I never wanted to be a cancer expert, but then my wife got sick. A caregiver’s tale.

February 18, 2014

(Washington Post) – It was my wife’s first colonoscopy; it turned out to be the only one she ever had. She was 53. Whether Cheryl would have lived longer if she’d had the exam earlier I’ll never know. She died in the fall of 2013, in her sixth season with cancer. Cheryl had exhibited no symptoms prior to the test. Absent a family history of colon cancer, the standard protocol is to have the test after turning 50. Needless to say, we were shocked when the doctor showed us the scans indicating that the test was positive for cancer.