Let me introduce you to my giant colon

For two months now, I have been working at what may ultimately be my most important job. As National Director of Exhibits for the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada, I am responsible for helping put together a program that will save many lives in the years to come: the CCAC’s Giant Colon Tour. I know. You hear this and your initial reaction is to titter, to laugh, to make an off-cuff remark. Yes, I am officially an “ass” man and now I know how Seinfeld’s Kramer felt when he first heard that moniker (though I am resisting the urge to put it on my license plate).

The CCAC’s introduction to giant colons occurred in 2005, when the organization, Canada’s top colorectal cancer screening advocacy group – took a Brazilian model to four major Canadian cities. “The response was so overwhelming, the reaction so positive, that I decided we had to build our own giant colons and initiate a program to tour the country with them,” said lawyer Barry Stein, the CCAC’s president and a survivor of colorectal cancer himself.

Hiring me to fill a key position in the CCAC’s new program was an important step, as I have been involved in transporting The Giant Colon off the drawing board and from the manufacturer to Montreal. I can proudly tell you that last week we did a dry-run set-up of The Giant Colon, an inflatable, pink educational monster, 40 feet long and eight feet high. Containing all the various pathologies that can beset the human colon, it affords you an excellent opportunity to learn, as well as to see why a healthy lifestyle and early screening can very possibly save your life.

I can honestly tell you that I have never encountered more colorectal cancer than I have since I joined the staff of the CCAC. Everyone I speak to knows someone who has either survived it, or died from it. And if caught early, it is 90 percent curable. I am also stunned by the closed-mindedness of some people where CRC is concerned. I now ask everyone I meet of a certain demographic “have you been screened yet?” and I am really taken aback by the people who retort “Nah... and I’m not gonna, either!” These people are making what could be the mistake of their lifetime. The screening methods, yes, even the dreaded colonoscopy I have had two of so far - and which were no worse than having an MRI on the discomfort scale – are so simple and reassuring.

Taking a tour through our Giant Colon is a real eye-opener and will show you how a flat polyp can grow into a pedunculated one (on a stalk) and then turn into colorectal cancer. There is also nothing cooler than having a picture taken inside the entrance of our GC... the rectum. People love it. And you will have your chance to experience the whole kahuna here in Montreal next week, on March 18-19, as The Giant Colon will be set up next to the fountain in Complexe Desjardins, the kick-off to The Giant Colon Tour you will see and hear advertized in the print and electronic media.

From there, I am off to Timmins, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie and Kitchener, Ontario, and beyond, as The Giant Colon (a second one will be completed shortly, followed by a third in the near future) helps save lives.

Come say hello. It will be my pleasure to introduce you to my/our colon.

NOTE: As a result of my upcoming trips, it may be a while before you read Briefly Bram... but I’ll be back! The Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada can be reached by calling 514-875-7745, or via their website at www.colorectal-cancer.ca. We can help inform you about the disease, or provide you with cancer coaches to offer you support if you require it.