{"id":6785,"date":"2018-03-15T07:00:01","date_gmt":"2018-03-15T11:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/?p=6785"},"modified":"2018-03-15T07:00:01","modified_gmt":"2018-03-15T11:00:01","slug":"hugged-colon-today-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Have you hugged your colon today?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s mid-March, and that can mean only one thing on this blog: It’s\u00a0National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.<\/a>\u00a0That means it’s also time for me to parade out a photo of my fine-looking colon to get your attention. Yes, that is my actual colon on the left, as photographed by my kick-butt (pun intended) gastroenterologist. (Be thankful I limit my coverage to still photos.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Why am I so passionate about something that many people (wrongly) feel ashamed to talk about? Because I would rather talk about this disease and pay attention to this disease than die of it, which is what my mother did just about 30 years ago at the ripe old age of only 47. So, listen up, people.<\/p>\n

If caught early, colon cancer is a curable disease. If not caught early, it will kill you. Sometimes very quickly. My mother had months not years, and not very good months considering what they did to try to save her. So, for your health, for your family, for anyone who cares about you, go get a colonoscopy as soon as you can if you are over 50 and have never had one, or if you are under 50 but have a family history of colon cancer or any diseases of the colon. It is not as bad as you would imagine. Really. I\u2019ve had four so far and the advances they\u2019ve made in the prep work that needs to be done is remarkable. The first two experiences were like night and day, and I can honestly say that I no longer fear the next one, which, I am happy to say, has been moved out from every two-to-three years to every five years, thanks to my sterling record.<\/p>\n

In addition to getting a test to makes sure you don\u2019t already have colon cancer or the polyps that can lead to cancer, you can also take some steps to try to prevent colon cancer. Increase fiber, decrease meat. Yes, that\u2019s right. Cut down on meat. It’s something I need to remember. There was a time I was a vegetarian precisely for this reason, but now I’ve gotten lazy and complacent and pile on the animal fat with abandon. Not good. Red meat, especially, is no friend to the colon. Cut it out or at least cut it down. High fat diets aren\u2019t so great either. Click\u00a0HERE<\/a>\u00a0to read about dietary suggestions for colon health.<\/p>\n

If you want more information on the signs and symptoms of colon cancer, testing, prevention and more, go to the American Cancer Society by clicking\u00a0HERE<\/a>. Now, go call your doctor and make an appointment before I put up photos of someone\u2019s unhealthy colon just to scare you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s mid-March, and that can mean only one thing on this blog: It’s\u00a0National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.\u00a0That means it’s also time for me to parade out a photo of my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[620,118,273,119,123],"class_list":["post-6785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-american-cancer-society","tag-colon-cancer","tag-diet","tag-health","tag-vegetarian"],"yoast_head":"\nHave you hugged your colon today? – Not Strictly Spiritual<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Have you hugged your colon today? – Not Strictly Spiritual\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It’s mid-March, and that can mean only one thing on this blog: It’s\u00a0National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.\u00a0That means it’s also time for me to parade out a photo of my […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Not Strictly Spiritual\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Mary-DeTurris-Poust\/105157722861796\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-03-15T11:00:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/shapeimage_2-2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"188\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@marydtp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@marydtp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mary\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mary\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/#\/schema\/person\/98535137020dd532c92ce7cbb6d163f1\"},\"headline\":\"Have you hugged your colon today?\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-15T11:00:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/\"},\"wordCount\":461,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/shapeimage_2-2.png\",\"keywords\":[\"American Cancer Society\",\"colon cancer\",\"diet\",\"health\",\"vegetarian\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/\",\"name\":\"Have you hugged your colon today? – Not Strictly Spiritual\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/shapeimage_2-2.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-15T11:00:01+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/shapeimage_2-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/shapeimage_2-2.png\",\"width\":250,\"height\":188},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Have you hugged your colon today?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/\",\"name\":\"Not Strictly Spiritual\",\"description\":\"Discovering the Divine in the Everyday.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Not Strictly Spiritual\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/NotStrictlySpiritual-logo-web-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/NotStrictlySpiritual-logo-web-1.png\",\"width\":427,\"height\":244,\"caption\":\"Not Strictly Spiritual\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Mary-DeTurris-Poust\/105157722861796\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/marydtp\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/marydtp518\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/#\/schema\/person\/98535137020dd532c92ce7cbb6d163f1\",\"name\":\"Mary\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Have you hugged your colon today? – Not Strictly Spiritual","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Have you hugged your colon today? – Not Strictly Spiritual","og_description":"It’s mid-March, and that can mean only one thing on this blog: It’s\u00a0National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.\u00a0That means it’s also time for me to parade out a photo of my […]","og_url":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/","og_site_name":"Not Strictly Spiritual","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Mary-DeTurris-Poust\/105157722861796","article_published_time":"2018-03-15T11:00:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":250,"height":188,"url":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/shapeimage_2-2.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Mary","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@marydtp","twitter_site":"@marydtp","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mary","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/"},"author":{"name":"Mary","@id":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/#\/schema\/person\/98535137020dd532c92ce7cbb6d163f1"},"headline":"Have you hugged your colon today?","datePublished":"2018-03-15T11:00:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/"},"wordCount":461,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/shapeimage_2-2.png","keywords":["American Cancer Society","colon cancer","diet","health","vegetarian"],"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/","url":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/","name":"Have you hugged your colon today? – Not Strictly Spiritual","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/shapeimage_2-2.png","datePublished":"2018-03-15T11:00:01+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/shapeimage_2-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/shapeimage_2-2.png","width":250,"height":188},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/uncategorized\/hugged-colon-today-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Have you hugged your colon today?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/","name":"Not Strictly Spiritual","description":"Discovering the Divine in the Everyday.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/#organization","name":"Not Strictly Spiritual","url":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/NotStrictlySpiritual-logo-web-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/NotStrictlySpiritual-logo-web-1.png","width":427,"height":244,"caption":"Not Strictly Spiritual"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Mary-DeTurris-Poust\/105157722861796","https:\/\/x.com\/marydtp","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/marydtp518\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/#\/schema\/person\/98535137020dd532c92ce7cbb6d163f1","name":"Mary"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/notstrictlyspiritual.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}