Dear Editor,
A cousin of mine may be dying from colon cancer. He may be dying because he didn’t go to his doctor for annual medical checkups. He is a handsome, intelligent, talented husband and father who was responsible in every other way. My cousin simply couldn’t face a medical exam. My cousin’s doctor told him if it was caught in the early stages, his cancer would have been curable. He hadn’t been to see his doctor for years. Editor, please remind every woman and man about the importance of a yearly exam.
I write this letter from a broken heart, and I hope by writing to you it’ll save one person’s life. As I write this letter in the hospital, I am feeling sad, depressed and discouraged. I am sad because my cousin may be dying, and it could have been avoided, if only he had been having annual physical examinations.
Had he been doing a physical annually, the doctors may have found the cancer before it reached stage four. Colon cancer is easily diagnosed by having a colonoscopy. At 40, every male should have a colonoscopy done and every ten years thereafter.
My cousin is 52 and he never had one done. He should have had two colonoscopies at his age.
Prior to the diagnosis, the only symptom he experienced was about month ago, he had difficulty having a bowel movement so he went to the hospital. After having a CAT Scan, he was informed by the doctors that he had stage four colon cancer. Stage four is deadly serious; I am at the hospital with him praying for a miracle to take the cancer away.
Editor, this whole experience has raised concerns and questions about why he didn’t have annual medical checkups. Here is an educated man who has access to the best medical treatment and medical insurance coverage, why didn’t he take advantage of these opportunities? Why someone who is so learned and travelled extensively around the world didn’t know the importance of having an annual physical? From talking with him, I gathered that he has a great fear of doctors and medical care. So I believe that this may have led to him not having a physical annually or a colonoscopy.
Editor, I know my cousin is not the only one who feels this way. I am confident that someone who is reading this letter is like my cousin. I just want to encourage that person to get a physical annually and immediately.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address supplied)
