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In recent years there has been an increased awareness of colo-rectal cancer here in France (a very good thing) so to encourage the general population to get tested they send out a 'stool sample test' in the mail. Not sure if this exisits over in the States but it is generalised and done every year. Apparently it is considered a 'preventive diagnostic tool' that gets followed up by a colonoscopy if there is a problem.
(by the way they do this for breast cancer too...I get a pink request slip to go have my breasts squished every other year...if you don't do it they send you a less 'cute' request until they become downright nasty...they do not take breast cancer lightly here...we have one of the highest rates in the world.)
So, my question is...do we need to do this stool test once we have had our colons removed? Is there a point to it? Would it show anything? Would it perturb the testers and send up red flags?
Just wondering.
Sharon
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The stool test has been available in the US for decades. It is not a test for "cancer," but a simple screening test. Basically, it is just a test for occult blood in the stool. They use it because undetected bleeding is often the first sign of colorectal cancer. If it is positive, you are supposed to come in for further diagnostics.

If you have occasional bleeding anyway, and you know the source, this test is a waste of time and money.

Jan Smiler
Thanks Jan,
So for goodness sake why do they write on the outside of the envelope 'colo-rectal cancer screening test'? I understand the blood in the stool test business but they are touting this as a cancer screening?!
Dumb or are they just trying to scare the heck out of the general population?
By the way, here it is free. We have social medicine (even if it is limping now, it still works somewhat!)
Sharon
ps..I guess that that means that I do not need to do it.
I presume you are talking about the "card" that you smear with a stool sample and mail in. There is a fecal cancer DNA test, but I don't think it is a card type of thing. Plus, it would be coast prohibitive to test large populations.

In the US, screening colonoscopies are free, as part of the new Affordable Care Act. The problem is getting people to have them done. The fecal occult blood test is simple and non-invasive. But, a positive test does not mean a cancer diagnosis, just that it is a possibility, and then you need to have a colonoscopy. The other issue is that a negative result does not mean you do NOT have cancer, as it can miss more than 60% of cancerous polyps in the early stages. So I am unsure how effective it is overall.

You can ask your doctor about it, but I don't see the point in you doing the testing. Seems like a waste of money and resources. I suppose in France the home cancer test is different, but I doubt it.

http://www.cancer.org/healthy/...-detection-of-cancer

Jan Smiler
Yes Jan,
It is the card thingy that you smear with stool.
I didn't think that I needed to do it but I was just checking. As for the DNA test, I don't know if they are widespread or not but they do do them for people with a family history of colorectal cancer. Same for breast cancer.
Do you think that it is worth doing a mamography every other year or not? No family history.
Sharon
I get one annually and it's an easy test. After watching my mother-in-law die of breast cancer I don't need much prodding. She showed me where skin cancer broke out over her mastectomy scars and made me promise to have them. After all you have been through medically this test is a piece of cake - please get it done annually!
It was the fecal occult test which triggered my having my first colonoscopy. My obgyn had all of his patients do one at home after their annual pap smear. At the time I had no symptoms and no visible blood. The test came back with signs of blood in my stool. Surprise to me! Subsequently, had my first colonoscopy and got a clean report back. Within two years 90% of my large intestine was ulcerated. And, yes, by then the symptoms of ulcerative colitis were very prevalent.

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