Get a Colonoscopy NOW!!

[Tig]

Best wishes on your recovery Mike.
I agree, don't wait. Ten polyps on my first check at age 50. Two were the bad kind, but no complications because they were caught early. Follow up three months later to look for any that were missed, found a few more. Going back every five years now.

 

[ray66v]

A friend of mine's wife, decided since she was 50 years old, it was time to go for her first colonoscopy. They found cancer, and saved her life.

Due to a medical condition, I have had at least 10 of them, in the last 35 years.

The prep is the worst of it, and that has improved considerably over the years.

If your Doctor, wants you to do anything, other than what is now known as the Dulcalax/Miralax prep, you should get a Dr. who isn't stuck in the stone age.

The Dulcalax/Miralax prep is the latest way to do it. And it's a breeze, compared to the other preps, and I know, I've had them all.

Better doctors are also now using Propofol to sedate you, which puts you in a deep, restful sleep, so you don't know, or remember, being invaded by a garden hose.

 

[CCWKen]

I'm in the early stages of rheumatoid arthritis treatment and had a MRI of the torso. The doctor was more concerned about side effects of the RA medications but the analysis indicated all the body parts are free of abnormalities, including the colon. I wonder if a colonoscopy is still needed? You can't get much more detail than from an MRI.

This was after x-rays and a CT scan. I guess the doctor spotted what appeared to be lesions on the liver but the MRI reveled that they were just spots and of no concern.

 

[check]

A friend of mine's wife, decided since she was 50 years old, it was time to go for her first colonoscopy. They found cancer, and saved her life. Due to a medical condition, I have had at least 10 of them, in the last 35 years. The prep is the worst of it, and that has improved considerably over the years. If your Doctor, wants you to do anything, other than what is now known as the Dulcalax/Miralax prep, you should get a Dr. who isn't stuck in the stone age. The Dulcalax/Miralax prep is the latest way to do it. And it's a breeze, compared to the other preps, and I know, I've had them all. Better doctors are also now using Propofol to sedate you, which puts you in a deep, restful sleep, so you don't know, or remember, being invaded by a garden hose.

Hey, Ray, can I ask you why the Dulcalax/Miralax prep is better?

 

[tjflicek]

I'll try and make this short. My last colonoscopy was 13 years ago at age 60, I was clean. I was going to have another at 70 but didn't. Recently in prep for an upcoming physical I did a stool sample test. It came back with some blood in the stool.

I immediately scheduled a colonoscopy. The results were not good, one small polyp, one very large polyp removed in pieces and one very large mass in the ascending colon. I was immediately scheduled for colon surgery, where they removed about 4-5" of the colon and reattached the bowel. The pathology came back cancerous with some small cells just outside the colon that were cancer.

After recovery from the surgery, another 4 weeks I will begin Chemo, 8 sessions every 2 weeks for 4 months. Could all of this been prevented if I had one at 70, probably not, but at least it has been caught and I will move forward.

So, get that colonoscopy on time!

You stole my story! Last December I decided to have a colonoscopy because I was going on Medicare in February and had my deductable satisfied. I had one 7 years prior and everything was good, see you in ten years the doctor said. Well they found cancer an d I had 12" of ascending colon removed. It had been growing about a year. If I had waited 3 more years it would have been much worse. They got it all, it hadn't gone through the colon wall yet, no chemo, nothing to radiate, scans and bloodwork every 3 months, colonoscopy every year from now on. I GOT LUCKY, HAVE IT DONE! It may be distasteful but not as bad as crapping in a bag the rest of your life.

Good Luck to You Mike,
Jeff

 

[dickfoster]

Already had an appointment scheduled to go in for the initial consultation for one on the 2nd. I've had one before so I am not looking forward to it. Anything that starts with drinking antifreeze just can't be a good time.

 

[Wagtail]

You stole my story! Last December I decided to have a colonoscopy because I was going on Medicare in February and had my deductable satisfied. I had one 7 years prior and everything was good, see you in ten years the doctor said. Well they found cancer an d I had 12" of ascending colon removed. It had been growing about a year. If I had waited 3 more years it would have been much worse. They got it all, it hadn't gone through the colon wall yet, no chemo, nothing to radiate, scans and bloodwork every 3 months, colonoscopy every year from now on. I GOT LUCKY, HAVE IT DONE! It may be distasteful but not as bad as crapping in a bag the rest of your life.

Good Luck to You Mike,
Jeff

Similar story here but for a different 'part'.

I had some sort of bladder blockage & was retaining urine. I went in for an ultrasound and the technician confirmed that I was holding in about 375ml. Then she said, "Seeing as I've got you here, let's have a look at your kidneys as they're part of the urinary system."

She did... then said, "Wait right there whilst I get a Doctor." (Yeah, like I was going to get up and go home). Short story; the left kidney was twice the size of a regular one. There was no pain or symptoms associated with it and a MRI confirmed cancer. A week later they popped that bad boy out (plus surrounding lymph nodes) and all was done and dusted. No chemo/radiation. Nothing has returned and it's been 8 years now.

