Colonoscopy....

[5MilesBack]

I picked up some Giardia several years ago and.......long story short, about a year into that the Dr decided to do a colonoscopy. Was supposed to drink a gallon of the stuff over a 3 hour period, so I broke that down into every 20 minutes. About 2/3's the way through I started throwing up blood. Called them and they told me to stop because 2/3's was probably good enough for the procedure.

They knocked me out with the IV and when done they woke me up. Man, I was pissed. I told the anesthesiologist I was getting the best sleep of my life and then he woke me up. He looks at me with a smile and says "that's a nice little cocktail isn't it". There I am laying there with vaseline on my ***, and I didn't even get a free dinner out of it.

Then they schedule a small bowel follow-thru and tell me to show up an hour and a half early. I get there and they hand me two bottles of some barium drink mix and tell me to "try" and drink those over the next hour. I asked if I could slam them both down immediately and they laugh at me and said "go ahead". So I slammed them down and and handed them the bottles, and there they are staring at me with their jaws hanging open. Apparently they had never seen anyone able to do that before. At least they were able to start the scanning earlier than they planned.

 

[redcorn65]

Had one at 22 years old. It was a walk in the park besides the go go juice they make you drink.


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[CorbLand]

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.

Someone gets that train rolling and I will hop aboard with a couple of mine.

 

[gunbear]

The prep is the bad thing. the procedure is nothing. you will be out and not know it happened

 

[Marble]

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

I'm not sure how you interrupted that from what I said.

The GI doctor above could be more specific about having ailments over 50. Those ages I said above is what I have learned from conversations with GI doctors, nurses etc. I have one friend who's wife is stage 4 in her mid 30s and ignored the common bowel issues associated with disease. She will be on permanent chemo for life and has been since 2017 I beleive. Another person I met who was 44 and died because he ignored symptoms for years.

Being in law enforcement, I've also had other LEOs die in their late 30s and early 40s from colon cancer.

It's very preventable. I'm just trying to get the word out to those I can reach so they don't have to go through what I did.

If you have family history, screening should be done 10 years prior to the age of the discovery of the family history. So if your family member was 37 at age of discovery, you would get screened at 27.

If you are a first responder. Get one at age 40.

If you are 50 regardless of family history.

If your bowel habits change and/or you ever have blood in your stool.

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[Marble]

I picked up some Giardia several years ago and.......long story short, about a year into that the Dr decided to do a colonoscopy. Was supposed to drink a gallon of the stuff over a 3 hour period, so I broke that down into every 20 minutes. About 2/3's the way through I started throwing up blood. Called them and they told me to stop because 2/3's was probably good enough for the procedure.

They knocked me out with the IV and when done they woke me up. Man, I was pissed. I told the anesthesiologist I was getting the best sleep of my life and then he woke me up. He looks at me with a smile and says "that's a nice little cocktail isn't it". There I am laying there with vaseline on my ***, and I didn't even get a free dinner out of it.

Then they schedule a small bowel follow-thru and tell me to show up an hour and a half early. I get there and they hand me two bottles of some barium drink mix and tell me to "try" and drink those over the next hour. I asked if I could slam them both down immediately and they laugh at me and said "go ahead". So I slammed them down and and handed them the bottles, and there they are staring at me with their jaws hanging open. Apparently they had never seen anyone able to do that before. At least they were able to start the scanning earlier than they planned.

Lol. My nurses always have the same reaction. It's just easier to drink it all at one time.

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[skywalkr]

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


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I'd recommend just getting the colonoscopy. If anything pops up then you'll need one anyway and sometimes it's a pain to get the insurance to agree if you did the fecal test. Also, a colonoscopy is one of the few procedures that can lower your risk of colon cancer. If they see a polyp they can knock that sucker off right there. It is one of those things that no one likes to do but it's one thing everyone should do.

Last time in I had an upper endoscopy along with a colonoscopy. Thankfully they used separate tubes for each job.

It's actually not uncommon to use the same scope, they just do the endoscopy first (obviously lol)

 

[Bearman]

After my procedure when they got me fully awake I noticed I was surrounded by just male nurses, the first words out of the doctor were “the anesthesia made you very combative, I am glad you are fully awake now” ……
Of course I didn’t remember any of it. I felt bad.

 

[robby denning]

I'd recommend just getting the colonoscopy. If anything pops up then you'll need one anyway and sometimes it's a pain to get the insurance to agree if you did the fecal test. Also, a colonoscopy is one of the few procedures that can lower your risk of colon cancer. If they see a polyp they can knock that sucker off right there. It is one of those things that no one likes to do but it's one thing everyone should do.

Thanks man! Was really liking the though of brewing up a bad one and handing it to the good-looking lady at the UPS counter who keeps telling me I can’t ship bullets to @Ryan Avery

 

[cornfedkiller]

If you are a first responder. Get one at age 40.

Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but I was unaware there was a correlation between first responders and colon cancer risk.. what's the reason?

 

[rayporter]

had a change of 'heart' eh.

 

[Theringworm]

Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but I was unaware there was a correlation between first responders and colon cancer risk.. what's the reason?

