John, from what I know, my dad didn't die of colon cancer, he died of Cirrhosis of the Liver from all of his drinking over the years. As for the colonoscopy, I remember having one a number of years ago, but since I've only done the mail-in ones and they all came back negative. There is a preferred, and now highly recommended, prostate blood test that I want to have done. The old PSA is just that "old" and was found to be very inaccurate some years ago. There were men showing a high number, like myself, that wasn't an accurate number and being put thru tests that didn't need to be done. A good thing is, my half brother had a tough time urinating, which I don't have. But, until I talk to a Urologist, we just don't know much about why my number is so high.
I don't want to freak you out, but your father had colon cancer. So it exists in a 1st Degree Relative. Your doctor needs to know this, even though the cirrhosis got him first. The mail-in test tests for existing cancer. A colonoscopy will find and get rid of pre-cancerous growths.
I wonder how accurate the mail in tests are? My new NP thinks that is the way to go as you get older so that older people don't have to go under unnecessary anesthesia. I don't think those home tests can't detect polyps so why bother? Probably just another money grab test, my cynical self says. I think the mail in tests can only detect blood in the stool and maybe existing cancer. Then you would have to have a colonoscopy anyway.
I had a friend die of colon cancer. She was in her 80s, and in fine health otherwise. I've gotten good at being aggressive with medical providers these past few years. They'll have to pry the endoscope out of my cold, dead...well, you know what I mean.
After I done the mail-in one, my VA doctor told me that the results, in the letter I got, stated that I had nothing and no need to get an actual colonoscopy. So, I went with what he told me. Bottom Line Here: Will wait and see what this VA Community Care Urologist tells us next Wednesday and go from there. My wife and I could keep guessing/wondering what is wrong, but will leave the diagnosing up to the Urologist. We just want to know what is going on and get treatment started.
The mail-in tests assay for neoplastic changes in DNA, not just blood like the old days. I don't know if they pick up polyps or not, but I think it would be unlikely. The VA and many doctors (and insurance companies) encourage them because they are so much cheaper than the regular colonoscopy. The mail-in tests have both false positives and false negatives (the false negatives being the more dangerous as cancer would be missed) and positives need to be followed up with a colonoscopy anyway since a biopsy would be needed for confirmation. As far as the PSA goes, there is a newer test that supposedly tests for chromosomal conformation with a 94% accuracy. I am sure it is much more expensive and probably is only done in reference laboratories since it is a relatively new test. I think PSA with reflex is still a good test but it is not a true screening test in the normal sense. If a man begins a PSA history in his 40s or 50s, it can be monitored for changes and when it dramatically changes, investigation can be done. The "reflex" is to a Free PSA that helps a urologist separate non-cancer causes of elevation from those caused by neoplasm. No test is perfect and a provider needs to think about any results the obtain, which, unfortunately doesn't happen a lot any more.