The lonely Polyp

Polyp (PAH-lip): An extra piece of tissue that grows inside the body.

I had the pleasure of undergoing a colonoscopy this past week. For those of you who don't know what this entails, I'll spare you the details and just say that it's a real pain in the ass (wow - I am TOO funny). I lost my mom when she was only 40 to colon cancer and it's one of those tricky cancers where you could show no real symptoms for years so I decided I'm not taking that chance. I had my first "scope" last year, where the doctor discovered a "large number" (like too many to count) of polyps in my large intestine. Yes I was pretty freaked out, even with the doctor's assurance that all the polyps were tiny and hyperplatic (would not evolve into scary cancer-monsters). I worried that I had that Familial Polyposis condition that seals the deal you will get cancer, or that any one of my tiny polyps would mutate at any time. I was anxious to hear the results in my follow-up this year. I was put under during the scope (thank god in heaven) so I too drugged up to be anxious while my husband talked to the doctor on the phone when I woke up. It turns out that he found 1 tiny polyp. All the other ones dissappeared and they removed the one they found but they're certain it's not a big deal (I find out next week for sure). Initially I was pretty skeptical - how hard did the doctor really look? how can polyps just dissappear? Was I abducted by aliens who performed miracle anal surgery? (like I said, I was pretty drugged up). Afterwards, I did some research and found out that not smoking, intense bouts of exercise, weight reduction, a healthy diet and alcohol moderation can all significantly decrease your chances of getting colon cancer. It just so happens that since my last exam, I haven't had 1 cigarette (yes I used to sneak them when I drank), I've drastically cut down on drinking ("not now kids, mommy has a hangover" is not so cool), I've lost 5-10 pounds, ran a half-marathon and kept on running regularly, and cut out a lot of junk food and other bad stuff (see "ode to sugar" below). I will never know if all of this made my polyps dissappear but I have to give credit to the power of taking care of yourself. Check out
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/colonpolyps_ez/index.htm for more information about polyps or colon cancer in general.