Thursday, March 11, 2010

Where No Man Has Gone Before


Click Cartoon for Larger Size
Just kidding! Harry Smith's colonoscopy didn't reveal Barney Frank's cufflinks, Michael Jackson's missing glove, or Barack Obama's birth certificate.


Still, we've got to wonder if the CBS "Early Show" really understands that "in-depth reporting" means doing your homework and reporting facts, rather than giving Katie Couric a doctor's labcoat (no doubt one of the free ones the Whitehouse has been giving away) and a tube of KY Jelly.

In any event, colonoscopies really are important, and Hope n' Change salutes Harry Smith for his courage in undertaking the procedure on camera.

We're also glad that during the procedure, the doctors successfully removed a polyp that looked like Joy Behar before it grew large enough to get its own show.



6 comments:

Moronpolitics said...

WHY do they keep showing us these Aho's?? It's gu-ross. OK? This is the third one I have heard about? Why don't they get out a speculum and we can all do an internal gyno exam on one of the chicks? That ought to keep the population down fo awhile. Or let's put a camera on the old stomach pump and we can save a OD suicider or two. I went in with double pneumonia and 105.3 and while they were putting ice bags around me they pumped this repeater guy who took a bottle of 'yellows' THREE TIMES. I hope HE got the message. I'M never going to kill myself there. bleaaaaaaaahahahchtch.

Anonymous said...

They show you this so you'll understand colon cancer kills more people then you think and just maybe you should go in at age 30 and start looking. My daughter got it at 31, had two years of Chemo and now has been told there's no hope. I'm going to possibly see her today for the last time, ever. Get your butt checked frequantly.

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

Anonymous- We're genuinely sorry to hear about your daughter. As was mentioned in the caption that accompanied the cartoon, colonoscopies are important, and it's a good idea to reduce people's fears about the procedure.

However, The irony here is that people like Katie Couric and Joy Behar push for Obamacare despite the fact that it would surely limit colonoscopies - especially for people who aren't at high statistical risk (in other words, forget it if you're under 40). Similarly, the government has already recommended fewer mammograms for women - not because they aren't useful, but because it's cheaper to treat the women who get cancer than to pay for screenings in the broader population (even though the survival rate of cancer victims would be much improved).

Colon cancer is a terrible thing. Colonoscopies are a good thing. But for the media to push colonoscopies and Obamacare is unacceptably hypocritical.

Cindy said...

My concern is that Obamacare is going to mandate that I have certain procedures because I'm of a certain age. I certainly don't want some federal bureaucrat telling me what invasive procedure I need to have. I'm very aware of my own body and when something isn't right and needs to be checked. But even then, the doctor just gets hung up on saying...well, you're this old and you need to have this test and that exam. They really don't want to acknowledge that I am the one ultimately in charge of my health care. I have been a registered nurse for 23 years; I used to blindly trust the medical/health care professions; I've seen too much. My philosophy has become, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Philip said...

Monthly deficit hits $220 billion, highest in U.S. history

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

Cindy- "Invasive" is exactly what Obamacare will be...not just with medical procedures, but in our daily lives. Case in point, Nancy Pelosi just said that one of the great changes in healthcare will be that the government won't just treat diabetes, they'll treat our diets.

Will we be taxed on high calorie foods? Will we get exemptions for exercise? Will IRS auditors force us to stand on a scale to determine our tax rate?

Seriously, if Obamacare is passed, a flexible sigmoidoscope is the least of the things we'll be getting jammed up our rear ends.