By RHETA MOAZZAMI
Los Alamos

I am glad to see Dr. Rakov’s article in the Los Alamos Daily Post (link), reminding people of the importance of having colonoscopies. My father had colon cancer when he was 32 years old. Luckily for our family, he lived an active life until he was 75.

I recently had a colonoscopy at age 77—my third or fourth. I was told when I left that it would be my last one. While I can’t believe I felt anything but relief at hearing that, after the unpleasantness of the night before, I did feel something. I felt devalued.

Apparently, they were telling me that Medicare considered that they had spent quite enough money on preventing me from having colon cancer, and if I made it another ten years, THEN developed colon cancer—well, you gotta go sometime. And, while that’s true–you do gotta go sometime–if we’re going to make decisions about what we’re not going to try to prevent, doesn’t that call for some kind of national conversation? Does that mean that as we won’t try to prevent it, we won’t treat it if it happens? If that’s true, is that a sound financial decision, never mind one that involves ethics?

I hope this letter starts that conversation.