Would you ever consider getting a colonoscopy with friends? That’s what GMA3 co-anchor DeMarco Morgan did for his first colonoscopy, recruiting two of his childhood friends for simultaneous screenings.
“I think it was a responsibility of mine,” Morgan told People magazine of his unorthodox approach to preventive care. “I wanted to do it, but I didn’t want to do it alone…We can do it as a group and save our lives and possibly save some others.”
Having celebrated his 45th birthday in November — the recommended age to begin colonoscopy screenings — Morgan saw a unique opportunity to encourage other Black men in his age group to schedule this often overlooked but crucial health screening.
“Men, we go to the barbershop together, the bar together, sports games together, bachelor parties together, but we don’t go to the doctor together,” he explained. “When it comes to something that can save our life, everybody in the room is quiet. We don’t talk about it.”
“Whereas the ladies that I know — because I don’t want to generalize — they’re like, ‘Girl, we’re going to get a mammogram. Oh, I just had one.’ They do stuff together or they talk about issues together. We don’t. So why not do something differently?” he continued. “Think about the impact that we could have by people seeing three Black men not just going to get tested, but going to do it together.”
While the unexpected death of 43-year-old “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman in 2020 brought greater attention and urgency to colorectal cancer (CRC) prevention and early detection, it often remains a stigmatized discussion within Black communities.
“The Black community, in my experience from growing up, a lot of times we talk about, ‘Oh, I was doing fine until I found out I had this.’ My dad didn’t go to the doctor. My mom had to force my dad to go to the doctor. And that was the story for my uncles,” he recalled.
“We have to get out of that. We’ve got to find a way to make it cool to go get checked up and make sure you are fine,” he continued. “When you look at the numbers and how it disproportionately affects us, it’s alarming. I think when people see people who look like them in powerful positions going to the doctor and saying, ‘It’s okay,’ they too will jump in line.”
The numbers are indeed alarming. According to the American Cancer Society, non-Hispanic African Americans outpace every other ethnicity in both incidence of colorectal cancer and death from the disease, with Black men being the highest of all demographic groups. Data from 2009-2013 indicated that “CRC incidence rates in Blacks were about 20% higher than those in non-Hispanic whites (NHWs) and 50% higher than those in APIs [Asian/Pacific Islanders]. The disparity for mortality is twice that for incidence; CRC death rates in Blacks are 40% higher than in NHWs and double those in APIs”.
Accordingly, the American College of Physicians has advised those at high risk for colorectal cancer, typically determined by incidences in immediate family members, to begin screening at age 40 or ten years younger than the diagnosis age of their youngest affected relative.
While socioeconomic inequalities were noted among the “complex” assortment of issues contributing to the disparities in diagnosis and mortality rates, as Morgan noted, there are frequently also misconceptions about the screening procedure.
“[A] lot of times people think it is a painful procedure. And I think for some reason that message isn’t loud and clear that it’s not a painful procedure,” he explained. “You feel nothing before, during, or after.”
In fact, the most discomfort one might experience is actually the preparation for the procedure, as colon cleansing isn’t “a sexy thing to do,” joked Morgan, whose chronicle of the procedure began Monday on “GMA3: What You Need to Know.” While he and his friends scheduled their appointments in tandem, colonoscopies are typically performed independently; the significant difference in the trio’s approach was a “sense of community.”
“We literally had each other,” said Morgan. “We were all at some point nervous but the support that we were able to give each other along the way, it helped.”
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