Colonoscopy Fear

[aussieoutcast]

I’m writing this in the hope that I convince at least one person who fears a Colonoscopy to have one.

 

I’m 52 and had ignored the advertising that all Men should get a Colonoscopy at 50 and every 5 years after. This was despite the fact that I had two work colleagues who died of Bowell cancer and neither of them had a colonoscopy until it was too late (one had blood in stool for a year and was too embarrassed to tell anyone).

 

As for my story, I went through a bad divorce and suffered serious depression and had concluded that I just wanted my life to be over (never contemplated suicide, but was just going through the life motions until it was over). I then suffered all of the symptoms of bowell cancer (what did we do before google doctor lol) and thought well this is it, only a few months to go and I still didn’t get a colonoscopy (for some reason I thought this was too embarrassing to go through). Finally, my symptoms got so bad, that I almost called an ambulance at midnight (constant burping, farting, inconsistent stools and stomach felt like it was on fire on the inside).  This brought me to the realization that I’d rather suffer the embarrassment of a Colonoscopy and at least know how long I had left.

 

Now for my procedure, I saw my doctor at 3pm Wednesday and was scheduled for an urgent colonoscopy on Friday at 9am (the urgency of this of course freaked me out a little and made me realize how stupid I was to have avoided it so long). Normally, you have a 3 day diet to follow and then take a cleanser 24 hours prior to the procedure. Due to the urgency of my appointment, they waived the diet and just gave me extra cleanser. This involved taking a glass of cleanser with a glass of water every 20 minutes over a 3 hour period (due to my extra cleanser, I had to wake up at 4am and do again for 2 hours). Obviously this cleanser did its job and cleaned out my system so that only Liquid was coming out (you know you succeeded when Liquid is clear like water).

 

Arriving at the hospital, all of the nurses and doctor were fantastic friendly people and they really made me laugh and relax. I was smiling right up until I passed out Wake up was also nice with a Nurse whispering in my ear ‘Wake Up’ lol. In hindsight, I have no idea why I feared this as there really was nothing to it.

 

Now the results, they found and removed 6 Polyps, 3 of which had positive signs that they would become full blown cancer. They also found that I had Cardiovascular disease, which gives all of the same symptoms of Bowell Cancer. The good news is that this can be treated by change of diet only

 

So 3 weeks on, I have changed my diet which wasn’t hard as it’s called a ‘full fat diet’ with lots of bacon, sausage, steak, eggs and full cream milk Basically all of my so called healthy eating (whole grain bread, skim milk, fruit, etc.) was making my gastro system fail. I can now eat whatever I like (the fattier the better) with the only stipulation being ‘only eat when hungry’ and ‘stop when full’. This has now given me a new lease on life and I am now living life the way it should be lived. All due to finally having that fearsome Colonoscopy that wasn’t that scary after all.

 

Hope this helps someone, if in any doubt, just do it.

 

[worldpunter]

had it twice  , awake through the procedures and watched the camera on screen  . Having had a LB to open you up a bit helps  , 

[aussieoutcast]

As an addition to this story, my Mate recently had a colonoscopy as he was 53 and followed the advertising.

 

Even though he had zero symptoms and was only doing it due to age, they found a tumor on his colon. Saved his life [emoji4]

 

Sent from my SM-G570Y using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

[aussieoutcast]

had it twice  , awake through the procedures and watched the camera on screen  . Having had a LB to open you up a bit helps  , 

As the OP, I just wanted to clarify that you definitely do not need to do a LB prior to having a colonoscopy lol

Sent from my SM-G570Y using Tapatalk

[laserlube]

Was wondering to do this myself (not sure whether it was endoscopy or colonscopy) when I got a long bout of diarrhea (1 month) after returning from Thailand some years ago. (might not have been caused by the Thailand trip since the diarrhea started only 4 weeks after the trip). Went to the hospital, they took my blood for testing. Also submitted stool samples for testing (boy, it was a PAIN collecting the sample! )

I really hate the idea of a scope going all the way into my intestines... in fact the doctor warned me that the procedure itself carried risks.

But the diarrhea suddenly stopped, everything went back to normal, so I forgot all about the scopy and never did it. 

I still have occasional blood when passing motion (been having this condition for nearly 2 decades), but I always think it's due to piles, not anything serious (hospital confirms this). I am a long way from hitting age 50 so I think i'll pass on the endo/colon/whateverscopy for now. But even so, I can't help but wonder if I should do a scopy, just to clear the small, tiny lingering worry from my mind.

But the stress of testing is insane. I didn't lose any weight when having the diarrhea (though it was for a month!). It was the visits to the hospital to do the tests which caused me to lose weight....

Edited October 2, 2018 by laserlube
make sentence clearer

[aussieoutcast]

@laserlube, in regards to blood, the redder the better. Bowell cancer blood is apparently very dark. If it's red they say that is likely close to outside.

