Healing Humor: Minnesota Comedian Talks Surviving Colon Cancer
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- There's nothing funny about cancer... unless you are a comedian who's also a cancer survivor.
Brenda Elsagher, a Twin Cities comedian, is traveling the country and spreading the word about the importance of getting screened for colon cancer.
You may have seen Elsagher in a television commercial doing a stand-up comedy routine, encouraging people to get a colonoscopy.
In it she says, "I'm about to have my colon looked at, I'm going to have a colonoscopy. I'm not worried about if there is anything wrong with my colon, I'm worried is this going to traumatize this poor doctor…How many butts has this guy seen?"
I recently talked with Elsagher at her Burnsville home. She described how her journey with colon cancer started.
"I remember [me and the doctor] were talking about her daughter being in college. I remember the moment," she said. "I remember thinking to myself as she was talking about her daughter, 'Gee, my butt hurts.' I started thinking, 'I wonder how long my butt has hurt?'"
It's been 20 years since Elsagher was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. She was 39 years old at the time.
"Unfortunately, I had to have my rectum removed to save my life, so I ended up with a permanent colostomy," she said. "At first, I was really grossed out about that whole idea of having a bag the rest of my life, but then it hit me. I get to have a life."
And what a life it's been.
Now, she's a highly sought-after public speaker and the author of five books that deal with everything from sex to aging.
Her first book is about surviving cancer.
"It's just about my own story of going through colon cancer and how I used humor to survive it," she said. "It was really uncomfortable being 39 years old and talking about my butt and having my butt looked at all the time."
Elsagher talks a lot about the importance of getting a colonoscopy, the procedure that looks for signs of colon cancer.
"People don't like to have that because it's icky, having something up your rear end," she said. "But the thing is, if you have a polyp, they can just cut it off right then and there."
She's convinced humor helps with healing.
"We don't know where we are going to get cancer," she said. "That's the insidious thing about cancer. It could be on the tip of your nose, it could be on your arm. Mine just happened to be in the rectum. So should I be anymore embarrassed by it? No."
March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Doctors recommend getting a colonoscopy once you turn 50.
But if you have a family history of the colon cancer, it's recommended you go sooner.
You can learn more about the procedure here and more about Elsagher here.
