O’Harran amusing and informative

Published 4:38 pm Friday, October 5, 2007

Several months back, Kristi O’Harran wrote an informative but amusing piece for The Herald on flatulence. It was, to say the least a gas — one that would have surely delighted one Benjamin Franklin (In 1781, he wrote a letter to the Royal Academy of Brussels proposing a practical solution to the cause of “render[ing] natural discharges … from our bodies, not only inoffensive, but as agreeable as perfumes.”)

Now, Kristi has done it again … This time she has written informatively about the dreaded procedure known as the colonoscopy. (Oct. 2 column, “Colonoscopy for two.”) The upside of this procedure, she tells us, is that it is an excellent diagnostic tool for detecting colon cancer. The downside, unfortunately, is that one has to suffer the indignity of ingesting a very large bottle of a disgusting “cleansing” liquid flavored to appeal to the taste buds of a child — even though children never get to enjoy this taste treat.

In less than a week, I shall arrive at the Everett Clinic at the exact time in the morning (7:00 AM) for this exact procedure as outlined so well by Kristi. Though I’ve been through this procedure previously, I can’t help but be reminded of a urologist who shunned the very idea of a colonoscopy for himself while administering to me a prostate biopsy! Despite the question of apples and oranges … wouldn’t one think that what goes around must come around?

David N. Houghtaling