anyone else had a colonoscopy?

[Donnaj4962]

I apologize if this subject offends anyone, but I was just wondering. I had my first on Monday. The prep was the worst!

I have NO recollection of what happened from "We need you to lay with your left arm tucked under a little more" to the point where I woke up in my own bed with a Diet 7-up in my hands, wondering how in the world I had gotten there! Seriously, that is frightening! I have a vague recollection of being in the bathroom with a nurse as she helped me dress, and telling her, "It is very nice of you to help me."

My mother is a colon cancer survivor, so my doctor was insistant that I have a colonoscopy when I turned 45, rather than the normal 50. It was a good thing, since he removed a fairly large pre-cancerous polyp. I spent several hours thinking what would have happened had I NOT had the procedure done? Would I have lived to 50??!!?? I am fine now, knowing that it is gone, and realizing the need to have one done every 2 years now, as my doctor has indicated.

So, any other stories of colonoscopies... or anesthesia stories out there that you would like to share???

[Freedom]

Haven't had one myself, but have helped my Dad. There are 2 difference methods for the prep. One is to drink some horrid stuff. The other is to drink soft drinks with pills. Everyone recommends the second method for seniors as easier to handle.

[joycenalex]

the preps are awful and are the most important part, cuz any remaining stool on the colon wall prevents the doc from seeing everything. when i had my upper endo in december 2005, my last sentence was...hey my feet are warm!
i woke up talking to the doc after i said something that made him laugh. eileen later told me that i asked him if he found many heads up peoples' behinds....he had a big laugh....

[slick]

I had a colonoscopy a couple of years ago and I also had about 4 very small pre-cancerous polyps removed. I remember them giving me drugs....good drugs.... and don't remember anything until the nurse was helping me wake up. All in all the test itself is a piece of cake.

However I took the previous day off work because I spent most of the day in the bathroom. I have to agree that the prep is much worse than the test itself.

[moosmom]

I'm 54 and still haven't had one. I know I should, but keep putting it off. I have Title 19 so I know it'll be covered. Call me chicken, I guess.

[Pam]

Yes I had one and agree that the prep is the worst part. I had to drink awful stuff that actually, as I recall, had a salty lemony flavor. UGH! If it tasted better it might have been easier to get down. Then, of course, you dare not venture too far from the bathroom after drinking that. The feeling afterward of hearing the words "everything was fine" is worth all of it though. Moosmom, please don't put it off. It will be over before you know it and, as others have said, the testing itself is done while you are in LaLa Land.

[RedHedd]

I had one. The prep is the worst. I don't remember anything about the procedure, except my friend said I was pretty funny afterwards.

[cyber-sibes]

I'm with you Donna - call me chicken! I haven't had one yet, and I'm turning 54 next week. I was with my husband when he got one a couple years ago. He was SO loud in the recovery room - The nurses came & got me, he kept shouting he was hungry and wanted a coke and a burger from McDonalds! I told him to quiet down and he goes "WHAT, AM I TALKING TOO LOUD?" looking very groggy. Poor guy. The prep seemed pretty awful. The prep for my hyst. was bad enough!

[Catty1]

There is a new colonoscopy method...just coming into Canada, so it's likely in the USA already! Read about it in MacLean's yesterday.

It's a Virtual one, using CT scan technology. Try putting 'virtual colonoscopy' into Google and see what happens!

[Laura's Babies]

Those of you who are afraid of it or just think you don't have time.... This test is NOTHING compared to being told you have cancer, just go ask a cancer survivor.. Time? You got time to die?

My brother put it off and it cost him his life, just when he was the happiest that he had ever been. His death was needless and such a waste of a great person. He was only 55 years old when colon cancer killed him.

[ramanth]

I had one years ago after finding blood in my stool.

The stuff to drink to clean you out prior was the worst part for me. That stuff was nasty and I had to choke two glasses down.

I was awake during the procedure and other than some cramping, it wasn't too bad.

[joycenalex]

with a virtual colonscopy you still gotta go thru the prep if they 'see' something on the colon wall and need to do a biopsy. for what it's worth

[Catty1]

Yes, but they use external scanning to view the colon; they don't put an "anal probe" into you, which is the worst of it for many people.

I did prep for my surgery, and it wasn't so bad. I think it's more the thought of drinking the cleanout gunk than anything.

I had a CT scan too, and had to drink a solution over a period of two hours. It tasted exactly like dusty water.

[carole]

Never had one, never hoping to have to have one, here in NZ you only get them if they suspect something is wrong and you visit a specialist, i know however certain tests are available as standard as having a smear in a lot of countries, just waiting for that to happen here, tell me is the stuff you drink anything like the one you have for a barium meal test, i have had that and it was ghastly.

[Jakesmom]

The virtual colonoscopy has not been confirmed to be as effective in assessing risk, and if anything is found, you still have to have a regular colonoscopy for biopsy or polyp removal.

So...unless you really can't, you should have a regular colonoscopy. Its a small price to pay every 5-10 years (depending on your risk) for peace of mind.

Just make sure you get sedation for your test. You don't want to do it totally awake.

Jake's mom