Dr Oz: Facing Colon Cancer Fears + Who Should Get A Colonoscopy?

Dr Oz: Afraid Of Getting A Colonoscopy

Dr Oz said sometimes fear gets in the way of saving your own life, and he recently heard from a woman who is afraid of getting a colonoscopy. Her name is Lynn. She’s 51 years old, and she’s petrified of getting a colonoscopy. She shared that her dad died 10 years ago of colon cancer after fighting it for about a year. She said it left a huge hole in her heart and in her family. She’s afraid of cancer, given what happened to her dad and her mom’s battle with breast cancer and endometrial cancer. Even though her mom survived, she’s seen what it took to survive it.

She knows that colon cancer runs in her family and her best bet is to catch it early, but the day of her colonoscopy appointment, she couldn’t go through with it because she was so afraid of what they would find. She said she watched Dr Oz go through a colonoscopy where they found a polyp and said if he can do it, so can she.

Dr Oz: Facing Colon Cancer Fears & Benign Polyps

Lynn picked up everything she needed to prepare for the procedure, and got an email from Dr Oz saying that he was going to be with her every step of the way. Dr Oz said Lynn was in the best hands in the business because she was getting the same doctor he had. Lynn started to panic as they prepped for the procedure, saying she didn’t want cancer. When she got to the operating room, Lynn started crying out of fear.

They noticed 15 little polyps, and said there are quite a few tiny polyps as well. The polyps were taken care of to make sure that they didn’t turn into cancer. Her doctor then shared that all the of polyps were benign, which brought Lynn a lot of relief. She then shared that it’s not as bad as the stigma attached to it and all of her fears throughout the entire process were unfounded.

Dr Oz: Who Should Get A Colonoscopy?

So who should get a colonoscopy? You should definitely get one when you turn 50, but talk to your doctor to discuss earlier screening if you have a family history of colon cancer. He said a colonoscopy is still the gold standard for screening for colon cancer.

Dr Oz then shared an email from a woman named Holly who said she had a family history of colon cancer and was afraid of getting a colonoscopy. He asked if Lynn would be willing to help Holly through the process and Lynn said absolutely.