00:00hello hello again hi guys we are here for another update on Gary's journey and I'm genuinely grateful
00:11that you're sharing your journey because I think it's really important it's very important it's
00:15very important to highlight men's health and so you've had now the the latest procedure that
00:21Gary's just had was a colonoscopy and an oral endoscope so basically when you think of the
00:27whole gastro is gastrointestinal tract it's I mean the way Gary said it was that you know they looked
00:34at both ends so yeah that's true from the mouth all the way down and then the tubes all coil coil coil
00:40and then obviously go to the other end so so they covered the whole lot covered the whole pipe yeah
00:46and and the and the the results are positive about this one aren't they yeah yeah yeah but like as
00:54Suvi said I went in yesterday um to this time to university day hospital because they don't do
01:01major surgery but they do this type of stuff went in there got put under which was good and they did
01:07the procedure probably took all up from getting ready to coming out a couple of hours which wasn't
01:14too bad came out had something and then the doctor came in gave me the two reports they did take some
01:22um biopsies which they always do just in case but they didn't find anything and they come back as
01:29um all the things normal normal normal so that was a really good thing so that part of it is all
01:36all good and normal so and that was from my I think um booked in for my local doctor a while ago
01:44to just cover everything so yeah so I'm certainly getting checked out all over so which is a good thing
01:50so that um I do remember actually because Gary and I both live here on the Gold Coast where
01:57I mean we're not neighbours but I can see his apartment building just across the road there
02:02or well just not the road but a little bit of a way but um so we actually run into each other just
02:08incidentally as well because you love surfers you're often bike riding and whatever yeah go for a swim
02:13so I do remember the morning that um I was pushing Spencer in the pram and I was heading up just
02:20on our normal walk and you were walking and I think you had your backpack on and I um it was kind of out
02:27of context because whenever I see Gary in the morning he's either on his bike or up on the esplanade
02:32or at the coffee shop because I was in a different spot all together yeah so he was in a different spot
02:36you were heading for the tram I think or something yeah that's right I caught the tram to the doctors
02:40yeah and I and I said oh hi like you know obviously because it was a little bit out of context and I
02:46remember saying what's wrong because he actually looked a little bit shaken and a little bit pale
02:51yeah because that was one of the first visits to the doctors where he started saying yes we'd better
02:56start getting some things checked yeah so I do remember that morning and I remember you said
03:01oh I've got to have a whole stack of tests and um I could have anything stomach cancer or anything
03:07and so that's that's why really early on too I kept sort of asking Gary when he was having tests I
03:13said oh is it is it okay like and um but basically then as well when you initially got the letter from
03:21the blood bank they said we urge you to go and see the doctor as soon as possible and so what did really
03:28flag it in Gary's case was the very low iron levels and very low iron levels if you if your blood
03:35test comes back is very low iron levels it's a very big red flag that there may be some cancer
03:41somewhere yeah so I think your GP may have said that yeah he did and and then yeah your iron level
03:47doesn't drop as low as mine did in a very short time for no reason right yeah especially when you
03:52haven't changed your diet or anything so yeah so that was a red flag and yeah that was the start of
03:58this journey start of this journey of getting everything sorted out and fixed up and
04:02but it's incredible you didn't feel sick at all yeah still don't so that's and and the thing is
04:09you could have gone on for another year like this easy and by that stage it could have metastasized to
04:14bones lymph nodes yeah and I know the prostate cancer and if I never had any symptoms it could have been
04:20an easy another six months a year before I even went for another checkup or anything for GP so
04:26so yes it just goes to show like we have to get checked out all the time when we start to get a
04:33bit older especially yeah yeah yeah you really do but but the reason yours was picked up was and I
04:39absolutely love this story was because Gary was giving blood yeah so he was doing something really
04:45good for others and it turns out that that that that selfless act in saving other people's lives
04:50may have actually saved your life yeah 100% so so yeah always so you can't get a better lesson than
04:57that like that's so good so everyone out there go and give blood go and give blood it's a good way to
05:02get tested it is well I remember when we interviewed that lady she said it's a free health check yeah it
05:08is 100% and as it is it was a free health check for me I help someone giving blood and yeah I'm being
05:16helped I just realized I high-fived your head and it's got a bandage on it what is that is that from
