Before I tell my story, I was always hesitant to get checkups and do as I was advised. But due to my Mom having breast cancer and polyps upon her initial examination, I took heed and they found some in me, so I did my five year colonoscopies on a regular basis. Due to the long list of activities and work history listed below, I tended to ignore the rest of the aches and pains in my body. All I can tell you from my personal experience is that every person in my humble opinion should have a cat scan done on the midsection of their body by the age of 40, just like a colonoscopy. There is no pain and it takes less than 30 minutes to be able to complete an exam. Doctors can assess lower lung, liver, kidneys, stomach, intestines, spleen and of course the pancreas (noted for the lowest chance of recovery and I can attest to the pain) I was miss diagnosed on two occasions and prior to my divorce, I lived with a highly educated medical professional that could not detect this disease or due to the situation refused to address my minor complaints from time to time.
Due to previous injuries in my body for excess working hours, driving long hours as a traveling salesman, strenuous working jobs from contracting and growing up in the restaurant business working at the age of 5 and of course the many hours of athletics from tackle football, motorcycle riding, skiing and my first love of basketball-- my body had taken its toll.
My life goal was to plan to retire quietly on a beach and donate my time to my sons and grandchildren for all the time I missed as I was trying to provide a roof over their heads, education in their brains, food in their bellies and God in their heart and soul.
