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See.. I don't fully get this attitude.. In a way, I do understand resenting the 'forcing' to do something, and how that can rub someone wrong.. But..
A colonoscopy.. It isn't your company recommending it.. That's the recommendation of the American Cancer Society and many other organizations.
I know that a company I worked for required you to have a physical every year as a condition of insurance.. Just basic bloodwork.. Weight, etc..
Why do they do these things? The company doesn't know the results of any of it.. Because in medicine, every dollar spent in preventative care saves something like $10 down the road. If they identify you as having high blood pressure, or diabetes.. Well, 20 years of medication at $4 a month equals under $1000.. How much does a stroke cost? How much does losing a leg or going blind cost?
So.. I'm certainly not saying that the companies are doing this for YOUR benefit.. It benefits them.. You just get the side effect benefits of it.
Seeing as medical privacy laws prevent doctors from sharing any identifiable info with your employer.. It's silly, IMO, to refuse these tests in most cases, especially when the company is covering them 100%
Medicare doesn't force you to do these things, and.. Well, look how mismanaged Medicare is. I mean, really, that's like pointing to the person in a coffin and saying "He looks so good!" He's DEAD. WTF? "looks good"?.. But even Medicare covers them at 100% to encourage you to have them done, so that you don't come back costing them $200k in treatments when a $2k screening could have caught a condition early.
So, the people who want to moan and whine about how expensive medical care is, then come back with the attitude of "You can't force me to do preventative care".. It's mind boggling. I do wish people like that would have the common decency that if they DO, God forbid, wind up with colon cancer, refuse the massively expensive treatments for it.. I figure smokers should do the same.. If you smoke and have lung cancer.. Ok.. Sorry, you're dead. We're not spending millions of dollars to keep you alive an extra 30 days. And, yes.. I have lost several people to lung cancer.. one, a friend who was only 45. 2 years worth of radiation, chemotherapy, etc.. had they just let him be when it was discovered.. Probably lived just as long.
My employer was self-insured. They knew exactly what medical conditions their employees had because they were the ones processing the claims. That is how they knew who was not in compliance with their Wellness tests. No medical claim equaled non-compliance.
They also hired RN nurses to be "Health Coaches". Each employee was assigned their own coach whose job it was to work on a particular employees wellness goals. You had to give them the name of your personal doctor so they could consult with him/her. Medical Privacy? More like Medical Tyranny to me.
I'm scared too and haven't had it done. I'm 52 and my company health insurance is bugging me. My mother died of colon cancer so I know that I should do it.
I have two problems - one is I hate that anesthesia they use. I had a bunch of oral surgery with 'twilight sleep' and I HATED it.
Second problem is . . I recently moved and don't have anyone to take me.
I'm 28 years old and recently went to the doc for 6+ months of regular loose, fairly urgent stools that occurred off and on. A bit more gas than usual, occasional bloating and discomfort but nothing horrible. No blood in stool, no weight loss, no black stool, no pain at night or sleep disruption. My GP assured me that the lack of these symptoms would indicate "nothing organic," (i.e. no cancer) but he still referred me to a gastro specialist and long story short I'm having a colonoscopy later this week, mainly because my dad had colon cancer at age 64. I have a history of anxiety resulting in nausea and loss of appetite and have always had a sensitive digestive system. My stool issues seem to be linked to disruptions in my routine, sleep deprivation, and bouts of anxiety.
Nonetheless I am pretty scared about what they might discover and I guess I'm just here for reassurance on two fronts. I remember what my dad went through and it wasn't pretty. But of course he was 64 years old. My mom is a breast cancer survivor, so I have a family history and that horrid disease put my family through many years of hell. I know that only a medical professional can fully put my mind at ease, but I would appreciate it if someone could simply remind me of the odds of an otherwise healthy 28-year-old having colon cancer with minimal symptoms vs. say the odds of IBS. And of course I have read the many colonoscopy threads on this forum, but it never hurts to hear tales of how the procedure itself is not really all that bad, because I am a bit nervous about the anesthesia, too. The only surgery I've had was wisdom teeth and I was sick for days after that. Thank you much.
There is nothing to fear, unless you notice both his hands on your shoulderz.
I'm scared too and haven't had it done. I'm 52 and my company health insurance is bugging me. My mother died of colon cancer so I know that I should do it.
I have two problems - one is I hate that anesthesia they use. I had a bunch of oral surgery with 'twilight sleep' and I HATED it.