05:21yesterday or just something else okay that's just another drama no it's just another medical story
05:28well we'll cover Gary's finger next we could be pretty busy they're coming quick thick and fast yeah
05:34but basically for other people that are curious colonoscopy do you want to talk us through the
05:41horror of having a colonoscopy no it's not horrible it's not actually I know other people that have
05:47had one too and and usually people have a colonoscopy when they do that test so when you in Australia
05:53anyway we're very lucky they have bowel cancer screening so for free they send you a letter and
05:58they send you a kit that you can test that you can collect a small sample at home and send it in
06:04an envelope to get tested and they test you know and if there's any blood then they'll let you know
06:12and you'll have to go back in yeah and get a colonoscopy yeah and it's not the nicest procedure
06:19leading up to it is it because you have to take laxatives and really yeah it's not the procedure so
06:24because yeah because you're out to it when they do the procedure it's the lead up but the lead up
06:30which I've never had one before and a lot of people go through it a fair bit throughout their
06:36life so I've never experienced it and they give you you go and get the satchels to actually take
06:42you've got to go on a high fiber high fiber low fiber diet for about a week in advance
06:53and a white diet yeah and no seeds or yeah nothing that can sort of stay in your system for a long
07:00time get stuck in the little grooves because your colon has got if you look at a magnified version of
07:06your colon it's actually like um there's I don't know there's a little villi or there's it's not
07:12a smooth pipe there's all these things that catch food and really try and um get your body to be
07:19absorbing these nutrients and your colon actually absorbs a lot of those and and like you don't
07:24want seeds seeds and nuts are obviously going to take longer than other stuff to go through the
07:28system so you get on a diet and then um the night before the day before you get three satchels
07:36where you've got to mix in water and drink a liter every hour and then so on and then the last thing
07:43was get up at four o'clock on the morning yeah have the last one and then nothing or eat to drink until
07:49the procedure which I went in early morning which was fantastic at half past seven but yes that stuff
07:56really works so I'll tell you I have heard that before that it really works I had the first liter and
08:03thought nah this stuff's not working and all of a sudden yeah you spend a couple of hours on the toilet
08:10yeah so no and that's got it because because if you don't so you don't want to be too far away from the
08:15toilet no not at all you wouldn't want to be traveling anywhere yeah but if you don't go through the
08:20procedure properly and your bowel isn't completely cleared out you go in for the um the procedure
08:28and they find out they can't do it because they can't see because they're looking with a camera
08:33at the whole wall and everything so if they can't see you've got to come back and go through that
08:38procedure again so you definitely got to stick to the diet and the rules which is all fine it's only a
08:45few days but but yes it was an experience so it's in your best interests to suffer yes in the moment
08:58so yes I stuck to the procedure um properly it was all good came out and yeah everything seemed
09:04pretty good so they were happy with it so so that's good so yeah so it was an experience and the white diet
09:11is interesting too because they don't want you to have anything like um raspberries or um red cordial
09:17or anything anything that could sort of or or even tomato sauce I think you're not meant to have
09:22yeah because the fluids you're allowed to have yeah it's like it can stain the inside of your
09:28like it can color your tongue yeah so it must do the same yeah yeah because you can drink lemonade
09:33yeah lemon cordial water of course and things like that but yeah yeah that milk but nothing
09:39with um like you said strawberry anything like yeah even vanilla ice cream you can have plenty of
09:45vanilla ice cream if you like ice cream but you can't have anything with nuts or fruit or yeah it's
09:51very interesting yeah yeah so it is I found the whole staining thing interesting too yeah but it is it's
09:58like you eat something blue you know blue lolly or a blue m&m or something and your tongue goes yeah when
10:04you think about it if your tongue goes blue then then your insides might too yeah so that was um the
10:11update and yep we'll keep going um we'll keep following the journey obviously because we'll be um
10:18we'll be updating you with every step so the next step is what is the next step now next the surgery the
10:25surgery in i think it's about two weeks time two weeks yeah and where will that's at gold coast
10:31yeah that's a gold coast university hospital yeah go in and obviously get the operation and the
10:38prostate removed so and then we'll go from there stay tuned thank you for sharing hey go and give blood
10:46go and give blood and get checked out and get checked out because it's very important for all of us
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