Having said that, they found my largest Polyp of 5mm only 10cm from rectum so what do I know...best to get checked

Sent from my SM-G570Y using Tapatalk

[CJKHawaii]

I work in health care and I've heard it's bad but I agree with OP and encourage it. I know a guy who had cancer and they had to remove a large portion of his intestines and he has to take pain meds and meds to slow down his bowels constantly, it sounds terrible. Honestly those who work in a reputable hospital would never demean someone about a procedure, it's treated like any other task. Thanks for sharing the info OP.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

[laserlube]

1 hour ago, aussieoutcast said:

@laserlube, in regards to blood, the redder the better. Bowell cancer blood is apparently very dark. If it's red they say that is likely close to outside.

Having said that, they found my largest Polyp of 5mm only 10cm from rectum so what do I know...best to get checked

Sent from my SM-G570Y using Tapatalk
 

Thanks for the tips.

I almost never see the blood on my stool, cos the amount of blood is always very very small, less than a drop. I only see blood on the toilet paper when I wipe after finishing my business.... In my entire life (the last 20 years) I only felt blood dripping maybe 1, 2 or 3 times, and that feeling was freaky. When I shared about the dripping with another family member, he dismissed it as nothing because he encounters the "dripping" more often (piles is common in my family). 

Just in case it wasn't clear - seeing blood on the toilet paper isn't so scary because its only a small red smear, very little blood (less than a drop). But feeling the blood drip - even if it's a single drop -  that is freaky. (To me, at least).

When I have diarrhea, or soft stools, there is no blood...it's only when I have a hard solid stool that I see the small bit of blood. I guess the bleeding is caused by the stool rubbing with the piles, or the extra muscle contraction force needed to expel a hard stool.

I know I'm probably fine, (ie it's "only" "merely" very minor piles), and I'm still young, but just imagine if I had something serious  - ie if the blood is coming from somewhere in my intestines... I might not notice it cos I'm used to encountering blood when doing big business. Scary thought.

If the colonscopy/endoscopy stuff was as straightforward (and as fast) as taking a shower, (and if it was free!) I would do it right away, but the thought of all the procedures and the thought of a long smooth metallic/plastic thing going up the ass... plus the fact that no doctor is pushing me to do it... plus the fact that I would have to pay for it.... all these factors add up....so I never did any deep scopy yet, lol.... I did have more minor procedures (proctoscopy) of course, but that is such a superficial probe, it only confirmed my diagnosis of piles. Maybe that is good enough for me for now.

But if I reach age 50 I would definitely do a deeper scopy (colonscopy or whatever)... I would follow the doctor's recommendation (i hope!).

Edited October 2, 2018 by laserlube
make sentence clearer

[aussieoutcast]

Just to mention costs, if you have health insurance in Australia it is free, other than your once per year medical excess (in my case it was $250). The Cleanser meds cost $48.

Sent from my SM-G570Y using Tapatalk

[max333]

My father always ignored the blood in his underwear and when my mother asked him to go to see a doctor, he said I went and the doc said it's only the hemorrhoids. That was a lie, he never went to see a doctor.

Later complaints became worse and he was sent to a hospital. They diagnosed cancer in his intenstine, unfortunately it was too late. The tumor already had spread all over his body. My father died aged 58 cause he never went to get a Colonoscopy.

When he died I was 23 and went to a doctor. Me and my two sipples had Colonoscopis done and all 3 of us had Polyps removed. Luckily those were not yet cancer, but Polyps only.

Since then I get a Colonoscopy every 2 or 3 years done. Depending on if Polyps are found, or not. Now I'm 51 and I can say I'm a real professional. Only the first time I was put to sleep, since then I always watch on the monitor what the doc is doing.

It might be regarded emberrasing by some and the cleansing of the intenstine ain't fun, but Colonoscopies save lifes and they don't hurt.

 

Edited October 2, 2018 by max333

[ChiFlyer]

I have had 3 now. They found a small benign tumor on the first one. The worst part is the Liquid diet the day before. One should get this done.

[joeaf]

I had my first colonoscopy done in 2008 and I was due for another in 2018.  But in 2018, they did an alternative test, Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT).  All you do is take a swab of your stool and mail it to the lab, and you do not have to prep for this.  If you get abnormal results, then you have to do the colonoscopy.

 

https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000704.htm

[aussieoutcast]

I had my first colonoscopy done in 2008 and I was due for another in 2018.  But in 2018, they did an alternative test, Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT).  All you do is take a swab of your stool and mail it to the lab, and you do not have to prep for this.  If you get abnormal results, then you have to do the colonoscopy. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000704.htm

 

 

 

 

We have a bowell cancer kit sent to everyone in Australia on their 50th birthday (and every 5 years after) where you send stool samples for testing.  