This recommendation is a result of the Roswell Park study that shows various 1st responders have shown to have an increased risk for certain types of cancers. I.e.:

• A 60% increased risk for lung cancer among firefighters
• A 25% increased risk for cancer among police officers
• A six-fold increase in breast cancer among female firefighters
• After 20 years of service, firefighters had an increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, multiple myeloma and colon and kidney cancer.
• After 30 years of service, firefighters have an increased risk of leukemia, lymphoma and brain cancer.
• Smoking, on top of the occupational exposures of first responders, increases the risk of lung and smoking-related cancers

The majority if not all of these added increased risks are due to "increased exposures" to various chemicals etc. as well as increased stressors. The study, IMO falls short on only isolating it to "first responders". It should and can be extrapolated to anyone who works with chemicals (mechanics, farmers, miners, industrials workers etc.) as well as anyone that has a very stressful job, sedentary lifestyle or has other known cancer causing risks etc etc. There are several known risk factors that increase your risk for cancer, just do the research.

I don't know the intended reason for the study, but I wouldn't doubt some astute person/group funded it, and proved the increased risk have an impact on their health and with that data, employers/labor unions can now use it to get better health care for the employees/participants.

Just because you aren't a "first responder" doesn't mean you don't have the same, if not worse increased statistical risks.

 

[hebertbrian]

After my procedure when they got me fully awake I noticed I was surrounded by just male nurses, the first words out of the doctor were “the anesthesia made you very combative, I am glad you are fully awake now” ……
Of course I didn’t remember any of it. I felt bad.

Haha, screen name checks out ...clearly not your fault

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[hebertbrian]

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 all went well for both of you. Mine was 60 mins from first sitting on the bed to walking out the door, thankfully all clean and clear. 25 mins under, best nap I've had in a long time, waking up I would never had known I had anything done. Agree with the above on Propofol, zero side effects and felt back to 100% 10 mins after waking up. If you have a choice I recommend the Sutab pills for prep meds if anyone struggles with taste/volume of liquids, and Charmin UltraSoft is your friend. Good luck to everyone else out there, looking forward to the make-up SD Cow Elk hunt this fall that got nixed when my dad got his colon cancer diagnosis last fall, he should tag his first elk and be hunting for hopefully several more seasons as they caught his early.

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[Buckshotaz]

https://www.miamiherald.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/dave-barry/article1928847.html

Required reading

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Watch your father in law die a slow lingering death over 9 months because "they're not shoving that up my ass" will change your perspective.
Also, the procedure now is nothing like the "hot poker" it was 30 years ago. Other than pissing out your ass, you'll feel nothing of the actual procedure.

OH, and Obama pays for it now.

My Dad went 5 years. Had 2' of colon removed early on and the assured us "they got it all". A year later it was back with a vengeance and the years that followed can only be described as barbaric suffering. By the time he passed he'd lost over 100 pounds and was a shell of the proud man that raised me.

Trust me, get the colonoscopy done. Your family and kids may thank you some day.

 

[CoStick]

You can take pills vs the drink these days i

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I got my first one at 40 (family history) and I'm overdue for the second. Here are my thoughts on the first go 'round:

Bowel prep- No pain or suffering, just incredibly urgent need to crap. To be honest, it was just a time consuming annoyance at roughly 3-4 hours from end to end. Be close to the toilet and have some wipes on hand. The one interesting thing is that when you are done, it is likely the first time your bowels have been empty in your entire life. A weird thought that I found interesting for some reason.

Drugs- I was given Versed and was a complete goofball afterwards. Good stuff right there!

Side benefits- had some internal 'rhoids heat treated while they were in there and cleared them up in a few days

Primary benefit- piece of mind that I was clear at the time.

 

[CoStick]

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


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If you get a colonoscopy it is typically covered for preventive care. If test positive with the at home kit, you are typically now paying for the colonoscopy because it is now treatment. Take it for what it is worth, that was explained to me by a friend. I have always just the colonoscopy done. Getting a colonoscopy is pretty simple and easy.

 

[Broomd]

Hope all went well for both of you. Mine was 60 mins from first sitting on the bed to walking out the door, thankfully all clean and clear. 25 mins under, best nap I've had in a long time, waking up I would never had known I had anything done. Agree with the above on Propofol, zero side effects and felt back to 100% 10 mins after waking up. If you have a choice I recommend the Sutab pills for prep meds if anyone struggles with taste/volume of liquids, and Charmin UltraSoft is your friend. Good luck to everyone else out there, looking forward to the make-up SD Cow Elk hunt this fall that got nixed when my dad got his colon cancer diagnosis last fall, he should tag his first elk and be hunting for hopefully several more seasons as they caught his early.

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Hey Brian, yep, just got home. Firstly, congrats on a solid exam, glad you also did this!

Hopefully not TMI here.......for us, wife was perfecto in there, I had two small polyps removed. Doc said they looked benign and very common variety (1 outta 4 @ 50y/o plus have them.)
First time ever being under--propofol for the win--a bit groggy coming around. FIfteen minutes of mild fog, and then all good. Very happy to have peace of mind and the procedure behind us.
Seven years recommended for my next scan, ten for wife.

Hope this thread helps with awareness. The importance can't be overstated.