Member-only story
Facing Coronavirus as a Senior Citizen:
Why Covid-19 is — and isn’t — just one more old people’s disease.
by Sharon Turnoy
My father died of colon cancer when he was 67.
When my oldest brother learned that he had precancerous polyps in his colon, word went out to his four siblings: Get a colonoscopy. Now.
I did.
As awful as I’d heard colonoscopies are, they are nothing compared to the protocol the day before. You drink a horrible mixture that makes you shit and shit and shit until your butt hole hurts, and the only stuff coming out by then is liquid. And you keep on shitting all day.
It’s much worse than the colonoscopy itself. The procedure feels mostly like getting menstrual cramps for the first time.
TMI? Get used to it because if you live long enough, you will get to experience this joy.
But it’s a good thing I had it done. I learned I had those precancerous polyps, too.
That Was So Much Fun; Let’s Do It Again!
Afterwards, I was told to come back every five years to do it again. I was getting ready to do so soon when my doctor told me that the latest guidelines now advise getting them every seven years, even if…
