Our own Lifetime movie

[Melalvai]

One of the important bits of information was that both his father and biological grandfather died of colon cancer. His father at age 57, grandfather at age 30. That scared the crap out of him, and his next phone call was to schedule a doctor's appointment. Doc asked when was the father diagnosed so he called the stepmother again-- at age 52 when a tumor ruptured his colon. Therefore Iain should get colonoscopies starting at age 42 which is less than 5 years away. But the doc also explained how regular exams will get the polyps early before they can do any harm. So it was both alarming and reassuring.

Of course I reminded him that exercise, diet, and weight have a much stronger impact on risk of colon cancer than genetics!

I was reading up on risk factors and I didn't realize inflammatory bowel disease is also a risk factor. Guess I'm at risk too but I don't know if that means I'll be getting screened more frequently or at a younger age, like him.

[Melalvai]

Thought I'd post a follow up on this story because last weekend we drove up to Minnesota and met Aunt Pat, his father's sister, and Uncle Randy. Also a cousin and her kids, her stepkids, a step cousin and her daughter.

He was nervous, he's so shy around strangers and it takes years before someone graduates from being a "stranger". But not this time. He was immediately comfortable. Cousin Christine is our age and all the kids were around our daughter's age. We played games, laughed a lot, ate great food...and there were tears. I made Aunt Pat cry within 5 minutes of arriving because I gave her a collection of photos of Iain & Nell that reminded me of things we've been told of his father.

We're getting over the "if only we could have met him" and moving on to trying to learn what we can about him, and getting to know the surviving family members. I'm looking at my family members with new gratitude. Appreciate the time we have together because it could have been different. Because some day we will lose each other.

[indysteel]

Wow, what a brave step for your husband and you to take. I'm so happy for you and the connections you've made.

[snapdragen]

I missed this thread when you first posted, what an amazing story. It's great that you've connected with family members, I'm sure it helps your husband immensely.

As an aside to the colon cancer screening, I had my first colonoscopy at 50, they found precancerous polyps and removed them. No other worries after that, except now I have to go in for screening every 5 years instead of 10.

[azfiddle]

That is a pretty amazing story, and it is great to hear of the new connections with his family. Thank you for sharing this.

[Bike Writer]

Yeah, I missed this thread first time around too. Reading now at this later date it's noteworthy that it started with an unhappy beginning and the ending is getting to be quite pleasant. I'm happy for your husband because his world just got bigger, well, I guess it did for both of you. But this was a missing piece for him and these new found relatives are filling in the empty spots.