C3 would like to wish all mothers a Happy Mother’s Day.

Mothers have always played a major role at C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition. Their work with C3 is driven by their passion to create a cancer-free world for their children.

Take a moment this Mother’s Day to honor or remember your mother or a mother close to you that has been affected by colorectal cancer.

Your generosity will help prevent, treat, and finally beat this terrible cancer killer.

When people were offered a personal choice of either FOBT or colonoscopy screening by their primary care provider, more actually completed the test they chose than if only one option was offered.

In a study of  1,000 ethnically and racially diverse people, the lowest percentage had a colonoscopy when that was the only test offered.  More completed fecal occult blood testing if it was the single choice. Overall 65 percent of the 1,000 patients studied were screened after their doctor recommended testing. Read the rest of this entry »

Freshway Foods is recalling bagged romaine lettuce sold to wholesalers, food service outlets, and in-store salad bars and delis because of a possible link to illness caused by E.coli bacteria.  The recall is being supported by the FDA.

Freshway does not produce prepackaged romaine or salad mixes sold to retail consumers in supermarkets.  These products are not included in the recall, but consumers are warned not not to eat “grab and go” salads sold in store salad bars and delis at Kroger, Giant Eagle, Ingles Markets, and Marsh stores.

To date 19 cases of E.coli  infection have been confirmed in Michigan, Ohio, and New York, including 12 people who were hospitalized and 3 with life-threatening conditions.  The New York State Public Health Laboratory found E.coli 0145 in an unopened bag of Freshway shredded romaine lettuce on May 5. Read the rest of this entry »

Nurses and other health professionals may be necessary to meet demand for colonoscopies as colorectal cancer screening programs grow to meet needs.  Being sure that they can meet standards for quality exams is critical.

In the Netherlands, five nurse endoscopists were trained to do colonoscopies under the supervision of a senior gastroenterologist. Each  had 100 consecutive procedures evaluated for both quality and patient satisfaction.

During the study their exams met international standards for quality, and 95 percent of patients said that, overall, they were satisfied with their experience. Read the rest of this entry »

Taking all of the laxatives to prepare for colonoscopy on the day of the procedure is effective in cleaning the colon and lets patients have a better night’s rest, less abdominal pain, and less interference with work.

For years colonoscopy prep has been done the day before the procedure.  Recently, splitting the dose between the evening before the test and the next morning has been recommended because viewing of the right colon is better.

But patients often find that they are kept awake with side effects of the laxatives after the evening dose.  In addition, they may lose work time for two days. Read the rest of this entry »