<p>I can’t remember when was the last time I laughed until tears came out of my eyes so much I couldn’t continue reading.</p>
<p>The point is, this is an excellent article, reminding us all to take care of things regarding our medical health.</p>
<p>[Dave</a> Barry: A journey into my colon – and yours - 02/22/2008 - MiamiHerald.com](<a href=“http://www.miamiherald.com/548/story/427603.html]Dave”>http://www.miamiherald.com/548/story/427603.html)</p>
<p>That was hilarious. Thanks, teriwtt.</p>
<p>My sides ache.
Thank you!!</p>
<p>OMG, too funny!</p>
<p>LOL!!! (and I’m not a parent…but my dad’s been talking about this)</p>
<p>That is just SO well written! </p>
<p>There are so many great lines in it but this is just but one hysterical one:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>What a wonderfully funny article that also gets the point across. Thanks so much for sharing it with us.</p>
<p>I want him to get a pap smear next ,the big baby.
;)</p>
<p>Very funny - I’m convinced the person who can invent a prep for this procedure that is easy going down (I know there is no easy on the other end) will become the world’s richest man or woman!</p>
<p>Yep, EK4, or a hysterosalpingogram. Why should we have all the fun?</p>
<p>Dave’s great! Check out today’s column–
[Put</a> Florida primary in prime time – and text in your vote - 03/21/2008 - MiamiHerald.com](<a href=“http://www.miamiherald.com/979/story/465103.html]Put”>http://www.miamiherald.com/979/story/465103.html)</p>
<p>Kinda blunts the embarrassment of being a Floridian this election year :)</p>
<p>I went to see Dave Barry speak one time with my (at the time) almost 18 year-old son. He was as funny in person as he is in his articles, I think I laughed more in that 45 minute talk that I did the entire rest of the year. We had him autograph a book for my son after the talk, and I mentioned to him that the book was a birthday present for my son. Dave looked at him and asks “Are you going to get anything good?” He was pretty fast on his feet.</p>
<p>I love Dave Barry and hated the day when he stopped doing his syndicated column. Or, at least I thought he did. Based on patsmom’s post, I see maybe he’s doing it again?</p>
<p>Well, my local “newspaper” is not carrying it. Maybe that’s why they’re not doing so well and are putting themselves out on the street for sale.</p>
<p>Hey, jmmom, we have the same local “newspaper.” 
I wonder who, if anyone, will buy it?</p>
<p>Barry didn’t mention the other reason one might not have had a colonoscopy: they aren’t free, are they? Those of us without functional health insurance may find it hard to pay for them.</p>
<p>For those of you who are actually going to get a colonoscopy:</p>
<p>Obviously, you will be making sure that the gastroenterologist is on your insurance plan. But you also need to make sure that the facility where the procedure is performed is on your plan and that the anesthesiologist is on your plan. If possible, also try to determine whether the laboratory to which specimens are sent (if they remove any polyps) is on your plan.</p>
<p>I goofed on this. I didn’t check on the facility or the anesthesiologist. The people at the gastroenterologist’s office, who knew what kind of insurance I have, made all the arrangements, and I (foolishly) failed to double-check that everything was covered. It turned out that both the facility and the anesthesiologist were not covered. (I still don’t know about the lab, but I suppose I will find out because they did remove one polyp.)</p>
<p>My mistake cost me $6000, which is a considerably greater cause of discomfort than even the most unpleasant night-before-the-colonoscopy experience.</p>
<p>Marion: You should appeal this with the insurance company. Usually, “it’s not where you go; it’s how you get there.” In other words, if your in-network doc selected the out-of-network providers, it’s not your fault; it should be paid at the in-network level.</p>
<p>It may be different for your coverage, but that’s the way it often works. And unless you appeal it, they might not notice.</p>
<p>I’ve had the same experience with an out-of-network facility for my son’s knee arthroscopy, and the same experience with an out-of-network lab that my in-netowrk doc sent me to. Both times, they wound up fixing it and paying for it in-network.</p>
<p>I do benefits for a living; I know this stuff. Worth a shot, no??</p>
<p>Marian,
I have yet to lose an appeal. Insurers assume there will be a percentage of folks who just pay the $$ and blame themselves; then there are those who read the manuals, work in benefits, or who have become serious health care consumers (not always by choice). Protest the charge! </p>
<p>Did the dr’s office not get a pre-auth (where they would have found out there was a problem w/ in-network vs. non-network)? Fight on!</p>
<p>VeryHappy and Counting Down: We are appealing. Who knows? It might work.</p>
<p>voter55: Why won’t you have one? Really, the only unpleasant aspect is the prep (the evening before the test, which you spend mostly in the bathroom). The only discomfort you’ll feel on the day of the test itself is when they put the IV in your arm. A mammogram is worse. Most dental procedures are worse. Even a Pap smear is worse when performed by certain clumsy oaf gynecologists.</p>
<p>The problem with external viewing tests is that if they find a polyp, then you have to have a second procedure to have the polyp removed. With a colonoscopy, if they find a polyp, they remove it during the same procedure. Mission accomplished. Think of it as one-stop shopping.</p>
<p>Also, it’s my understanding that you have to do the prep before the external viewing procedures too, just as you do for the colonoscopy. So what’s the advantage of the extrenal procedure? It’s the prep that’s the icky part.</p>
<p>Thanks teriwtt. I emailed this off to several friends who just had this procedure…not sure if I’d have sent it before hand…and I’m sure they’ll get a great laugh.</p>
<p>voter55, my mom’s neighbor didn’t think it was necessary, he waited until he had blood in his stool… a colonoscopy at that point revealed a large cancerous mass. Major surgery to remove the tumor and 18 inches of colon. Lucky for him, the tumor had worked its way thru 2 of the 3 layers of colon, but not the third layer - he won’t need chemo.</p>
<p>Now if he had bothered to do the colonoscopy in the previous years when he was supposed to, they probably would have snipped a little polyp and he’d have been fine. No major surgery, no waiting 10 days for biopsy results on the lymph nodes to find out if the cancer had spread.</p>