I wasn’t actually going to say anything about this here, because — believe it or not — I do have a “Too Much Information” threshold. I went through the procedure and got a clean bill of health and I was going to leave it at that for the next ten years.
I have recently been reminded rather forcefully, however, that not everyone gets a clean bill of health, that this procedure done routinely might actually save your life, and that reticence over discussion of the procedure means that people who ought to have it done might be fearful of what the procedure entails, thus putting it off, thus delaying what could have been minor intervention to forestall life-threatening illness.
So in the spirit of this blog’s relentless shared exploration of my internal landscape, let me just say that I went into the hospital a couple weeks ago for a colonoscopy, that the procedure was not at all uncomfortable aside from some moderate annoyance inherent in the previous day’s preparation, as well as a prick from the usual insertion of the IV needle.
The preparation involves cleaning out your gastrointestinal tract, which involves a laxative and avoiding long spells without plumbing at hand. Depending on your doctor and condition, you’ll be asked to refrain from solid food for 1 to 3 days beforehand, which sounded worse to me than it was. Turns out it’s not hard to eat enough Jello to make yourself completely uninterested in food of any kind for several hours. That, as I said, was the worst part of the procedure for me. I recommend against using sugar-free Jello: I had a little hypoglycemia-related syncope incident as The Raven was accompanying me toward the elevator on the way out. That wouldn’t have happened if I’d eaten some sugar the day before, which is allowed.
The colonoscopy itself involved no physical discomfort whatsoever. They dosed me up with Versed — a trank similar to Valium — and a moderate painkiller. I was semiconscious throughout the half-hour procedure. I felt almost nothing: a vague “gut rumble” feeling was all, which may have been psychosomatic. Every once in a while I roused myself deliberately to watch the monitor, because despite what many critics have said over the years about the location of my head, what the doctor was seeing was all new to me. It was hard to stay alert and I kept dozing. I woke as they were finishing up, heard the doctor say “normal,” dozed again, woke in recovery, had a rather astonishingly cute nurse explain the results a bit more, dozed again, then got dressed and was walked unsteadily out to the waiting room and The Raven, who hailed us a cab. We got home and then I took several more naps until the drugs wore off.
That was it, aside from my having some photos I won’t be sharing here.
I might have had a bit more discomfort afterward had the doctor found and biopsied a polyp. Or maybe not. Either way, it would still have been less uncomfortable than colon cancer.
Non-hereditary colon cancer tends to develop after age 50, which is why that’s the threshold age for routine colonoscopies. Having gotten the “all clear” from my doc at age 50, I’m now supposed to schedule another in ten years. If you have a family history of colorectal cancer, your doctor may recommend screening at a younger age. Likewise if you have irritable bowel syndrome or a suspect case of Crohn’s or something similar.
There’s a huge amount of information online for you to look at. My point here is just to say:
Been there, done that, and it’s not a thing. If you’ve been putting it off because of timidity about the procedure, please please please don’t worry and just get it done. It’s easy. And I need all the readers I can get, and don’t want to lose a single one of you. Thanks.
No history of colon cancer in my family. Had a colonoscopy two years ago and they did find a precancerous polyp. It was removed, thankfully, but I do have to go back every 3 years.
Just a reminder to those who think they are immune, so did I, and the insistence of my wonderful wife I had the colonoscopy and it may have saved me a great deal of aggravation if not my life.
Definitely worth the time and trouble.
Bill:www.wildramblings.com
ditto, not a big deal, and I actually got quite a bit of entertainment from getting to see what my insides looked like.
I’ll join the out-campaign here—had it done.
Looking back now, I’m pretty sure I was more embarrassed at passing out after just seconds of the needle than what the professionals, or anyone else really, thought of my ass.
Having had this procedure done a few years ago (not quite ready for a repeat performance), I agree with all the comments above. Like Dale, I enjoyed a peek into my innards, though I wouldn’t recommend it for everyday entertainment. Once a decade is plenty!