This may be an embarrassing topic to discuss, but it is extremely vital that the word gets out there. And, one of main things that needs to be done is to remove the "stigma" of talking about it in the first place. Being too embarrassed to discuss it can be deadly.

March has been declared National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Most of the credit for starting this goes to Katie Couric, whose own husband died of this disease just 2 years ago. Since, then, she's been a very outspoken person who is determined to increase public knowledge, awareness, and funding.

Colorectal cancer, although rarely mentioned "in polite society", is the second leading cause of cancer deaths. Yet, it's also one of the most preventable ones. Colon cancer strikes 130,000 Americans every year and kills 55,000 of them (1 in 4 of whom are under the age of 50). When caught in its earliest stages, more than 90 percent of the cases can be cured.

The American Cancer Society recommends that everyone over the age of 50 have a yearly fecal occult blood test plus other screening tests every 5 - 10 years.

For more information, you can see these websites:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/todaycoloncancer_front.asp
http://www.nccra.org/ (Couric's charity - the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance. Also has info on the disease and its treatments.)
http://www.preventcancer.org/colorectal.htm (Explains the monthlong awareness campaign)
http://www3.cancer.org/cancerinfo/load_cont.asp?ct10 (Colon cancer info page from the ACS)
http://www.cancernet.nci.nih.gov/ (Click on "Types of cancer," then colon for the NIH's info page with other useful links)
http://www.cancereducation.com (Click on "Colorectal cancer" under "Patient and Family Center" - can be personalized by the user)
http://www.acor.org/ (Association of Cancer Online Resources - a nonprofit site)

[This message has been edited by Linda1 (edited 03-16-2000).]

Very important information Linda1, thank you so much for sharing it with us!

Yes Linda thank you. If you wait for the symptoms of colon cancer it is usually to late....

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Sandalwood's Cosmic Creations: Working with the magic of love....

I want to bring this back up to the top so others get the chance to read it - especially since I buried my grandmother on Wednesday because of this.

Oh, fay_mc, I'm so, so sorry to hear about that. Thank you for bringing the topic back up to the top. It's a very important thing for people to be aware of. You're very sweet to think of others in the midst of your own grief.

Thinking of you fay_mc - I hope that she didn't suffer too much pain.

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From over the pond....

She didn't suffer too much - she went much quciker than was expected. Seeing as she'd been in agony with arthritis for years, now's probably the first time that she's completely free from it.

Thanks for all your kind words.

Colon Cancer Month was actually last month, but it's never too late to bring up this very important topic again.