Giant, inflatable colon does more than bring laughs

A 40-foot-long giant colon has converged on West Edmonton Mall, in an effort to let people know that colon health is sort of a laughing matter.

The inflatable colon, a free exhibit from the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada, is complete with designs of various colon-specific illnesses such as polyps, Crohn’s disease, hemorrhoids, ulcerative colitis and, most importantly, cancer. The CCAC wants to de-stigmatize the colon with creativity and humour. The colon will be on display until Sunday, Nov. 6.

“There’s this thing about anything below the belt,” said Ronald Basdeo, the exhibit manager. “So when you have this larger-than-life exhibit, you get through to people better. You walk in and there’s a hemorrhoid bigger than you.”

Uneasy laughter and apprehension are everywhere at the exhibit. Walking through a giant colon isn’t exactly the way any patron planned on spending his or her weekend, but on its first day, heavy foot traffic kept the exhibit busy, with some people taking the tour two or three times.

More than 250,000 Canadians have taken the Giant Colon Tour since 2009.

David Moores, 63, said the colon reminded him to schedule his next appointment, an appointment he keeps every five years following a scare in 2003.

“My brother had colon cancer,” said Moores. “His doctor in Calgary insisted that I go. It took him two to three years to talk me into it. He [the doctor] asked if he had any siblings, and my brother said, ‘I have one brother.’ ”

Moores’s experience isn’t an uncommon one. According to Basdeo, too many Canadians go without screening due to embarrassment.

Moores said the thought of a colonoscopy kept him from seeing his doctor, even in the face of cancer. When Moores finally was talked into going, he turned out to be OK, but he sees the error of his ways.

“For the sake of a half hour, the relief of knowing is worth it,” said Moores, noting the ease of the procedure. “I had it done in Fort McMurray. The doctor said, ‘Hello, Mr. Moores,’ put the intravenous in my hand, and the next thing I know, it’s over.”

Moores’s brother recovered from colon cancer, which has a cure rate of over 90 per cent when caught early.

Every year, about 22,500 Canadians are diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and 9,100 are dying from it, Basdeo said. Fewer would be in that position if the Fecal Immunochemical Test were more widely used, rather than the Fecal Occult Blood Test, he said.

“It’s giving a lot of false positives and negatives,” said Basdeo.

Both tests look at blood in stool samples, but the immunochemical test,  which right now is used only in some B.C. cities, has a much higher sensitivity and specificity for abnormalities, the CCAC believes.

The giant colon is leased for $12,500 per day, $18,000 for two days and $24,000 for three days. The CCAC uses revenues for lobbying efforts and expanding the tour. With two giant colons already on tour, a third is in development, at a cost of $75,000.

Take a virtual tour of the exhibit.