On Saturday night as I watched the Kansas Jayhawks come back onto the court after halftime of their Final Four contest with Ohio State, I caught a commercial by Ozzy Osborne for a colonoscopy sweepstakes. Now there is a message to make one sit up and take notice! The contest included a free flight to New York City, lodging and a tour of famous NYC spots, plus the highlight — a free medical procedure at New York Presbyterian Hospital to diagnose what might be in your very own colon.

I thought, “Oh my,” watched the Jayhawks win over Ohio State, and the next morning wondered if I dreamed the whole thing.

Some of my regular readers might remember that just about a year ago I went off to St. Luke Hospital in Marion for the dreaded colon event and wrote about it in this very space. I was surprised that it was not the shuddering horror that I had anticipated. In fact, the worst of it was the prep effort, and I am convinced that if you have a bathroom with a porcelain receptacle that has an attached flushing mechanism, you are in fine shape.

Several weeks after sharing all of that personal information with you, I wrote about the colonoscopy experience again because of all the feedback I had on the topic. No one at all fussed or whined about having done it. Rather, they seemed quite proud of their stalwart resolve to carry on and get the job done!

They all said the same thing I did — if you haven’t done it, just suck it up and go do it. If you are 50 or older, now is the time. It really is a piece of cake.

So I was thinking of entering this contest and checked it out on the Internet. However, since I just had mine about six months ago, I was planning on sending one of you if I won. I even started compiling a mental list of possible candidates, and you were on it.

Then I came to the end of the “CBS Colonoscopy Sweepstakes” web page and there was an announcement thanking me for my interest, but telling me that the sweepstakes was closed! I wonder who paid for that advertisement in the middle of a Final Four game of the NCAA Tournament?

Nonetheless, it was a great contest idea and it gave me a reason to give you another nudge if you haven’t gotten your procedure scheduled yet. Do it! Don’t wait for another colonoscopy sweepstakes. Make the appointment today.

— SUSAN MARSHALL