Second problem is . . I recently moved and don't have anyone to take me.
ah, my friend--PM me with any questions. I too was afraid of the procedure--turned out to be the easiest one I've ever had in my entire life. I was given Versed (sp) and man oh man I would ask for it by name!! Great stuff I tell ya.
Seriously--PM me if you have questions. Is there absolutely NO ONE who can drive you home??
I got propophol - asleep within 30 seconds of the time they added it it into the IV, awake within 60 seconds after they stopped the drip. No dizziness or grogginess, no nausea, and the uncontrollable shivering everyone gets after anasthesia only lasted long enough for them to get me another warm blanket. My heart rate and blood pressure were back to normal within a couple of minutes. I was able to comprehend the instructions they were explaining to me after the procedure, I even now still remember the funny anasthesia guy talking with someone else about his taxes while I was waking up (in the procedure room).
I remember the procedure room as well - and thinking it didn't look like an operating room, more like an oversized patient room with one of those all-in-one instrument panels sticking up from the floor next to the patient's bed and a desk in the corner.
The prep was the worst. Second worst was the concept itself - intentionally allowing someone to do an anal probe on you, and it isn't sexy-time - is just - well it's personally invasive, even if it's not surgically invasive. I joked about it before they rolled me into the procedure room, that I was upset because I was letting the aliens do what hundreds of people nationwide have nightmares about, that you read about in the National Enquirer.
I still think it's invasive on a personal emotional level, but I'm over the terror because it honestly wasn't a terrifying experience at all. I was asleep for the whole thing and woke up feeling fine.
This is going to sound weird, but I am definitely more regular and having higher-quality bowel movements since my colonoscopy. Of course it could be a placebo effect, but I've been noticing less bloating and discomfort as well. I'll stop short of saying the issues I alluded to in the OP are completely gone, but they've improved substantially. I always thought the idea of a "colon cleanse" was quackery but maybe there's something to it?
I have a theory that they don't want you to drink water that morning (which is brutal) because they don't want you to possibly pee on the table.
I'm 65, have never had one, and my Primary Dr. is encouraging me to get one. I called the Dr. I was referred, talked to his assistant, and when she told me I couldn't drink anything after midnite, that's when I said: Nope! Ain't gonna do it! Can't do it!
I could do the 24 hours of not eating, but the clincher was no liquids after midnite before.
I have dry mouth, from using Asthma/COPD inhalors, and the idea of having dry mouth for 6-7 hours or more?
And I also have no one to accompany me to the Dr.'s office, or thereafter! Another problem!
It seems incredible to me, with the high-tech world we live in today, that we have to engage in such a primitive procedure like this!
No point in telling me to Man Up, as, yes, I'm a man, and don't we all know, women are much, much stronger than men?
Call me a Wimp, and I'll tell you that's my middle name!
So there! I aint' going through with it, I'll wait until some new detection device comes along, that isn't so primitive!
...And I also have no one to accompany me to the Dr.'s office, or thereafter! Another problem!...
If you want to use that as a reason/excuse not to have a procedure, that's fine. But there are transport services that will drive you to and from and even stay in the facility while you have the procedure. I've used them for colonoscopies and other outpatient-surgeries. I'm not referring to cabs because most, if not all, hospitals/clinics wont allow you to be released to a cab driver.
I even paid my yardman once to transport me to and from a colonoscopy.
If you want to use that as a reason/excuse not to have a procedure, that's fine. But there are transport services that will drive you to and from and even stay in the facility while you have the procedure. I've used them for colonoscopies and other outpatient-surgeries. I'm not referring to cabs because most, if not all, hospitals/clinics wont allow you to be released to a cab driver.
I even paid my yardman once to transport me to and from a colonoscopy.
I might be able to circumvent the transportation issue, but it's the absence of liquids from midnite that puts me off the most, due to my never-ending dry mouth, not only due to the inahalors, but my occasional smoking.
Like I said, it just seems, to me, to be so primitive of a procedure, in this high-tech age we live in.
I've pretty much decided to give it a pass, and take my chances!
My husband is 63 and just had his first one. Seriously, schedule the procedure for early in the morning. You can suck on ice chips and it won't hurt you, they just don't want anything in your stomach since they are going to give you anesthesia. Of course it's your choice, but colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer in both men and women so it seems like a no brainer to me. The whole thing is over in 20-30 minutes.
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