 

My Docs pretty much dismissed these as 'better than nothing' but will never replace the results of a colonoscopy (for example I had no blood in stool so would not have triggered a colonoscopy, but I had 6 Polyps, 3 of which were cancerous)

 

Sent from my SM-G570Y using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[max333]

48 minutes ago, aussieoutcast said:

We have a bowell cancer kit sent to everyone in Australia on their 50th birthday (and every 5 years after) where you send stool samples for testing.  

 

My Docs pretty much dismissed these as 'better than nothing' but will never replace the results of a colonoscopy (for example I had no blood in stool so would not have triggered a colonoscopy, but I had 6 Polyps, 3 of which were cancerous)

 

Sent from my SM-G570Y using Tapatalk

 

I talked to my doctor before getting my first Coloscopy done, trying to avoid it. He said nothing at all can replace that. Testing the stool or other methods might be better as doing nothing, but won't give you 100% reliability.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Buddy Edgewood]

Yep, had my first one last year, luckily nothing serious was found.  The procedure itself was easy peasy.  The preparation sucked big time.  Not looking forward to the next one... but will still do it.

[JamesFerris]

This is an important topic for us men, particularly because many of us like to smoke, drink, and eat lots of delicious meat - all things that raise your risk of colorectal cancer.  

A colonoscopy procedure allows them to scope out (literally, and pun intended) what's happening in your gut and can even peek on into the small intestine a bit, to make sure all is well.  If any polyps are found, they can be snipped off RIGHT THEN AND THERE by tools within the scope.  Boom - you just cut (potentially) deadly cancer out of you.  You just saved your life.

The prep is shitty - pun intended.  But the procedure itself is painless.  It's definitely uncomfortable - as uncomfortable as you'd imagine having 5 or so feet of endoscope shoved into your ass would be.  But it's not something I would expect the average man to find "painful" - not with what many of us have dealt with in our lifetimes.  I've had the procedure done a few times, and I always do it wide awake without medication (freaks out the nurses) so I can go to work afterwards and be productive.

The secondary (and arguably) primary prevention provided by the colonoscopy can save your life.  If you're having bowel issues, bleeding, etc. - don't be a tough guy.  Talk to your doctor, and follow his recommendations.  It could mean the difference between dying of a rather embarrassing cancer and living to see another day.

[LarryDarrell]

It is worth discussing the difference in practice between countries.  In a few places they pretty much give a general anesthetic to everybody.  I think in the majority of countries however, no anesthetic is used at all.

[Guiness]

4 hours ago, LarryDarrell said:

It is worth discussing the difference in practice between countries.  In a few places they pretty much give a general anesthetic to everybody.  I think in the majority of countries however, no anesthetic is used at all.

great point !

i had it done twice and you are right ......no anesthetic ..... but a drug to erase the memory of the pain , AFAIK ! 

[basket case]

Best article I have ever read on the subject....

http://www.miamiherald.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/dave-barry/article1928847.html

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[CyberPro]

10 hours ago, LarryDarrell said:

It is worth discussing the difference in practice between countries.  In a few places they pretty much give a general anesthetic to everybody.  I think in the majority of countries however, no anesthetic is used at all.

 

6 hours ago, Guiness said:

great point !

i had it done twice and you are right ......no anesthetic ..... but a drug to erase the memory of the pain , AFAIK ! 

You don't have to accept anesthestic or memory-diminishing medication nor is there necessarily pain. If you need to go to work or do something mentally productive after, just do the exam while awake. It's NOT a huge deal. 

By contrast, contracting and dying painfully of colon cancer IS a huge deal. What is your life and health worth to you? 

Edited October 3, 2018 by CyberPro

[padfoot]

Not to be redundant, but this test saves lives!

Edited October 3, 2018 by padfoot

[laserlube]

20 hours ago, basket case said:

Best article I have ever read on the subject....

http://www.miamiherald.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/dave-barry/article1928847.html

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

You're right, I read it, it's so good!

[Biennial]

On 10/2/2018 at 01:59, aussieoutcast said:

As the OP, I just wanted to clarify that you definitely do not need to do a LB prior to having a colonoscopy lol

Sent from my SM-G570Y using Tapatalk
 

But apparently it helps

 

[Biennial]

The worst part about it is having to drink all that disgusting Liquid (a gallon).

But lately, they seem to be making it not so bad-tasting.

Really, I think the actual procedure is not as bad as going to the dentist for fillings/crowns.

Things I have had, in decreasing order of discomfort:

Lasik surgery

Dental work

Colonoscopy

Prostate radiation

 

[aussieoutcast]

Just a thought on the cleansing Liquid, yes it didn't taste the best, but after finishing it I felt better than I had in the last 20 years.

If I could, I'd buy it and take it once a year for a great clean out

Sent from my SM-G570Y using Tapatalk