Your screening options
Several screening tests can be used to find polyps or colorectal cancer. The most common tests are stool tests and colonoscopy. Stool tests are simple at-home tests (i.e. fecal occult blood test (FOBT), fecal immunochemical test (FIT), or a FIT-DNA test) that look for hidden blood in your stool. If blood is found, you may need a second test, called a colonoscopy. You also can get a colonoscopy first, without completing a stool test. During a colonoscopy, a doctor inserts a thin, flexible, lighted tube into your rectum to check for polyps or cancer in your colon. Less common tests include sigmoidoscopy and CT colonography (also known as virtual colonoscopy).
Most insurance plans cover all the cost of screening with no out-of-pocket costs such as co-pays or deductibles. Even without insurance, there are low cost, reliable options, including ones you can do at home.
If you haven’t been screened, talk to your doctor about the screening option that is right for you.
Get screened… it could save your life.
View recommend screening options.
Your Stories
When my grandmother died of colorectal cancer back when I was a child, there wasn’t really the option to get screened and prevent the cancer altogether. So, now that we have that option, why wouldn’t everyone get screened? Some friends and coworkers tells me they’re nervous. I was too. But, I say with all confidence that it’s really not that bad.
Gretchen Darnell – Seaside (listen to my story on the radio)
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