Colonoscopy ... give me good vibes

It's been four years, I believe. And I wasn't planning on getting another. But I was sitting in my boss' office about a month ago, and she said, "You know, you don't ever want your grandkids' first thought of you being that you didn't care enough to make sure you stuck around."

So I'm having one Tuesday morning. I've been obsessing over it. Tell me why I shouldn't. My dad had colon cancer, so there's that. I feel fine, so there's that.

It just feels like the next two days are going to be hell, what with the prep and then the procedure, and then maybe another week of uneasiness if/when they pull polyps and check them.

LIke I said, talk me down. Feel free to tell me I'm being a snowflake, even.

 

My maternal grandmother died of colon cancer, so I have had a colonoscopy every five years for many years now. Preparation is indeed awful, you are basically power washing your digestive tract. But the procedure itself isn't bad. They give you some of the best drugs ever. Afterwards, you will be sleepy and hungry. They'll tell you if you had polyps removed very quickly. If they did, then they'll be biopsied and you'll learn in a week. I've had multiple polyps removed, all benign. I'm not telling you it's a pleasant experience, because it isn't, but it's not horrible.

 

Oh, I've had it before, Michael. I'm betting it's even less invasive than it was the last time. It's the other stuff. I hate waiting for the other shoe to drop, or not drop.

 

It is better to know than to not know.
Day 1 is bad, the rest isn't so bad.
I've had several. Just do it.
Make sure they do an endoscopy at the same time (scope down the throat to check stomach and upper intestines). Adds another few minutes to the procedure. You won't feel anything.

 

What did the doctors say four years ago about when you should return? If they said five years or more, you're probably OK. The good and bad thing about colon cancer is it's very slow-moving, so they build that into the equation when they plot your next visit. That said, b/c there are rarely symptoms until it's advanced, don't delude yourself into not going b/c you feel fine.

As for the prep, I haven't found it to be that bad. A good friend of mine who is a few years older than me puts it best: You know when you'll have to go. You won't shit yourself on the couch. And as Michael puts it, the drugs are great. You'll have the best nap of your life and it's only 45 minutes.

And as long as they are able to scrape the polyps, you'll probably be OK. It's when they're too big to take out that you've got a potential problem. Good luck and shit your brains out!

 

Yeah, they said five years or so. I'm holding onto that.

 

I mentioned it on an earlier thread, but Mrs. W had one scheduled and cancelled the appointment a couple of times. She was about to put off another appointment when someone she was a Zoom with sternly told her not to postpone. Long story short, she had the procedure, they found a small tumor (the doctor called it Stage 1/2) and it was removed. She’s been cancer free for a couple of years but we never would have known if she kept postponing the appointments.

 

The prep work for a colonoscopy is no fun at all; but once that is done, the rest is an easy glide-path back to "normalcy". It's an important diagnostic tool that really does not have a similarly reliable non-invasive alternative.

 

If possible, get the prep pills that you drink with water instead of that nasty liquid.

And as others have said, no worries — once you get to the procedure it’s smooth sailing. Hope you get a clean result.

 

Excellent point here. My first prep was liquid and my second prep was just guzzling a whole bunch of pills. The latter was a much more pleasurable experience, as far as these things go.

 

Funny this is coming up now. I’m getting my first one a week from Monday.

I have a ton of shit to do on Saturday and Sunday, though. Is it a pipe dream that I’ll be able to do all of it? I thought the prep started at 5 pm on Sunday night.

 

Saturday should be fine. Sunday will be a tossup at best. I've never had anything solid on the day leading up to a colonoscopy. Some people have an early breakfast and then fast. Most of the prep should be in the late afternoon/early evening hours, so how much you get done before that depends on how you handle operating w/o food. I almost never have breakfast anyway, so I'm used to functioning well into a day w/o eating.