Frequently, I observe posts on social media about how much someone hates cancer. Usually, the message is posted because someone lost a beloved parent or grandparent to cancer, often after a long and agonizing fight.

There are several tests that are very useful in heading off some cancers. I hate it there's not an easy blood test that can report any cancer in your body, but it appears researchers are getting close using DNA techniques.

There are three cancer issues that I keep an eye on: colon, prostate and skin. About 25 years ago my primary care physician, Dr. Phil Self, suggested a colonoscopy. The procedure was conducted by Dr. Ransom at Share Medical Center. Other than drinking what seemed like gallons of really yucky stuff to clean myself out, it was not painful or particularly bad.

Then about ten years ago, Dr. Self recommended another colonoscopy. So I did the same routine at SMC with Dr. Ransom. As I recall, the yucky stuff to drink was not nearly as bad.

This year, at my annual physical in July, Dr. Self said it was time to do the colonoscopy thing again. So it happened a couple weeks ago. The yucky stuff to drink was vastly improved. Sort of like Gatorade. Just a lot of it.

Mary Rose, RN, called me in to SMC about a week early and checked all my vital signs and briefed me on each step of the procedure. The day arrived and I was to be there about 7 a.m. I was given one of those fashionable hospital gowns and they escorted me in a wheelchair to the surgical suite. Everyone was exceptionally kind and friendly. The anesthesiologist, Jerry Darger, as I recall (my memory disappears from that moment on) said there will be a little sting when he injected some type of knock-out drug. I remember nothing other than being wheeled back to the hospital room to re-dress. Dr. Ransom visited me a few minutes later and said everything looked good with no polyps. Later Dr. Self said I was good for another ten years before the next one.

I had been warned NOT to drive for 24 hours. Well, Marione drove me out to Shepherd's grand opening about 11 that morning. I enjoyed the event and worked a normal day afterward.

A few years ago I had a prostate biopsy that came back clean; and I see Kristi Steinert in Enid, a dermatologist, about every six months to zap off some precancerous stuff on my forehead. Anybody who works out in the sun (like farmers) needs to see a dermatologist as they age.

The purpose of this column, with probably TMI (too much information), is to encourage you to get those tests. I looked up online and discovered most people don't get colonoscopies because their primary care doctor doesn't mention it. According to the American College of Gastroenterology, about 6 percent of men and women reportedly get colon cancer. The odds are worse if relatives have had the cancer. Also, black people are at higher risk. So it is sort of like getting a mammography for women; you just ought to get it done.