arm.

I found it hard to relax and let go of my worries about surgery with a bad stick. I was relieved to run the Belleruth Naparstek Imagery Before Surgery recording in my head and relax before surgery.

Fecal Occult blood test screening for Colon Cancer

Don't assume a normal annual test for fecal occult blood (FOBT) means you can postpone your colonoscopy. According to Frank Herlong, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine, Gastroenterology Division at Johns Hopkins and Health After 50 Board Member, FOBTs are no longer relied upon for colon cancer screening -- though some doctors may use them to test for gastrointestinal bleeding from causes other than cancer.

Before colonoscopies became widely available and covered by insurance, annual FOBTs were an affordable and easy-to-use tool for colon cancer screening. But FOBTs have always been notoriously unreliable. Most employ a chemical called guaiac that changes color if blood is present in the stool sample. Guaiac also reacts with certain fruits and vegetables and with blood from red meat, which increases the likelihood of "false positive" results. All positive results must be confirmed by colonoscopy.

Immunochemical FOBTs, or IFOBTs, test for a protein specific to human blood. They are widely available and more accurate than guaiac based tests. But no matter which FOBT you use, a negative result does not necessarily mean that you are safe. Case in point: A recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that an expensive DNA-based FOBT was capable of detecting 26% more invasive cancers and potentially precancerous growths than a common guaiac-based FOBT. But even this vastly superior DNA-based test identified only 51% of all invasive cancers detected by colonoscopy.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that not all precancerous growths or colon cancers cause bleeding; by the time they do, the cancer may be advanced. In contrast to all types of FOBTs, a colonoscopy detects -- and removes -- growths whether or not they cause bleeding. Thus, colonoscopy is your best protection against colon cancer.

Dave Barry's Colonoscopy Journal

June 10, 2008

This is from newshound :

... I called my friend Andy Sable, a gastroenteritis, to make an appointment for a colonoscopy. A few days later, in his office, Andy showed me a color diagram of the colon, a lengthy organ that appears to go all over the place, at one point passing briefly through Minneapolis . Then Andy explained the colonoscopy procedure to me in a thorough, reassuring and patient manner. I nodded thoughtfully, but I didn't really hear anything he said, because my brain was shrieking, quote, 'HE'S GOING TO STICK A TUBE 17,000 FEET UP YOUR BEHIND!'

I left Andy's office with some written instructions, and a prescription for a product called 'MoviPrep,' which comes in a box large enough to hold a microwave oven. I will discuss MoviPrep in detail later; for now suffice it to say that we must never allow it to fall into the hands of America 's enemies.

I spent the next several days productively sitting around being nervous. Then, on the day before my colonoscopy, I began my preparation. In accordance with my instructions, I didn't eat any solid food that day; all I had was chicken broth, which is basically water, only with less flavor. Then, in the evening, I took the
MoviPrep. You mix two packets of powder together in a one-liter plastic jug, then you fill it with lukewarm water. (For those unfamiliar with the metric system, a liter is about 32 gallons.) Then you have to drink the whole jug. This takes about an hour, because MoviPrep tastes - and here I am being kind - like a mixture of goat spit and urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon.

The instructions for MoviPrep, clearly written by somebody with a great sense of humor, state that after you drink it, 'a loose watery bowel movement may result.' This is kind of like saying that after you jump off your roof, you may experience contact with the ground.

MoviPrep is a nuclear laxative. I don't want to be too graphic, here, but: Have you ever seen a space-shuttle launch? This is pretty much the MoviPrep experience, with you as the shuttle. There are times when you wish the commode had a seat belt. You spend several hours pretty much confined to the bathroom. You eliminate everything. And then, when you figure you must be totally empty, you have to drink another liter of MoviPrep, at which point, as far as I can tell, your bowels travel into the future and start eliminating food that you have not even eaten yet.

After an action-packed evening, I finally got to sleep. The next morning my wife drove me to the clinic. I was very nervous. Not only was I worried about the procedure, but I had been experiencing occasional return bouts of MoviPrep spurtage. I was thinking, 'What if I spurt on Andy?' How do you apologize to a friend for something like that? Flowers would not be enough.

At the clinic I had to sign many forms acknowledging that I understood and totally agreed with whatever the heck the forms said. Then they led me to a room full of other colonoscopy people, where I went inside a little curtained space and took off my clothes and put on one of those hospital garments designed by sadist perverts, the kind that, when you put it on, makes you feel even more naked than when you are actually naked.

Then a nurse named Eddie put a little needle in a vein in my left hand. Ordinarily I would have fainted, but Eddie was very good, and I was already lying down. Eddie also told me that some people put vodka in their MoviPrep. At first I was ticked off that I hadn't thought of this, but then I pondered what would happen if you got yourself too tipsy to make it to the bathroom, so you were staggering around in full Fire Hose Mode. You would have no ch oice but to burn your house.

W hen everything was ready, Eddie wheeled me into the procedure room, where Andy was waiting with a nurse and an anesthesiologist. I did not see the 17,000-foot tube, but I knew Andy had it hidden around there somewhere. I was seriously nervous at this point. Andy had me roll over on my left side, and the anesthesiologist began hooking something up to the needle in my hand. There was music playing in the room, and I realized that the song was 'Dancing Queen' by ABBA I remarked to Andy that, of all the songs that could be playing during this particular procedure, 'Dancing Queen' has to be the least appropriate.

