July 1st is always such a big day in the Drumheller Valley and this year is no different. There is a new event that will take place drawing attention to colon cancer and how it can be prevented.
Dr. Rehan, from Drumheller Associated Physicians, along with the Drumheller and Area Health Foundation are hosting the Run For Your Bum awareness walk on Canada Day from 1 to 2 PM. According to Dr. Rehan, colon cancer is more common than most people believe it is. “ Across Canada, it’s the 4th commonest organ to get cancer. after breast, prostate, and lung cancer. The the sad reality is that it’s the second cause of cancer which can cause death to the patient. In Canada, between 27,000 to 30,000 people develop colon cancer every year, so it’s a huge number. Then unfortunately, about half of them die because of colon cancer. By the age of 60 or 70, one in 17 males will get colon cancer, and one in 19 females will get colon cancer, so it’s pretty common.” Dr. Rehan notes that colon cancer is preventable through screening or investigating your symptoms.
Screening in Alberta, at this time, is available to those over the age of 50 and Dr. Rehan explains what the doctors look for. “In Alberta from 2014 onwards, we started doing a a new stool test, which is called a fit test. Basically, it looks for microscopic blood in your stool. People who do not have family history of colon cancer, between the age of 50 and 74, we ask them to do a stool test. If that test is positive, then we do colonoscopy and 50% of those people usually end up having polyps.” With the removal of the polyps, doctors can prevent cancer. With the current guidelines, doctors in our province have noticed a drop in colon cancer where screening is done. Screening is not currently available for those under the age of 50 and Dr. Rehan shares that younger people have been diagnosed with colon cancer. “About 13 to 17% of new colon cancer diagnosed every year will be younger than the age of 50, and those are the people who do not get screening. We encourage those people if they have any bowel symptoms, like blood in the stool or change in bowel habits, diarrhea, or anything, just go to the family doctor, talk to them, and if they think it’s necessary, they can refer them for an early colonoscopy.”
There is a bit of fear or concern about the colonoscopy process and Sherry, one of the nurses in the Drumheller Health Centre that assists with the colonoscopy process admits that it is nothing to fear. “ It’s truly one day that it’s inconvenient. We ask for five days following a specific diet, foods to eat, foods to avoid. It’s simple in terms of like, we want you to have white bread instead of whole wheat bread, we want you to eat cooked vegetables instead of raw vegetables. The day before, the prep’s a little more. You’re going to have a light breakfast, you’re going to have clear fluids for the day, and then you have to start drinking the colite solution.” The process takes about 20 to 30 minutes and they ask that you have someone drive you home. About four to six weeks later, your family doctor will discuss your results from the colonoscopy.
As for the Run For Your Bum Walk on July 1st, Dr. Rehan shares what they hope this will achieve in our area. “The aim of this activity is to just promote education amongst people because, in simple words, colon cancer is one of the cancers which is easily preventable by early screening. We will be doing 3 activities on Canada Day. We will be running a float with some information about colon cancer screening. Then once the float is done, we will arrange a walk in town from Shoppers Drug Mart to the World’s Largest Dinosaur, just to promote a very nice walk, or educate people about colon cancer screening and all those things. People can go online to register for that walk. When you participate in the walk, you’ll get a free shirt with a colon cancer logo on there. The walk is going to end with a big giant balloon in front of the big dinosaur.”
To register for the walk, visit the Run For Your Bum website or through their Facebook event.
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