Colorectal cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer, but it also can be caught with early screening. The Sunrise Health Region teamed up with the Canadian Cancer Society and the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency to promote the Colorectal Cancer Screening program by bringing a giant inflatable colon to Harvest Showdown.
The 40 foot long, eight foot high inflatable replica is designed to get people thinking about their colorectal health explains Ronald Basdeo, exhibits manager with the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada.
The exhibit simulated a colonoscopy, and showed the many different pathologies that could occur in their colons and large intestines. Basdeo says that the goal is to make a lasting impression and get people talking about their colon health.
"This would be shock therapy. When you wake up in the morning and go to a fair and are confronted with the world's largest colon... It's going to give you a jolt, but you're going to actually think about it and when you leave it'll leave and impression on you," Basdeo says.
Part of the difficulty with colorectal cancer is that it's the kind of disease nobody wants to talk about it. Basdeo says that one of their goals is to get people to get over that embarrassment and take their colon health seriously.
"That's the problem, anything below the belt there's a stigma, people don't want to talk about it. Colon cancer is the second deadliest cancer in the country, it's 90 per cent curable if caught early. We don't want people dying of embarrassment, we don't want people to ignore it. You're going to feel great every day of your life, and one morning you're just not going to get up, it's known as the silent killer."
The cancer awareness program doesn't end with Harvest Showdown, Basdeo explains. In January, people in Yorkton will receive a FIT kit in the mail, which is an at home test to trace blood in stool. He says it's a good test for people with a low-risk family, but that it is no substitute for a colonoscopy for someone who is at high risk. He says that the association has always recommended a screening at 50 at the latest, but that there are risk factors which make it recommended for some people to get screened younger.
"Now you really have to look at based on your family history what age is right for you. Like our spokesperson in Manitoba, she's 29 and has stage 4. My CEO Barry Stein was diagnosed with stage 4 at the age of 40," Basdeo says.
Basdeo recommends people take a look at their family history and talk to their physicians, in order to understand their colon health and start to take it more seriously.