'You want me to turn it up?' said Andy from somewhere behind me. 'Ha ha,' I said. And then it was time, the moment I had been dreading for more than a decade. If you are squeamish, prepare yourself, because I am going to tell you, in explicit detail, exactly what it was like.

I have no idea. Really. I slept through it. One moment, ABBA was yelling 'Dancing Queen, Feel the beat of the tambourine,' and the next moment, I was back in the other room, waking up in a very mellow mood. Andy was looking down at me and asking me how I felt. I felt excellent. I felt even more excellent when Andy told me that It was all over, and that my colon had passed with flying colors. I have never been prouder of an internal organ.

ABOUT THE WRITER
Dave Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist for the Miami Herald.

Protect Yourself Against Prostate Cancer

Simple Steps to Protect Yourself Against Prostate Cancer

Reducing your risk of prostate cancer begins with the big picture, those well-publicized major lifestyle changes that are widely recommended but often difficult to accomplish. Then there are the smaller details: cancer-protective foods, supplements, and medications. A serious prostate cancer risk-reduction program encompasses both approaches.

Achieving a healthy weight, committing to regular exercise, and altering long-ingrained dietary habits are the most important steps you can take to protect yourself from prostate cancer. And their payoff goes far beyond the prostate. These lifestyle changes could reduce your risk of nearly all the most devastating diseases: heart disease, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and many other forms of cancer. What’s more, they work together to improve your health. Here are some strategies to consider:

Weight management.
The links between obesity and prostate cancer continue to strengthen. Fat cells churn out a slew of substances that fuel the development and progression of cancer. These include estrogen, testosterone, and insulin-like growth factor. Men who are obese also are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. The possible reasons are that obese men tend to have larger prostates (making tumor detection more difficult), and their prostate specific antigen (PSA) scores are often deceptively low.

Regular exercise.
Vigorous physical activity appears to protect against prostate cancer. Men who exercise regularly are less likely to be diagnosed with advanced or fatal prostate cancer. Some evidence suggests that vigorous physical activity may also slow its progression.

Dietary changes.
Adopting a plant-based diet can reduce your risk of prostate cancer and improve your overall health. This dietary approach focuses on fruits, vegetables, legumes (like beans and peas), whole grains, seeds, and nuts. Soy foods (like soy nuts and tofu) also appear to be protective. Aim for at least nine fruits and vegetables a day.

To get all the cancer-fighting nutrients you need, try to include a “rainbow” of fruits and vegetables each day -- reds, oranges, yellows, greens, and blues/purples. Brightly colored fruits and vegetables are rich in carotenoids, cancer-fighting substances that serve as coloring agents in plant foods. Also be sure to include at least one serving per day of a cruciferous vegetable (like broccoli, cabbage, or cauliflower). These vegetables contain other types of cancer-fighting chemicals.

Specific Foods, Supplements, and Medications. Ongoing research into prostate cancer prevention has identified a number of individual substances that may be protective:

Lycopene. The carotenoid lycopene is found in tomatoes, pink grapefruit, and watermelon. Cooked tomato products such as spaghetti sauce and ketchup are the richest source.

Pomegranates. Pomegranates and pomegranate juice have recently been found to cause prostate cancer cells to self destruct. Among men with prostate cancer, daily glasses of pomegranate juice have slowed the increase in PSA levels after treatment.

Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega- 3 fatty acids are a type of polyunsaturated fat found abundantly in fatty fish (like salmon, sardines, tuna, and halibut) and fish oil. Flaxseeds, walnuts, and canola oil contain a weaker, but still beneficial, plant-based form of these healthful fats. Omega-3s have anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects. Several studies have suggested that men who eat fish two or more times per week have a lower risk of developing prostate cancer.

Selenium and vitamin E. These two nutrients are being tested for their potential protective effects in SELECT (Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial) -- the largest clinical study ever launched about prostate cancer prevention, coordinated by the U.S. National Cancer Institute. Several smaller studies have shown benefits, but until the SELECT results are in, doctors recommend against taking large amounts of either nutrient. A multivitamin that includes both is the best bet for now.

Vitamin D. Vitamin D plays an important role in regulating cell growth and has been associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer. The dietary sources of vitamin D include fortified milk and fatty fish. The way to boost your body's natural productin of vitamin D is to spend about 15 minutes a day (without sunscreen) in the sun.

Statins. Prostate cancer researchers are discovering the important role inflammation plays in the development of prostate cancer. High cholesterol levels also may increase the risk. The cholesterol-lowering medications known as statins tackle both problems. In a study that Johns Hopkins researchers participated in, men who took statins had half the risk of developing prostate cancer compared with nonusers.

NSAIDs. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) also reduce inflammation and appear to lower the risk of prostate cancer. These medications target a protein called COX-2, which is believed to help prostate cancer cells spread.

Prostate Disorders Special Report by Johns Hopkins Health Alerts is owned and operated by University Health Publishing. June 1, 2008

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