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Medical science has developed a test for a deadly cancer that is comparatively safe. Colon cancer is the third leading cause of cancer causing deaths in the US. 90% of new cases of colon cancer occur in people who are age 50 and older.
Colonoscopies are not terrible. Any women who has had a baby has had a worse experience than a colonoscopy.
If this was a test for a childhood disease, I'm sure the vast majority of the naysayers would have their child undergo the test. And the prep is no more invasive or misery causing than any other prep involving cleaning out the digestive tract. Get over it. Trust me, if you get colon cancer and you could have prevented it or cured it early on, your family will be the ones grieving.
They're not miserable at all. I think you're just hearing from people who like to complain. And given that I had 20-25 in a 15-year period, I'm pretty certain that I've gone through the procedure more than most, if not all, of the people who've relayed their experiences to you.
The problem with that philosophy is that you may not know that you "have something wrong that needs attention" until it is too late. There's a reason that colorectal cancer is called the silent killer. It also just happens to be the second most common cause of cancer death in the country.
I do know that. It's my excuse for being a chicken about doctors, and I realize I could be taking a huge risk.
I got out of the World Trade Center twice after terrorist attacks. I was in an abusive marriage. I have to live with being the mother of a child with a serious mental illness that could take her life.
But if I make a doctor's appointment other than the dentist or eye doctor, I will immediately go into a state of anxiety that will only worsen as the appointment gets closer. I can barely function if I know I have an impending doctor appointment.
I do see an endocrinologist because I have a rare thyroid disease that could have been fatal, and I waited until I was literally gasping for breath before I got myself to a doctor, hoping it would correct itself. I went through an aborted thyroidectomy and then waited for ten days for the pieces they sent to the Mayo clinic to come back, wondering if I had only months to live. That was seven years ago. I have to see that doc every six months and get complete bloodwork done.
We're not talking logic here. It's pure anxiety, and I doubt any doctor is going to deal kindly with someone like me. I know that my luck will run out one of these days, and I am going to have to get some of these things done, but even as I'm typing about it, I'm starting to hyperventilate.
The killer is that I have some of the best health insurance in the country.
I'm here today because of a colonoscopy. I had several with a polyp or two removed. Then I started feeling not-so-hot and it was chalked up to a gravelly gall bladder. Had it out.
Should have started feeling better, right? Not me.
Year and a half goes by and my Dr said, "enough of this. Get blood work and a stool culture". I postponed the test until after the Christmas holidays. Then after New Year's. Then I was falling down weak and exhausted.
Managed to get myself around the corner - literally - to the lab for the tests.
That afternoon, I was told by my Dr. to go to the emergency room. They knew I was coming but there were no beds in gen pop so I would be on hold until something opened up.
Two blood transfusions and a colonoscopy later, I was diagnosed with a big honkin' tumor in my ascending colon. No family history and all of my ancestors are really, really long-lived - most into their 90s.
Surgery took it out; oral chemo kept it out. I'm still hangin' around. That was in 2009. I'm 85 (in a month) and had my last scope in 2016. I don't plan on having any further. But then, I didn't plan on having colon cancer either.
I learned a long time ago that most of the things that we're afraid of don't happen anyway and we've wasted all that effort of worrying.
Had my first this year shortly after returning from taking care of my mother post-cancer surgery. Thankfully, she’s now cancer-free. My siblings and I all had colonoscopies after our mother was diagnosed with stage two colon cancer. Prep was not easy but it wasn’t as terrible as I’d been led to believe. (For those who are about to have a colonoscopy, you’ll regret not doing the prep as directed, so follow the instructions to the letter to prevent retention of fecal matter that will delay your procedure.) The procedure itself was easy, and I had no complications whatsoever. Because of my mother’s history, I’ll be having colonoscopies regularly from now on, and that causes me no anxiety. A colonoscopy can save your life, so just do it.
I'm more afraid of having cancer than doing a cleanse. But then again, I go to the dentist without major drama. Maybe I'm too rational?
Choice of (1) mildly inconvenient and comparatively safe colonoscopy procedure or (2) having colon cancer which is the second or third major cause of cancer deaths. Similar to the choice of (1) rotting teeth with extreme pain or (2) proper brushing and periodic visits and cleanings by dentists.
I am getting this done Tuesday for the first time and I am kind of terrified. So I will report back.
But there can be huge risks to having the colonoscopy. My dad (who was over 70) had a perforation of his colon and it was even more concerning because the pain didn't start until weeks after the procedure so we all delayed longer than we should have. He was lucky that it was more like a slow leak but he had to have a week in the hospital and surgery later. If you think that can't happen to you.. it can. 5% or greater it happens and it happens more in women than men and many cases of younger people having the issue.
I am doing all my research this week and I was stunned to see a study in 2019 on people diagnosed with colon cancer and 87% of them had levels of Vitamin D lower than 30 ng per ml. To me that is stunning. 50% were under 20 ng/ml.
