34 Comments
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Lindsay Martell's avatar

Sooo good! I honestly love this kind of story -- one that sheds light and laughter on critically important cancer screenings.

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Suzanne Roberts's avatar

Thank you!

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Michelle Redo's avatar

Such a good little story! And so important to talk about too. Thing is, I had the snip, snip, snip operation... and that saved my life. However living with my abbreviated rectum has been a different kind of adventure than just diarrhea after rich food. And I'm working on a memoir about it too... All of it is still better than the alternative. Get your colonoscopies people!

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Suzanne Roberts's avatar

I'm glad you are okay, and best of luck with your memoir.

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Jodi Sh. Doff's avatar

My takeaway? I envy your relationship with your husband. 🤷🏼‍♀️

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Suzanne Roberts's avatar

I’m very lucky

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Tatyana Sussex's avatar

Couldn't have loved it more, the way you took on a serious subject and inserted the real, funny human ways we manage such situations. Polyps are super common, i had a ... buttload my first time, but also enjoyed the post-op buzz so much I couldn't wait to go back! Three down, all fine. Also, the way you write about writing about your husband, and that relationship, hell yeah. Me too. "Please don't write..." OK. Then I do, about sex, poor bastard. Thank you!

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Suzanne Roberts's avatar

Thank you...and haha--a buttload: very funny. Glad you are okay!

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MonalisaSmile's avatar

This is the kind of shit I'd write...except I'm more of an asshole.

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Michann's avatar

I loved the essay and have already shared it with some friends in the “1st time colonoscopy” cohort (mine is next month.)

Was curious if the author herself had gone through this milestone. Perhaps she had and the results were less essay worthy. At any rate, I subscribed because this seems to be the place discussing stuff I need to know at this Phase of Life.

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Suzanne Roberts's avatar

The author has not gone through this rite of passage...when she turned 50 last year, she opted to poop in a box!

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Michann's avatar

That’s an option?! 😂

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Suzanne Roberts's avatar

Yes, if you don't have a family history. And the best part is you can hand it to UPS and say, "Just sending off some shit."

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Sari Botton's avatar

😂💩

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MaryLouise Tucker (MLT)'s avatar

If you live in Australia you get a kit sent to you in the mail every year from age 50 to 74. You just do your bizness & mail it in. Unless you have prior history, in which case your doctor screens you some other way.

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Cathy Park Kelly's avatar

Loved this! It is such a delicate thing to get right, this business of telling stories and who those stories belong to! I loved your unapologetic approach to telling this story.

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Suzanne Roberts's avatar

Thanks!

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Debbie Hagan's avatar

Fantastic! Just had my colonoscopy, so can relate on many levels.

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L Peterson's avatar

Thank you! What a wonderful way you have with a serious - and potentially scary - topic. I am scheduled for both a colonoscopy and a gastroscopy in September ('Nice to meet somewhere in the middle' the surgeon said during a recent appointment) and I will try to approach it with the humour you did in your piece. And will read it again between now and then.

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Suzanne Roberts's avatar

I hope it all goes okay!

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MaryLouise Tucker (MLT)'s avatar

Great story. You are caring and have a sense of humour. I like that in a person.

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Suzanne Roberts's avatar

Thank you

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Rainbow's avatar

Love it. Thank you Dr. I learned a lot!

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Ann Whitfield Powers's avatar

Made me laugh. Beautifully done. Thank you.

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Katie Snyder's avatar

Great read! I also love your sense of humor! Walking that boundary line between keeping something private when a loved one asks you to and needing to tell your own support network to help you get through it is difficult to do. I see both sides to this, but also believe that it’s important to share personal experiences about potentially life-threatening topics with others b/c this is how we learn from each other and share in our humanity. Thank you for sharing this!

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Suzanne Roberts's avatar

Thank you!

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Bette's avatar

Well-written piece, but I'm with your husband (who I don't know! nor do I know you!) on this question of boundaries. I'm like him; I don't want my personal info given out to anyone. If I want them to know, I'll tell them. It's called personal for a reason!

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Suzanne Roberts's avatar

My husband certainly agrees with you, though he allowed me share this story in the end (or else I wouldn't have).

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Marydee Reynolds's avatar

Not sure what would cause a woman to pee on a hospital elevator floor ,but whatever it was , was surely traumatic . Sucks that you would take this and use it as fodder played for laughs, self proclaiming yourself as an asshole doesn’t make it ok. This is the kind of thing that gives memoir a bad name, and rightly so

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Suzanne Roberts's avatar

Thanks for reading, and I’m sorry you were offended. That was certainly not my intent. You and I disagree, however, on the use of humor in this piece (I do not make fun of the lady in the elevator but myself) and also I do not believe memoir “has a bad name.” But I understand we all see writing differently.

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Debbie Hagan's avatar

Fantastic! Just had my colonoscopy,. I can relate on many levels.

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