Ryan Reynolds, 45, was surprised to find out that he had an ‘extremely subtle polyp’ during a ‘potentially life-saving’ colonoscopy procedure — and it was all caught on camera! The video, which the Deadpool actor agreed to film if his pal Rob McElhenney, 45, learned to speak Welsh, was posted to Ryan’s YouTube channel on Sept. 13. In less than 24 hours, it had already gotten well over 100,000 likes. Watch the video to see Ryan’s reaction after learning the scary news.
“I would never normally have any medical procedure put on camera. It’s not every day that you can raise awareness for something that will most definitely save lives. That is enough motivation for me to let you in on a camera being shoved up my a**,” Ryan said in the video as he was entering a nearby hospital to undergo the procedure. His doctor, Dr. Lapook, who also appeared in the video, asked him if it was the first time he had a colonoscopy. He responded, “Yeah. And we are filming it. It’s like, also, just awful.”
Following the short 30-minute procedure, the doctor informed Ryan — who has three children with his wife Blake Lively, 35 — of the shocking results. “You did such a good prep, that I was able to find an extremely subtle polyp that was on the right side of your colon,” Dr. Lapook said. “This was potentially life-saving for you. I am not kidding and I am not being overdramatic,” he said, adding, “This is exactly why you do this. You had no symptoms.” Ryan, sounding emotional, gave the doc a thumbs up and said, “I love it. Thank you so much for this. Seriously, thank you for pushing me to do this.”
Dr. Lapook then showed Ryan the actual polyp that was captured by a microscopic camera during the procedure and told him that it was removed. “I cut it off with the snare and it’s gone,” Dr. Lapook said. “You are interrupting the natural history of a disease of something of a process that could have ended up developing into cancer and causing all sorts of problems.”
Ryan’s video was praised by the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, who commented on his YouTube video, “It’s been an honor to do this partnership with you. Your advocacy about colon cancer will save countless lives. #LeadFromBehind.