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Mark Consuelos shared that he had a long-overdue colonoscopy, explaining that “I’m 54 and I hadn’t had one yet, so that’s late.”
Consulos disclosed the news on the Nov. 17 episode of Live with Kelly and Mark, after wife and co-host Kelly Ripa, 55, talked about the problems that can occur if you let medical issues go unchecked too long.
“There are things you can nip in the bud, and instead, you let it get to the place where it’s [beyond help],” she said, per a transcript from TV Insider. Her comment prompted Consuelos to share that “a couple of weeks ago” he’d had a colonoscopy, his first.
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“I’m 54 and I hadn’t had one yet, so that’s late,” he said; Per the American Cancer Society, people should start having regular colonoscopies to screen for colon cancer and other problems at age 45.
He shared that he underwent general anesthesia, and afterwards, felt “very rested” but “I remember sitting there, and I remember I didn’t want to say anything silly.” He did, however, get the idea to set up his and Ripa’s youngest child, son, Joaquin, 22, with a nurse. (The couple also share son Michael, 28, and daughter, Lola, 24.)
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“I see my nurse is this young girl, and she was adorable. She was really, really cute, and I thought, ‘She’d be amazing for my son Joaquin.’ But I shut my mouth,” Consuelos said. “I kept it shut. I was gonna ask her if she was single. I didn’t do it. I was gonna ask her how old she was. I didn’t do it. I didn’t say anything.”
Ripa said when he came home, he was “hungry and wild,” and talking about his grand plan to play matchmaker for their son: “You came home, and you were like, ‘There was a nurse. I tried to set her up with Joaquin, but then I thought I shouldn’t say anything. So, I kept my mouth shut. Aren’t you proud of me?’ ”
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“And I was like, ‘Oh, Lord. He’s still high,’” Ripa said.
As for the test, Consuelos said he’s “great” and doesn’t have to have another colonoscopy for 10 years, which prompted Ripa to riff: “You have the best colon, the greatest colon they’ve ever seen. You have the colon of a much younger man.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone get screened for colon cancer every ten years once they turn 45 — but earlier, and more frequent screenings are recommended if someone has an inflammatory bowel disease (such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis), or a personal or family history of colorectal cancer or colorectal polyps, among other pre-existing conditions.
