Colonoscopy....

[Dos Perros]

(For those that have been on Instagram the last couple days.)

Land Tawney has entered the chat.

 

[CorbLand]

Heck that's why I had to have a colonoscopy to begin with.

Shit.

 

[MattB]

Just make sure the water is really cold.

 

[Eyeman]

The procedure now a days is pretty slick....pun intended.
The best part of it is the nap you get.
The prep aint bad. its the mental agony of not being able to eat when you want.

 

[Marble]

Tomorrow....for both wife and me. Our first. Colon issues run in my family so I'm overdue.
Just chugged round one of the purge juice, good lord--gack! Waiting for the purge now....

Anyone else gotten the probe lately?

I've had...I can't even count them. Had colon cancer at 37...

Different hospitals give different preps. Usually the hospitals with the best doctors have protocols that give the best results. And the prep volume amount is less with more potions for flavors. I still cannot drink lemon-lime Gatorade.

For anesthesia...there are two routes. Narcotics which is usually a mixture of, IIRC, versed, fentenal, and a few others. It works well but lasts the rest of the day.

The one I prefer is propofol. They still give some lighter narcotics and some lidocaine when they wheel you in. But when you wake up you recover very fast. I can function the rest of the day.

Propofol usually costs a little more because it requires an anesthesia nurse. But it's worth it to me.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

 

[Marble]

Nope, don't plan to either.

If you are 50 with or without insurance, do it.

If you are a first responder and over 40, do it.

The alternative if it goes too far is death or, like me, a permanent colostomy bag. Mine was fairly advanced at a very young age.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

 

[Marble]

What about pooping in the box and sending it in? Any done that one? I’d sign up for that one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am not sure about it. My understanding is it detects cancer. The goal of a colonosopy is to remove the polyps prior to them turning into cancer.

Plus other diseases can be diagnosed.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

 

[PredatorSlayer]

I have had to get them every few years since I was 26…now 40. They have pills you can take now instead of the nasty fluid to clean you at. I always tell them to make sure I am out cold through the entire procedure because I don’t want to wake up and realize I like it.

 

[johnsd16]

As others have said, just get it done. Colon and rectal cancer is the #2 cause of cancer related death in the US behind lung, and is the third commonest cancer behind breast/prostate for women/men, and lung. As has also been mentioned it is the most “preventable” of the common cancers because unlike breast/prostate and lung the “pre-cancerous” tissue can be removed which prevents you from ever getting it.

The overwhelming majority of patients with colon and rectal cancer have no family history. Waiting for symptoms before getting checked is not a good idea. By the time you have blood in the stool, pain, weight loss or change in stool caliber it is more likely that the cancer is advanced. Stage 1-2 colon/rectal cancer have a 5 year survival of ~90% whereas stage 3b-4 have a 5 year survival of 10-14%. Finding it early is key.

Colonoscopy is the best test, but doing some test is better than nothing. Also the “colon rupture” or “poking a hole” is VERY VERY rare when the procedure is done by a well trained specialist, specifically a gastroenterologist rather than a general/primary care specialist or general surgeon. There is much data to support that statement. Gastroenterologists are also better at finding and removing the precancerous polyps.

Many options now for preps and sedation/anesthesia.

Full disclosure, I am a Gastroenterologist that does ~1000 colonoscopies/yr and have published papers on colorectal cancer screening. The new screening age is 45 years old or 10 years before the age of a first degree family member who had colon cancer, whichever is sooner. Get it done men.

 

[EastHumboldt]

its illegal to poop in a box in Kansas, Utah and Alabama. Look it up.

 

[AndyB]

Nowt like having the bottom falling out of your world,,,I mean the world falling out of your bottom!

I opted for no pain killers, didn't like the idea of em shoving it through my bowl and wanted to be able to tell them if it did'nt feel quite right. Anyway, ended up on a drip after having a reaction.....take the pain killers.

 

[menhaden_man]

Someone else start the vasectomy thread, I can’t bring myself to do it.

Don’t do it... trust me.

 

[Tod osier]

Tomorrow....for both wife and me. Our first. Colon issues run in my family so I'm overdue.
Just chugged round one of the purge juice, good lord--gack! Waiting for the purge now....

Anyone else gotten the probe lately?

Hope is goes well, report back.