If you've got a niggling problem, have it checked out.

 

[hawkeye08]

Sometimes folks want to try an alternate treatment, here is a place to start.

Rick Simpson Hemp Oil Medicine May Help Treat Cancer

I also encourage folks to get regular colonoscopy. Lost my younger brother to cancer/chemo, he might have had a chance if treatment was started sooner. Yes, I got one after my brother was diagnosed, all good here.

 

[JimRB]

Note that I am an IT guy, not a medical guy. Moviprep and Suprep are the primary preps prescribed at the gastroenterology place I work for. I think we have 18 doctors doing procedures. In days of old they had you drinking a gallon of prep. The Moviprep I think is 2 doses of a quart. Suprep is smaller dose, a pint to drink, but you have to chase it down with lots of water so it is basically the same quantity. The goal is to get all the stools out and a good rinse so the doctor can see what he/she needs to see. It happens often enough that some person isn't man or woman enough to finish the prep which means they just paid a $1,000 or so to be told to come back again when they are ready to do the prep properly, getting billed again. The insurance company is not interested in pay for a second procedure because you did not want to do the prep properly. My wife found the Moviprep to be more disgusting than me. I can chug a quart of Gatorade in a few minutes so that prep went down pretty quickly for me. She sips which is not all that much joy.

Regarding MRIs. I suspect that if you were looking for skin cancer on your hands or arms you would rather do it with your eyes versus an MRI. A colonoscopy scope lets you see the insides of the colon where stuff usually grows from. Anyhow remember I am an IT guy. There are plenty of videos from the Mayo Clinic and other sources that talk about the procedure and why it might be a good idea to have one.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

My wife and I each had our first colonoscopy at age 51. Hers was clean, but they found a little something in mine. So, I had my second one early this year at age 56, and it was clean. Now I'm on a every 5 year schedule, and she is on every 10 years.

And, like others said, it's really not that bad.

 

[murphy1244]

I am on the 2 year schedule as I had bad cases of diverticulitis and lost 12 inches of colon. This year had a bout of Colitis. No fun doing the prep work so often.

 

[Cord]

Watched my father-in-law die from colon cancer. Took him three years to slowly waste away. Once the cancer spread to his brain the end came quick. Went to the hospital because he was dizzy and he never woke back up. Two weeks of hospice care and he was dead. 100% preventable because he never got checked up and ignored all of the warning signs. Please learn from his mistake.

There is a new "prep" drink that is awaiting approval which is supposed to be even better than the current improved methods. You drink a fruit flavored drink and eat a chocolate bar. That's it. The reviews from the trials have been very positive.

 

[ray66v]

Hey, Ray, can I ask you why the Dulcalax/Miralax prep is better?

Sure. Though everyone has a different level of tolerance, there generally is no bad cramping, and you are not up all night, sitting on the john. Or, continuously running for it.

I used this prep, for my last two colonoscopies. And, in both instances, I was cleaned out by the time I went to bed. So, I only woke up like three times to go the john.

It's 2 Dulcalax tablets, followed later, by a bottle of Miralax, dissolved in two bottles of Gatorade.

I would recommend sleeping on some towels, in case you don't wake up fast enough.

In my reading tonight, they say the other preps have gotten better too.

It's important to follow the instructions concerning stopping your food intake, so there is relatively nothing to clear out of you, except the mucosal lining.

When you get well into the prep, if what comes out, is completely clear, (like water), each time you go, you are cleaned out.

And, even though they won't always tell you this, if there is still a little of your prep left to drink at that point, you can skip it. It won't matter, after you are "clear".

The Dulcalax/Miralax prep, is like going to Disney, compared to what they did to me years ago.

 

[oldpilgrim]

The first time I had to drink a small bottle of something that tasted like very salty lime juice. It was bearable and worked well . But when I had the procedure, the Dr knicked something and I had painful bleeding for several days.

The second time I was given a gallon jug of something that looked and tasted like dirty water. The taste was bad enough, but a gallon? On top if that, it didn't work very well either. The Dr said he had a hard time seeing things .

Did I say that I hate colonoscopies?

 

[CCWKen]

Regarding MRIs. I suspect that if you were looking for skin cancer on your hands or arms you would rather do it with your eyes versus an MRI. A colonoscopy scope lets you see the insides of the colon where stuff usually grows from. Anyhow remember I am an IT guy. There are plenty of videos from the Mayo Clinic and other sources that talk about the procedure and why it might be a good idea to have one.

Well perhaps, but a MRI lets the doctor see down to the blood vessel level in 3D. Imagine an endoscope being a 1950s television and compare that to the new 4K-UHD in 3D. That's a MRI. I'll take the MRI doctor's analysis over an IT guy's analysis any day.

I think they use high resolution cameras in microscopes with various light filters to examine skin cancer now. Viewing with the eyeball and magnifying glass days are long gone.

 

[PhysAssist]

I'll try and make this short. My last colonoscopy was 13 years ago at age 60, I was clean. I was going to have another at 70 but didn't. Recently in prep for an upcoming physical I did a stool sample test. It came back with some blood in the stool.

