Friday, May 1, 2009

My 2nd Colorectal Cancer Client

Since 1st Jan 09, I had received around 16-18 medical claims from my clients. On average, I received 1 claim notification from NTUC Income every 1-2 weeks. I'm probably one FA Rep who helped NTUC Income lose money...

One of them was diagnosed with Colorectal Cancer. She started her treatment since late last year. Todate, she had made at least 9 claims, Pre and Post Hospital Treatments as well as 3 inpatient stays of which 1 was in a private hospital. She switched to a restructured hospital even though she prefer the previous doctor because she was under a B plan and was not sufficent to pay the bill in private hospital. She is my 2nd client with Colorectal Cancer. The first one went though the whole course of treatment over 1 year and was cured. Hope things will turn out well for her too.

Life is very fragile. She is already my 7th Cancer client of which 3 had passed away.
Let me recap:
2 x Colorectal Cancer (One survived and One under treatment)
2 x Lung Cancer (Both passed away)
1 x Nasal Cancer (Passed away)
1 x Lymphoma (Survived)
1 x Breast Cancer (Not sure status as she was a client I never contacted since taking over from previous adviser - only know she claim from her CI Plan when NTUC Income informed me about it)

Today, I like to share with you what Colorectal Cancer is about.
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Colorectal Cancer
* Colorectal cancer, also called colon cancer or large bowel cancer, includes cancerous growths in the colon, rectum and appendix
* It is 2nd most common cancer only second to Lung Cancer. Currently, more than half of those affected will die from this disease. However, this is a very curable illness if diagnosed in the earlier stage.
* About 90% of those with Colorectal Cancer are above 40 years of age. This Cancer can be hereditary and if you have a first degree relative with colorectal cancer, you have a 6-12 fold increased risk of developing this illness.

Symptoms
* Bleeding from the rectrum
* Recent change in bowel habit
* Incomplete evacuation of stools
* Narrow Calibre Stools
* Unexplained weight loss
* Poor appetite, etc...

Treatment
* Primary Treatment for Colorectal cancer is surgery. Chemotheraphy and Radiotheraphy are sometimes used in addition to surgery. Between 80%-90% of coloeectal cancer patients recover if discovered and treated early but will drop to less than 50% if detected at the later stage.

Prevention
* Nearly all colon cancers begin as polyps. These growths occur on the bowel wall and may eventually grow in size and become cancerous. Removal of polyps will effectively treat the "cancer" even before it is cancerous
* To reduce risk of contacting colorectal cancer, you can have benign polyps removed through a colonoscopy.
* There is some evidence that a high-fibre low fat diet may play a role in preventing colorectal cancer.
* Go for regular screening especially if you fall in the high risk category of hereditary situations.

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