Chasing Away the Big C

Special thanks once again to rojie for today’s prompt. if you haven’t done so already definitely check out her blog justrojie.com

Have you ever had a health scare?

I’ve been very fortunate over the course of my life in that I have only really had one thing I would consider a “health scare.” That would mean my slight scare with a colonoscopy.

Over the last few years, they have continued to lower the recommended age for a man getting his first colonoscopy, but I got mine after I turned 48. Before I got mine, I got mailed one of those Cologuard kits. For those who don’t know, Cologuard is a kit that is used to test to see whether or not one needs a colonoscopy. Essentially, you poop into a box, send it off to a lab, and they check your poop.

Evidently, there was something in my sample, so my doctor set me up with a colonoscopy. I think it was about two weeks between the doctor getting the test results on the Cologuard sample and me having the actual procedure. I mean, I know colonoscopies are more or less routine for everybody, but when they see something in a stool sample and say “we better run another test,” it does get you nervous. On a purely logical level, I figured that since they were waiting two whole weeks between the stool result and the actual colonoscopy, they weren’t frantically rushing—meaning it probably wasn’t an immediate emergency—but it still gets your attention. Naturally, I was looking forward to this about as much as a man looks forward to having a probe with a camera shoved up his rear end. The good news, however, is that I was asleep for it.

Chasing away the big C with the little c

Anyway, the whole purpose of the colonoscopy was so that they could go inside my colon with a camera and see what could possibly be causing whatever flagged in the lab test. There was a little spot, but they realized it wasn’t anything that required a biopsy.

But I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that I was legitimately concerned for a brief time that I might have had cancer. I didn’t have any grand existential thoughts, but I did start wondering about how I would feel when I found out, either way—whether there was something more going on or not.

Of course, I’m not naïve. I’m 52 years old and thinking a lot lately about the last quarter of the game. Until I met Sierra and all this started dawning on me, I was never really so worried about getting that extra time. I mean, yeah, I always wanted to live longer than my father did, but I figured I would go sometime between 67 and 70—both of my grandfathers passed at 70, and I’m definitely hoping to live longer than either of them did.

My health is inevitably going to decline, and someday I may have some other real health scares like cancer or heart disease. I’ve even joked with my older brother that between heart disease and cancer, we have a pretty good idea of what’s going to take us down the road. I said it jokingly, but there was definitely a seriousness to it as well. Both of those run on both sides of my family, so there’s a pretty good chance I’m going to get one or the other.

The truth is, I do feel lucky. I have been really fortunate with my health. There’s a guy that I went to high school with whose son had cancer when he was 12. He got completely cured, is in full remission, and I think just graduated from college today. But as a young man, I couldn’t imagine knowing that I had cancer. And as a parent, I think it would completely demolish me to watch my child go through that.

So yeah, having no real health scares has me feeling very grateful. But sometimes I think to myself, who the hell am I to be this lucky?

The Last Quarter

I mean, I have no idea what it feels like to find out that you have cancer. Beyond blessed, to be honest. I feel just straight-up lucky. I’m certainly no athletic specimen, but I do see a lot of people my age who are significantly slowing down—much more so than I am. I try to take pretty good care of myself, but obviously, a major issue like cancer is cancer, and all the exercise in the world isn’t going to stop it from happening. All I want are those seven extra years back with Sierra.

Because for the first time in a long time, I care so damn deeply because I care about every minute I have remaining. The fourth quarter, the colonoscopy, finding Sierra—it all ties right back to that.

OK, I’m getting a little depressed thinking about it. But for now, I’m just happy chasing away the big C with a little C.

Rebuilding a life takes grit, consistency, and a lot of ‘Option C’ thinking. Having crossed the 1,000-day milestone, I’m now charting the territory beyond. The mission remains the same: No glitz. Just the work. New to the blog? Start your journey here to see the blueprint and the ‘Tricorder’ perspective behind the rebuild.

Today’s post is inspired by the WordPress Daily Prompt. While I’ve taken the topic in my own direction for the Road beyond 1,000 Days, you can find more responses to today’s prompt HERE.

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like 👍, comment and subscribe below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media and check out my recent posts!

AI art created by Google Gemini

The article “Chasing Away the big C“ first appeared on Rebuilding Rob

Rebuilding Rob