I immediately scheduled a colonoscopy. The results were not good, one small polyp, one very large polyp removed in pieces and one very large mass in the ascending colon. I was immediately scheduled for colon surgery, where they removed about 4-5" of the colon and reattached the bowel. The pathology came back cancerous with some small cells just outside the colon that were cancer.

After recovery from the surgery, another 4 weeks I will begin Chemo, 8 sessions every 2 weeks for 4 months. Could all of this been prevented if I had one at 70, probably not, but at least it has been caught and I will move forward.

So, get that colonoscopy on time!

Hi Mike,

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis, God bless and good luck with the treatment and best wishes for a complete recovery.

Also God bless you for spreading the word to other that they need to get scoped.

I can't believe how many people I meet who never even got their first one at age 50.

Honestly, no one can say if your current problem would have been found at a stage where all that was required was a polypectomy, but it would have for sure been less advanced and more easily treated, no matter, it's water under the bridge and now in God's hands.

Thomas

 

[PhysAssist]

Had one 2 years ago, then 5 years before.


I HATE THEM !!!!!!

Well, OP, we'd be worried about you if you liked 'em...

 

[PhysAssist]

The truth is the best chance with any cancer is with early detection. Last fall I scheduled another colonoscopy. Other than the prep the nite before they were nothing to it and my previous one's were always All Clear. This time I went thru the prep, ran clean at home, only to become awake on the table and told they couldn't do, I wasn't clear. Now this was not my first time at bat so I thought the doctor was loco. We rescheduled and he proscribed a different prep. It was even more miserable. Nothing happened so I called in to cancel the procedure. This was followed by a week of loosey goosey and then another week of nausea & vomiting. At the end I was so weak and exhausted I got my wife to drive me to the emergency room. Luckily it wasn't busy and they rolled me back for blood work immediately. Then a CT Scan. Next morning I learned my problems were due to low sodium. This seemed impossible since I enjoy both salt and edema at times. Turns out I had a type of lung cancer that emits a hormone that impedes my body's retention of sodium. Additional tests showed I was at Stage IV Extensive. What a Christmas present.

By January I'd started chemo and by May was pronounced I'd lucked into a full response with the chemo. No sign anywhere and a nuclear bone scan indicated my bones were also mending well. I felt great; especially with my new do...bald as an egg, no eye brows, no eye lashes. Even lucked into no ear hair and no nose hair. No hair. It was great in the morning;hop out of bed, brush teeth, get dressed, and go.

First week of July had another CT Scan which showed I'd already relapsed.

There's so much more to it I won't bore you with but I can assure you that no matter what form of cancer a person gets; its all bad in some way. And your life focuses on the battle. You can waste time crying or wailing about how its not fair or you don't deserve it if you wish but after seeing some truly brave souls wheeled by me I know I still have it better than a bunch of them and mines incurable with current treatments. There are many other dramas and tradegies at every turn and on every floor of just about any hospital. We met out deductible and max out of pocket before the end of January. I still haven't had a colonoscopy and don't know if I can but probably should. Need a skin cancer screening too. With such a short horizon it seems pointless yet the newer immunotherapys seem so promising. If the current study I'm in plays out there's a good chance I'll get immunotherapy. Its almost November. They tell me that had I not chosen to get treatment I would have been gone before the end of February. You never know how things will shape up. Since learning of my cancer I've seen my youngest daughter engaged and then wed. Met and held my 5th grandchild, and I was baptised along with my grandson thanks to the kindness of a wonderful minister at my daughter's church. Its been a remarkable year to date and I'm still shooting for doing more next year.

Keep up the fight. Get tested, screened, examined...and get baptised too.

Fight the good fight Clay,

God bless and keep you too.

You will be in our prayers...

 

[PhysAssist]

Stand by when you get to be older. I have a family history of polyps and have had many removed starting around age 60. Had a colo every two years and more showed up each time. Recently asked my DR about a colo. He said Medicare only covers a test every 10 years unless there are specific symptoms such as bloody stools. The Medicare manual states this for those at low risk. I am looking for a new DR.

So much for Government Medical Programs.

Ron

As you intimated, the problem isn't the program, it's your moronic doctor.

You clearly qualify as high risk, and would be covered for follow up 'scopes at your MD's discretion.

 

[PhysAssist]

Yep, things are pretty scary for you guys to the US when it comes to medical stuff. Here in Ontario Canada I met a guy who had travelled to the US and got an infection in his pancreas or something like that, and it was so bad that he had to be hospitalized or he would've died. He was only in the hospital for about four days or so, and the bill came back at over $200,000. He had to sell his cottage here in Ontario, and unfortunately ended up dying anyway, but the point is if this is if it had happened here in Ontario it would not have cost him a dime, and he would have been able to keep his cottage is a legacy for his kids.

Also, a friend of mine who is now over 80 can no longer do his snowbird thing in Florida in the winter anymore, because not only is the insurance getting ridiculously high, but they will deny deny deny coverage if he has any pre-existing conditions. Sad.

That last part is no longer true.

It used to be, but the ACA changed that.