C is for Colonoscopy

This column was originally written for the Squamish Reporter. This version updates that first publication.

Minutes ahead of a colonoscopy procedure in August of 2025.

Difficult conversations have become comfortable for me.

Politics, religion, death, gender, sex and body parts we never speak of keep coming up everywhere I go. In the sentences ahead the topic is body parts we don’t talk about. It’ll end with the anus and ahead of that there’s the rectum and the colon.

These are body parts I’m choosing to write about because I learned recently that I dodged colorectal cancer. A colonoscopy procedure I went through early this summer unveiled five polyps and a lab analysis of the largest polyp was conducted. According to that analysis, the polyp had cancerous cells in it.

The doctor who did the procedure is confident the cancerous cells were limited to the polyp and there are no rogue cells still in me. That’s great news for me because at the age of 56 I’m not ready to be taken out by cancer. There’s much I feel I still have to do. More than a few political issues are calling to me to be sorted out.

The same doctor recommended I speak with a surgeon about further treatment options to make certain there are no cancer cells in the bottom end of my digestive system. That appointment happened Nov. 21, 2025 and the surgeon reported confidently there's no need for surgery in my case. Also, I have another colonoscopy booked in October of 2026. That colonoscopy will be followed by yet another in 2028.

Because I have a habit of speaking openly in public about stuff that makes most people uncomfortable, on occasion folks privately thank me for sharing so openly. The first colonoscopy I had was more than 20 years ago when I was employed as a news reader and talk show host at Mountain FM. Of course, I talked about it on the radio. This most recent colonoscopy I spoke about openly in my capacity as Acting Mayor at the start of the Terry Fox Run. Over and over I’ve heard people say things like, “Thank you for being so open about that. We all need to talk about health issues more.” After that I usually hear about a relative who died of preventable cancer that went undetected or a good friend who quietly suffered through a taboo medical issue.

Colonoscopies save lives. So do mammograms, self examinations and regular doctor/general practitioner visits. Self examinations include touching the parts of your body that aren’t regularly mentioned in polite society. Yes, I’m encouraging people to feel their breasts and feel their testicles. If lumps form on these body parts it often means there’s something going on under the skin that should be looked at by a medical professional.

If you’ve hung on this far into this uncomfortable conversation then you might be comfortable enough to give yourself a once over to feel for unusual lumps and to look for skin anomalies.

How about taking all this one step further and asking one person you love to do the same?

Sure, it might make you and them uncomfortable. If it results in the discovery of a lump and that leads to making a medical appointment then that leads to a doctor scheduling some tests and then that leads to the early discovery of a small tumour that is easy to treat, you’ll be thankful for that uncomfortable conversation.

And, you won’t be alone in having that conversation because after I learned that I dodged the cancer bullet I took the advice of my doctor and I asked my children to keep this on their radar as they age. Then I phoned my mom, my sister and my brother to request that all three of them book an appointment with their doctors to discuss having colonoscopies.

All my direct relatives have an elevated colon cancer risk.

My dad got a pass because he’s already on top of all of this.

Thankfully my conversations with my family weren’t difficult. I chose to be intentional by making those conversations factual. The message was delivered with love and love for people is what motivates me to discuss topics that cause people to squirm a bit.

John French was first elected to Squamish Council in 2018. He’s a lifelong Squamish resident who was born (breached) at Squamish General Hospital. His favourite Sesame Street character is the Cookie Monster.