About the easiest procedure I've done. Wasted a lot of energy stressing ahead, was easy peasy.

 

[roadrunner]

If you are 50 with or without insurance, do it.

If you are a first responder and over 40, do it.

The alternative if it goes too far is death or, like me, a permanent colostomy bag. Mine was fairly advanced at a very young age.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

So, you're saying every adult over 50 is going to suffer from a colon ailment?

 

[Btaylor]

So, you're saying every adult over 50 is going to suffer from a colon ailment?

Odds are probably better than catchin a dirt nap from the rona.

 

[Dos Perros]

its illegal to poop in a box in Kansas, Utah and Alabama. Look it up.

What’s the statue of limitations in Kansas? Gotta good story.

 

[Firehawk]

Tomorrow....for both wife and me. Our first. Colon issues run in my family so I'm overdue.
Just chugged round one of the purge juice, good lord--gack! Waiting for the purge now....

Anyone else gotten the probe lately?

Procedure was easy, but the purge was horrible. My first one was last summer. Told to come back in 7 years. Good luck, I hope it all turns out ok.

 

[Racer00]

Had one 10 years ago. Came out clean as a whistle. Only advice is once you drink the kool aid, wear some loose fitting sweat pants with elastic waist band. No tie strings, belts or snaps. Trust me. You won't have time.
This year Dr gave me the option to poop in the box, Have to do it every three years, but I took him up on it. It's a little awkward, but manageable. There is a whole procedure. Worst part was walking into UPS store and handing a box of my business to the clerk. Luckily I didn't know her.

 

[Theringworm]

After having a colleague who is 42 and asymptomatic until 5 months ago get diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer and see his life get turned upside down, I made it a point to do the preventative health screens that are recommended. Colon cancer is a very very preventable disease. I turned 45 in January and scheduled my colonoscopy 2 weeks later. Sure, no one likes the thought of having a long camera run up their rearend but in hindsight (pun intended) the procedure itself is a non-issue. The explosive colon cleansing bowel movements really aren’t that bad either. The worse part about it all was simply the taste of the bowel prep drink. Its terrible and so sweet you simply want to eat a
pile of salt, which I indirectly did by licking the salt off of tortilla chips between drinks . Aside from that, it wasn’t a big deal at all. Only other recommendation which is obvious, do not do the bowel prep unless you can be home all day. Otherwise there will be, “cleanups on isle 9, and 10, 11, 12, 13, etc etc. No way you are turning that runaway freight train back by ”using the force”. Ain’t happening.

I honestly had no idea i had already had the procedure when I woke up, nor did I have any residual discomfort after the fact. I had one small polyp that was excised and now I get to come back in 3 years. Anesthesia is a beautiful thing. I’ll disclose that I am an anesthesiologist so I might be a little biased but the “white nectar from the bottle” aka “Michael Jackson drug” better known as Propofol is as good as it gets and has no residual side effects. At my institution, if we/anesthesia are doing the case you only get propofol. No additional narcotics or sedatives. There is zero need for them nor would I want them as they are what make you feel drowsy, sluggish and potentially nauseated the rest of the day. This would be my recommendation.

If the Anesthesia department isn’t involved then you’ll end up getting “nurse sedation” which consists of a lot of Fentanyl and Versed being given most generally. RN/LVN Nurses are not aloud to administer propofol so they only have narcotics or sedatives to give. The reason being is they can easily reverse both of these meds and there is no reversal for Propofol. So basically, if they over sedate you they can reverse the medications and prevent a likely dangerous situation. If you get over sedated with Propofol, you now need someone to maintain your airway and that’s where anesthesia gets involved as this is what we are trained to do. Most people feel the prolonged effects from the fentanyl and versed. You are basically worthless for the rest of the day in this scenario.

I guess there is a 3rd option, and that’s no sedation at all. But…….I don’t know any real men that are down for that so, best to pick 1 of the 2 above.

And while they are down there knocking on the back door, prostate cancer has an even higher risk as men age. As Aaron Rodgers always advertises, grab your ankles and get that “discount double check”! It just might prolong your life.

 

[EastHumboldt]

What’s the statue of limitations in Kansas? Gotta good story.

I was just kidding, trying to see if anybody would take the bait and look it up. So you can go ahead and tell your story. Can’t wait… Of course this means that the thread is about to dissolve into poop stories.