💩 Live Healthy, Screen Early, and Flush It Before It Spreads

📅 May 7, 2025
Category: Health & Wellness

🧬 So... What Exactly Is Colon Cancer?

It’s the silent party crasher of your digestive tract—starting in the colon (aka your large intestine), and occasionally making an unwelcome appearance in the rectum. 🫣

🗺️ Your colon is the first and longest stretch of your large intestine, which itself is the final stop in your body’s food-processing expressway. This is where nutrients get absorbed... and the rest? Well, it heads for the exit 🚽.

When colon cells go rogue—thanks to DNA mutations—they start growing fast, furious, and nonstop, forming tumors that don’t RSVP.

🌱 How It Grows: From Polyp to Problem

• Colon cancer often starts as polyps—tiny growths chilling in the colon lining.

• Most polyps = harmless. Some? 👀 Not so much.

• If left alone, some polyps mutate into cancer.
  💡 That’s why screenings matter! Find ‘em. Snip ‘em. Flush the risk early.

🚩 Risk Factors: Is Your Colon in the Danger Zone?

• 👵 Age: Risk rises with time (but younger folks aren’t immune anymore!)

• 🧬 Family history of colon cancer or polyps? Take note.

• 🧠 Chronic illnesses: Type 2 diabetes, IBD = increased risk

• 🍔 Lifestyle matters; avoid:

  • Diet high in red & processed meats 🥓

  • Obesity & lack of exercise 🛋️

  • Smoking & alcohol 😵💫

🖤 Black Americans are at higher risk—screening is even more important.

🤷 Symptoms: The Colon's Way of Crying for Help

If you notice any of these, don’t play it cool. Get checked:

• 🔄 Changes in bowel habits (constipation, diarrhea, or both on loop)

• 🩸 Blood in your poop = 🚨

• 😣 Ongoing belly pain, cramps, gas

• 😮💨 Feeling like you didn’t finish the job

• 😴 Unexplained fatigue

• ⚖️ Unintentional weight loss

🔎 Screening: Not Glamorous, But Totally Worth It

Let’s be real: colonoscopies aren’t anyone’s idea of a good time.

But neither is cancer.

🧪 Stool tests and visual exams like colonoscopies help catch polyps early—before they can plot a takeover. And yes, whoever invented stool tests deserves a standing ovation (from the waist down). 🙃

📆 Start screening at age 45 (or earlier if you're at high risk).

💥 Treatment: From Surgery to Super-Science

Depending on the stage, treatment may include:

• 🏥 Surgery

• 💉 Chemo

• 🔬 Targeted therapy

• 🔥 Radiation

The earlier you catch it, the easier it is to treat.
🎯 Prevention still beats cure—every time.

💸 It’s No Funny Business, And Not Cheap

• Colon cancer treatment: $40,000–$80,000+ 💰

  • Median: ~$60,321

  • Out-of-pocket: $4,000–$9,000 depending on insurance, treatment, and stage 😱

• Colonoscopy: $1,200–$4,800

  • National average: ~$2,412

  • Varies based on location, sedation, biopsies, and more

  • Bonus: you get to drink that lovely prep solution and follow a clear liquid diet 🤢🥤

  • The procedure itself? Painless and potentially life-saving. Worth it!

☠️ Why It Matters The American Cancer Society estimates 52,900 deaths from colorectal cancer in 2025—and 19,550 cases in people under 50. That’s way too many lives lost to something so preventable.

The colon is at risk, 
But so is the liver...

🚫 Let’s Talk Meat: Red Flags on Red Meat

🥩 Processed meats (think: bacon, salami, pepperoni, even smoked salmon) are Group 1 carcinogens—same category as smoking 🚬 and asbestos. Yikes.

The WHO says just 50g/day (about 2 slices of bacon) ups your colon cancer risk by 18%.

🙅♀️ Curing, salting, and nitrites = cute pink meats, scary chemical stew.

You don't have to go vegan overnight, but maybe swap sausage for a salad sometimes. Your colon will thank you.

🔗 WHO Report on Meat & Cancer

🏃 Move It... or Lose It (Literally)

Sedentary lifestyle = 🚫
Exercise keeps things moving—bowels and bad vibes.

Regular physical activity:

• Lowers your risk of colon cancer

• Boosts mood

• Might even help you laugh your butt off well into your 100s 🎉

✅ In a Nutshell (or Should We Say... Bowel?)

• Colon cancer = preventable and beatable 💪

• Screening saves lives 🛡️

• Cut back on processed meats 🧂

• Stay active 🚶♀️

• And don’t ignore your gut instincts

🩺 Your colon’s not just a punchline. Treat it like the hero organ it is.