Had my first colonoscopy this past Friday. The center that performed it was great. ALL of the nurses and doctor were amazing. The procedure was nothing, I slept through it peacefully and woke up with no side effects.
The prep sucked, I’m not gonna lie. After speaking to the doctor I now know I can use other, easier prep options next time.
They found one small polyp. The doctor sent it out but said, from experience, he knows it’s benign. Hopefully he’s correct. I now get to go back in 5 years because of that though.
All in all, after the prep it was one of the easiest things to do. Just go get it done and be sure.
My husband’s first symptom was fatigue that just wouldn’t resolve. He thought it was because he worked so much, stayed up too late, etc. But it wasn’t until he finally told me that he had been noticing blood in his stool for a few months that I realized he might have colon cancer. He assumed the blood was probably from hemorrhoids.
He was 46 and at diagnosis was stage 3. That was in summer of 2007. We are really lucky he is alive. His body has been irrevocably damaged, however. His quality of life has been adversely affected. He kicks himself constantly to this day that he ignored his mother’s GI doctor’s advice to get an early colonscopy a couple of years earlier (doctor had found precancerous polyps in her colon and she reported past cases of cancer in her family tree).
Both of our daughters have had early colonoscopies and both were found to have precancerous polyps. It upsets me, but at least we know and they can be followed closely.
@Nrdsb4 Your husband’s story helped convince me to get my colonoscopy. Your posts make a difference—thank you!
If anyone out there is procrastinating like I did, I suggest posting on this thread to request a colonoscopy buddy who also needs one. That worked really well for me! We encouraged each other each step of the way and I felt accountable to follow through.
The countdown begins - my procedure is Friday morning.
Thank you to those that provided the 5 day easier cleanse. So far, so good. Although I have found my body really doesn’t want Jello! I so desperately wish I was permitted to drink vegetable broth (vs chicken or beef) - I almost can’t bear the chicken broth. But I want a hot (warm) beverage.
Congrats on the clear screening!!! I would not wait 10 years… don’t want to be debbie downer, but if he/she missed something (which is in fact very common) waiting that long would be very bad
That’s awesome, great when you have a clean prep. I’ve been in GI for almost 20 years now, and, the most recent thing I hate is when insurance companies start dictating a longer interval between screenings. Lots of folds in the colon that are hard to see behind don’t ever google “adenoma miss rate.” My mom had completely clean screening at 60, but had to have a resection just 3 years later. Surgery wasn’t terrible, we were glad not mets to the liver. So yeah, I might be at greater risk, but more frequent scopes way easier than surgery, chemo, etc.
If a person is high risk, Medicare pays in full every 2 years. I’ve had 2 colonoscopies since age 65 and will have another (hopefully my last) in 2 years. Both my father and one of my sons had colorectal cancer.
