Colonoscopy

[Aries]

I'm getting one next week. It sounds horrible. Just the prep sounds awful. Crapping all night.

 

[Cuchculan]

That can be the worst part of it. Have only ever had the camera put down me. Lucky me. My mother had the whole works once. Drinking that horrible stuff the day before. There is another option for those who don't want to drink that stuff and crap all day / night long. They can make you go in the hospital can they not? Like flush your insides out. The names escapes now. Have known many people who could not drink the prep. Thus on the day this other thing was done to them. Why do I forget the name. Is such a common thing. Think pregnant women can even have this done as they go into labour. I remember. An enema. Hope all goes well for you.

 

[Aries]

There are different option for what to drink. The place I'm going said to drink a 10 oz bottle of magnesium citrate and then 64 oz of Gatorade mixed with 238 grams of miralax. I don't know if I can do it. Plus they are going to drug me so I had to find someone to drive me. My cubicle neighbor at work said she would do it. But if in snows she won't want to drive. I'm having it at a small hospital 40 miles away instead of the huge local hospital. I hate that one.

 

[Cuchculan]

I always dreaded the fear of even having a camera put down my throat and into my stomach. Had to get it done after the burst ulcer. Then I wondered why I worried so much. The sedation didn't work on me at all. I was wide awake. Some strange feelings. They have to pass the gag relex in the throat. They numb the area. You gag once or twice. Then when it hits the stomach, the stomach inflates. Oddly enough I was laughing at this part. Weird feeling. As it was only the camera down to the sromach, no prep needed. I would not have liked to drink all of that stuff at all. Not at bad as I always feared it would be. Just take you time you time drinking the prep. I know some fools who down a glass in one go. Not a smart idea. It came back up within 5 seconds. Just sip it slowly. Bit by bit. When it is all over and done with you can look back and smile.

 

[suzzeeb]

My dad had colon cancer years ago so I had to start having colonoscopies very early - like late 30s I think. Every time I had one they removed several polyps so I had to have regular colonoscopies about every 3-5 years since then. The bowel prep is the worst part. The rest is absolutely nothing to worry about. You get sedated and wake up and it's done. No pain/discomfort of any kind. It's really not that bad. Colon cancer treatment would be much worse than a few hours of being uncomfortable with the prep. Really, it's not fun but not the worst thing either.

 

[Aries]

My dad had colon cancer years ago so I had to start having colonoscopies very early - like late 30s I think. Every time I had one they removed several polyps so I had to have regular colonoscopies about every 3-5 years since then. The bowel prep is the worst part. The rest is absolutely nothing to worry about. You get sedated and wake up and it's done. No pain/discomfort of any kind. It's really not that bad. Colon cancer treatment would be much worse than a few hours of being uncomfortable with the prep. Really, it's not fun but not the worst thing either.

My father had a cancerous polyp. But that was when he was 73. It was only cancerous at the tip and they didn't think it would spread. It didn't. But he got another unrelated kind of cancer a coupe, of years later that killed him. Multiple myeloma.

Drinking the mirilax wasn't that bad. Pooping all night was. I finally went to bed at 2 am and as soon as I got comfortable I had to jump up and run to the toilet for 10 more minutes of pooping. Then back to bed for 10 minutes and another run to the toilet. I finally went to bed with almost an entire roll of paper towels stuffed into my underwear, Woke up at 6:30 with some wet paper towels and ran to the toilet again. Got to the hospital at 8:30 and that's still no fun having to get naked in a room with strangers and have my butt probed. They gave me some fentynal and a little midazolam. I didn't fall asleep. Didn't actually need it. I hate being drugged. I had a horrible experience at an oral surgeon once where they drugged me without my consent. That's another story..

The doc found one small polyp that didn't seem like it was a problem. They are doing a biopsy. The procedure didn't irritate my horrid hemorrhoid either. I was worried about that. Hopefully I'm good for 10 years until I need it again.

 

[suzzeeb]

My father had a cancerous polyp. But that was when he was 73. It was only cancerous at the tip and they didn't think it would spread. It didn't. But he got another unrelated kind of cancer a coupe, of years later that killed him. Multiple myeloma.

Drinking the mirilax wasn't that bad. Pooping all night was. I finally went to bed at 2 am and as soon as I got comfortable I had to jump up and run to the toilet for 10 more minutes of pooping. Then back to bed for 10 minutes and another run to the toilet. I finally went to bed with almost an entire roll of paper towels stuffed into my underwear, Woke up at 6:30 with some wet paper towels and ran to the toilet again. Got to the hospital at 8:30 and that's still no fun having to get naked in a room with strangers and have my butt probed. They gave me some fentynal and a little midazolam. I didn't fall asleep. Didn't actually need it. I hate being drugged. I had a horrible experience at an oral surgeon once where they drugged me without my consent. That's another story..

The doc found one small polyp that didn't seem like it was a problem. They are doing a biopsy. The procedure didn't irritate my horrid hemorrhoid either. I was worried about that. Hopefully I'm good for 10 years until I need it again.

I can't say I've ever had to go to the bathroom all night or had to get naked in front of anyone in all the times I've had them and I've always been totally out, which I love.

You got through it and it's over! Now you don't have to worry about it for years.