10 Things I learned from my first Colonoscopy at 42.

First thing first: The actual colonoscopy is easy.

Really, it’s not as scary and as awful as you’ve heard.

The preparation for the colonoscopy? Oh, now that’s a different story. That is as bad as you’ve heard, but you can get through it. Keep reading for more tips to get through that.

Colon Cancer is on the rise among young adults, so the conventional wisdom to wait until age 50 to screen for colon cancer may not be the best advice if you have a family history of colon cancer OR you may have some symptoms that need to be checked out.

In my case, I had one symptom that the doctor wanted to check on. My doctor told me that the age for colon cancer screening is being lowered to 45 due to the increase in cases for younger people. Since I’m three years away, it wouldn’t hurt to do the screening. I’ve known several young Black people under age 50 who have been diagnosed with colon cancer and, unfortunately, some who have died, so I thought it would be wise to get screened.

This decision did not come without anxiety.

What if they find something???? I thought

The good news is that colon cancers tend to be slow-growing, so if they do find something, they can take it out and proceed with treatment. It would be…