<em>I need to apologize in advance for the nature of this post, but it's kind of important.</em>

There are two words I don't ever want to see together, especially when I'm describing myself. No, not "conservative Republican" or "Rosie's lover," although those would be relatively high on the list.

I'm talking about "rectal" and "bleeding."

And that's the end of the humor in this piece. Tuesday night after midnight, I realized that I was having intermittent bleeding, mostly when I used the bathroom. Since I'm a guy, I procrastinated for about 14 hours, thinking the problem might get better if I ignored it. But it was actually getting a little worse, and the blood was becoming a brighter shade of red, so yesterday afternoon I got in the car and drove to the emergency room.

It isn't that I don't have insurance. I actually have pretty good insurance, but when you're bleeding for no apparent reason (i.e., a wound), the emergency room seems like the most logical place to go.

<img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-83" title="The lovely Ms. Couric" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/KatieCouric_Screen-for-Life-231x300.jpg" alt="The lovely Ms. Couric" width="231" height="300" /> For the next 10 hours or so, it was my home. I had a blood test, some x-rays, a four-hour potassium drip and finally, a CAT scan.

During that time, I had plenty of opportunity to ponder what might be happening, and of course at times like that it's easy to focus on the worst possible scenario. I was a little annoyed with myself, because I'm nearly 60 years old and have never had a colonoscopy. I did have a flexible sigmoidoscopy five or six years ago, and that was annoying enough that I suppose I had been putting off the idea of a far more invasive procedure.

My doctor has been giving me referrals for the last three or four years, and when I had my yearly physical last Friday, he made me promise that I would finally get it done this year.

After my emergency room experience, I will definitely comply.

The good news -- the really good news -- from the CAT scan is that I probably don't have colon cancer. Although they called it a "presumptive" diagnosis and said I needed a colonoscopy to be sure, the CAT scan showed that what I probably have is colitis. That's painful enough in its own way, and the bleeding hasn't completely stopped, but I am certainly relieved that I am apparently not facing painful treatments and quite possibly death just yet.

It isn't so much that I'm afraid of dying. I've had a good life, and even if this turned out to be all there is of it, I would not feel particularly cheated.

But there are people who love me, people who need me and count on me to be there. I need to do a better job of making sure that I'll be there for them for as long as possible.

So if you're past 50 and haven't had a colonoscopy, get one.

It will matter to the folks who love you.