On the premiere of 'The Dr. Oz Show' (weekdays, syndicated), the doctor is forced to become the patient. Health expert Mehmet Oz is a master of helping others with their problems. But now, the doctor discovers that he's at a high risk of getting cancer. In fact, had it not been for his own show, Dr. Oz could have easily died.

For the benefit of his viewers, Oz filmed a routine colonoscopy over the course of this summer, while his series was on hiatus. Dr. Oz underwent this procedure purely to educate his audience about it. He never suspected that something might be wrong with him. But after seeing Dr. Jon LaPook, Mehmet learned that he had a precancerous growth inside his body.

The new show reveals this fact to the world -- and reveals the great danger that Dr. Oz was in. Oz has the growth (or "polyp") removed. But it's only by random chance that he was saved from the risk of cancer. In an interview, Oz refers to his escape as "dumb luck" -- were it not for his TV series, he might have put off having a colonoscopy for another five years. And during this amount of time, his polyp could have quite easily turned into actual cancer.

Dr. LaPook tells Oz that the polyp was "silently growing," Following his time with LaPook, Dr. Oz seems quite shaken. He calls his wife immediately to let her know that he's okay. He isn't out of the woods yet, though. Mehmet will have to return in three months for a follow-up, and then be screened regularly after that, to make sure the problem doesn't return.

It just goes to show that even doctors can take their good health for granted. Dr. Oz has had his life shaken up by this event. It's important to be proactive in dealing with this disease, so if you need more information on cancer screening, please go here. You don't want to make the same type of mistake that Dr. Oz nearly made.