Ahh the joy of old age - My procedure

[Keith Hankins]

Well, when I turned 50 (3 years ago) my doc told me need to go check out the plumbing. I said, workin just fine. The wife said no you have to go. So since that great new healthcare has such a high deductable, and I've met the limit for the year 6k out of pocket, I'm going in tomorrow for the old roto-rooter. Got to tell you that crap you have to drink is the worst thing I've ever had. Oh well guess I got to know, at least I'll get a good nap tomorrow. Cheers!

On the bright side, the doc said I'll have lots of room for turkey!

[Pat Barry]

Its not as bad as you think it will be. Its no picnic mind you. Uncomfortable comes to mind. See if you can watch the event on TV

[Don Morris]

Join the club. That's one of the most unpleasant procedures I've had, but it's necessary. In the old days, they didn't have a flexible scope and a friend of mine passed out from the discomfort. Now, with the flexible scopes, it's not so bad. Katty Couric the news caster, lost her husband to colon cancer that maybe could have been detected if seen during one of these procedures. Now, they can even do it without scoping from what I hear. Good, because I'm due in a year or two for my third one.

[Bruce Page]

The 18 or so hours leading up to the procedure is not any fun but the procedure itself is a cakewalk. I never can remember a thing about it.

[Dave Verstraete]

The 18 or so hours leading up to the procedure is not any fun but the procedure itself is a cakewalk. I never can remember a thing about it.

Agree that it was a "cakewalk". That cakewalk also saved my life about 10 years ago. They found a precancerous polyp and removed it. After that, I had one every 6 months for 2 years. Then they stretched it to a year and later to 3 years. My doc just told me I am good for 5 years. WoooHooo!

GET YOUR COLONOSCOPY

[Ken Fitzgerald]

The preparation for the procedure isn't pleasant but it is not terrible either.

Colon cancer is one of those that cancers that can be prevented. My family has a history of colon cancer.

Starting at around age 55 because of the family history, I had to have colonoscopies. They removed 8 polyps and one was of a precancerous type during my first colonoscopy. I have to have a colonoscopy every 3 years.

I witnessed a family member develop colon cancer and did have to endure a temporary colostomy. If you think a colonoscopy and it's preparation is terrible, I can tell you I observed the psychological effects a temporary colostomy had on my family member. The good news, they were reconnected later but there still some complications with which that family member has to deal.

GET YOUR COLONOSCOPY!

[Jim Matthews]

Phht....

I slept through mine.
The worst part was detox from the sedative.

It was like a hangover, where you can't remember the party.
In the old days, they used a rigid Sigmoidoscope.

We've got it easy.

[Leigh Betsch]

I had it done a couple of years ago. As long as I was under I had them do a up scope and a down scope at the same time to check on a hiatal hernia as well as the colonoscopy. I woke up with a terrible taste in my mouth. I should have told the doc to do the down scope first.

[Ole Anderson]

Not long ago the standard procedure was called a flexible Sigmoidoscopy. Usually done in a doctor's office fully awake. Uncomfortable but not too bad. The problem is that it didn't traverse the colon far enough to really do much good. You don't want that procedure. If you are going to have it done, get a full colonoscopy, typically done with a much longer scope and under a quick sedation at a clinic or hospital. The prep might be a bit more, and yes the prep involves drinking a smaller amount of an evil liquid OSP or about a gallon of another not quite so evil liquid PSP. And if you have reflux or trouble swallowing, I too recommend having a endoscopy at the same time. It caught my serious condition called Barrett's esophagus.

[George Bokros]

When I had mine the prep was easy. Take 3 laxative pills and drink a bottle of Gatorade mixed with a specified amount of Miralax (don't remember how much). I did not have to drink that awful stuff you had to buy at the drug store and drink a gallon of it. Yes you ran to eliminate but it least what I was drinking was pleasant.

[David Weaver]

I had it done a couple of years ago. As long as I was under I had them do a up scope and a down scope at the same time to check on a hiatal hernia as well as the colonoscopy. I woke up with a terrible taste in my mouth. I should have told the doc to do the down scope first.

They probably chose their order of operations so the scope would already be partially cleaned when they were done!

[Joe Tilson]

I've had three now with no real discomfort. Told Doc a few months ago #3 was my last one. It's on to eternity for me now.

[Rich Engelhardt]

My dad had one done in August.
They gave him a clean bill of health.

He died of colon cancer in December of the same year.

How can a clean bill of health get to a full blown fatal case of colon cancer in that short of a time?
(The answer is - it can't. Somebody screwed up big time.)

[Rich Harkrader]

If you think a colonoscopy is bad, you really, really don't want a cystoscopy. Imagine the same kind of thing, but through a much smaller hole that most definitely was designed to be exit only. The part where they push through the valve between your bladder and urethra is the worst. Oh and they're dumping cold water all over your crotch the entire time too.

[Rich Enders]

Rich Engelhardt,

Colon cancer can also occur on the exterior of the colon. A good friend had years of clean colonoscopies, but died this past year of complications from a tumor that was probably caused internally but grew externally. This is not to say that someone didn't screw up in your fathers case, but is one way a colonoscopy could miss a problem.

The decedents of the purveyors of blood letting and leaches convinced my (relatively healthy) dad to have a pacemaker implanted at age 96. He died the next day from a blood clot.