If you aren't going to have the colonoscopy please make sure you have Vitamin D levels well over 30.
Did my research this week and reports are all over the place from real people I have talked to.
I do think the prep is highly exaggerated and capable of being done in a way that is a breeze. My doctor tried to give me 128oz of salty fluid. I said HECK no... and now I have a prep that is just 64 oz of water split up in two 32oz doses with miralax. I have been told not to eat a lot of food if I want things to go well and that isn't a problem for me because I have fasted for 40 hours several times. I have been told if I have nausea to try ginger and I have ginger gum ready to go.
I suspect in the next 10 years the prep will be even less and there will be even more options. Such as no laxative and mostly fasting. A lot of the fasting tricks would seem to be helpful for colon prep.
I hear terror stories of people vomiting or passing out or some such but it seems to me these are either exaggerations or could have been avoided with some simple precautions. Ie... making sure you are very hydrated before starting the prep.
One of my concerns also was being put out... but I have heard from folks that had it that what they use now is much better than prior years. When my dad had it he was messed up for quite some time after waking up but the drug they use now really doesn't have those effects and once you wake I have heard a lot of reports of feeling right as rain within an hour.
I have learned there have been many advancements in this procedure in the last few years... the equipment has had various advancements but also there is the water-assisted colonoscopy. Not widely available just yet it is better as it both sprays water in and sucks it out, cleaning the colon which leads to better polyp detection, and this has proven to make colonoscopy with out sedation much less painful as not as much air is needed. Colonoscopy without sedation is thought to make it safer as patents can tell the doctors if they have pain which is thought to make them to perforate the colon.
That just made me let out a little scream. Thankfully, I live alone.
I have not actually heard any horror stories about people I know getting colonoscopies. Nobody likes them, but I don't know of anyone who had damage as a result.
I'm more afraid of having cancer than doing a cleanse. But then again, I go to the dentist without major drama. Maybe I'm too rational?
Choice of (1) mildly inconvenient and comparatively safe colonoscopy procedure or (2) having colon cancer which is the second or third major cause of cancer deaths. Similar to the choice of (1) rotting teeth with extreme pain or (2) proper brushing and periodic visits and cleanings by dentists.
Well, no, you're just rational, not TOO rational.
For some reason, I don't fear the dentist. I know some people do. I can "go someplace else" in my head while at the dentist while he's doing construction in there.
I have thought about contacting my health insurance "nurse line" or whatever they all it to talk to them about whether it is possible to find a doctor in the network who deals with patients who have anxiety about doctors. I know I have to get some of this stuff done.
I don't fear cancer as you say you do, and that's probably part of the problem. It's just never been a thing in my family to have cancer, and no, I know that doesn't mean we can't get it. I smoked for thirty-five years. If I get lung cancer, I can't complain about bad luck.
I'm not afraid of death, actually, since 9/11. However, I am not particularly thrilled with the idea of pain, and I know colon cancer will surely bring that.
I do think the prep is highly exaggerated and capable of being done in a way that is a breeze. My doctor tried to give me 128oz of salty fluid. I said HECK no... and now I have a prep that is just 64 oz of water split up in two 32oz doses with miralax. I have been told not to eat a lot of food if I want things to go well and that isn't a problem for me because I have fasted for 40 hours several times. I have been told if I have nausea to try ginger and I have ginger gum ready to go.
<snip>Colonoscopy without sedation is thought to make it safer as patents can tell the doctors if they have pain which is thought to make them to perforate the colon.
My first scope was with a doc who was OK with not using sedation- my Mom was over 70 at the time and had had 3 without it. I highly recommend it unless your intestines have more twists and turns than average- I hear that happens. I didn't even feel pain when they snipped out the adenoma, and how often do you get to see your innards on the big screen? This doc also had a 2-day prep which was far gentler than the one-day. My second and third scopes were under Obamacare and I had a giant deductible and couldn't find out what it would all cost since he worked out of a hospital- "facility charges" were a big unknown. I went with another guy recommended by my PCP and he REALLY preferred to do them with sedation. He said he felt he could do a better job knowing I'd be completely immobile. Now that I'm on Medicare I'll probably see if the first doc is still practicing.
I tried the fasting part first, weeks ahead, because that made me nervous- did clear liquids only for a day. I didn't faint or anything and that helped me calm down about how the prep would be.
So it is time for me to get that scheduled for the first time.
I am hesitant to do it because my mother had a perforated intestine and I just cannot go through what she did. So I decided to look up the risks and they are shockingly bad. Only really being looked at in the last 5 years. The test itself turns out to save only about 2 of every 1000 people the procedure is done on. And about 7 out of 1000 have complications. (and the data they have only has medicare).
There are bleeding risks form getting rid of the polyps and all kinds of other risks.
Is there anyone else that has decided not to do it?
I never did it and never will. No Ins anyways even if they did find something. Would rather die than go thru some treatment that makes ya sicker.
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