Colonoscopy, thoughts?

Several years ago I had a colonoscopy every month for two years,
I took part in a clinical study to see if Omega 3 would prevent polyps
in the colon.

They were no big deal, I sometimes had a minor painkiller before, but
normally nothing, the pain comes if they get too much air in to try and
help the camera round the bends.

The last one I had was 20th December 2020, I am on a 3 yearly watch list
to remove any polyps that are present, that time I didn't have a local
anaesthetic.

Mike.
 

I'll stick with the less invasive tests for now and probably forever.

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“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” - Bert Lance
 
You'd think in this day and age they'd have found a less miserable method to the patient, of doing this prep

It's not just the gallon of foul liquid which has to be drunk every 15minutes during the previous day .. nor the fact that you're on the toilet for 12 hours or more which is absolutely horrendous and god help you if you're in a household with only one toilet .... and of course you can't eat, aside from clear liquids...you also have to drive to the hospital and collect the preparation yourself..administer it yourself.. and then when you have the procedure done you have to arrange for someone else to drive you home..

Not everyone can do all these things...
 
MarciKS said:
I don't get colonoscopies or mammograms. Whatever happens, happens. My aunt died of breast cancer despite all the chemo and the surgeries and whatever else. I really have no desire to prolong my life. But that's just me.
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Stopped all that a few years ago. I have had enough of all those procedures. My doctor finally noted that in my chart. Have enough dealing with brain aneurysms. I am ready to go whenever it happens!
 
hollydolly said:
yes we get those sent in the post regulalrly, but I don't think they can tell if Polyps are present using those tests
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I understand that they are primitive and have some limitations but I believe that only one thing will kill me.

I try to stack up all of my issues/ailments and compare them to the impact they may have on my natural lifespan.

IMO colon cancer is way down the list of things for me to be concerned about.
 
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My dad had colon cancer. It wasn't found with a colonoscopy, though, because it wasn't inside his large bowel. The tumor was inside his abdominal cavity. The docs were stumped as to what was wrong with him, the scope showed clear, until someone came up with the genius idea to x-ray his abdomen. Of course he didn't survive the surgery. He was 84. He had symptoms at least 15 years before this discovery, but the ER docs claimed he only had bladder infections. Oh well. Medical community can go jump in a lake tied to a cinder block, but I got my Covid vaccine.(y)
 
Judycat said:
My dad had colon cancer. It wasn't found with a colonoscopy, though, because it wasn't inside his large bowel. The tumor was inside his abdominal cavity. The docs were stumped as to what was wrong with him, the scope showed clear, until someone came up with the genius idea to x-ray his abdomen. Of course he didn't survive the surgery. He was 84. He had symptoms at least 15 years before this discovery, but the ER docs claimed he only had bladder infections.
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No medical thing is 100%, some are just better than others. It's all a cost/risk/benefit tradeoff, and in the end you will lose out to something, the only 100% surety is that one day something will catch us and we will die. I think we need to make the decisions as best we can for ourselves.

Listening to doctors and medical advice is a good idea, but medicine is a business like any other. They want to sell what they know how to do, and can do easily and make money doing. This would include procedures like colonoscopies. Diagnosing less common or definitive symptoms, like I am guessing your father had, is harder and less profitable.

Modern medicine has made us healthier and allowed us to live longer, so we do get a net benefit from it, but not from all of it. Sanitation and clean water has done more to improve our health and longevity than medicine, we tend to forget that. https://sjbpublichealth.org/200-years-public-health-doubled-life-expectancy/
 
Alligatorob said:
No medical thing is 100%, some are just better than others. It's all a cost/risk/benefit tradeoff, and in the end you will lose out to something, the only 100% surety is that one day something will catch us and we will die. I think we need to make the decisions as best we can for ourselves.

Listening to doctors and medical advice is a good idea, but medicine is a business like any other. They want to sell what they know how to do, and can do easily and make money doing. This would include procedures like colonoscopies.
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yes that maybe the case in the USA but here our treatment is free.. it would certainly cost the NHS less money if they didn't carry out the preventative procedures, so it's not always all about the Big Pharma Buck here when it comes to the patient and preventative medicine..
 
I'm 74 and haven't ever had one and don't intend to. I don't have any family history to go by what anyone had and I suppose I should be more conscientious about my health but I don't really want to know. My doctor knows I won't consent to having a colonoscopy so she recommends a home test kit that I get (for free) from my insurance company. She said most cancer cells develop at the sphincter outer rim and that's detectable with the home test. That doesn't detect polyps, however. To me...the anus is an exit only orifice...haha.
 
Alligatorob said:
No medical thing is 100%, some are just better than others. It's all a cost/risk/benefit tradeoff, and in the end you will lose out to something, the only 100% surety is that one day something will catch us and we will die. I think we need to make the decisions as best we can for ourselves.

Listening to doctors and medical advice is a good idea, but medicine is a business like any other. They want to sell what they know how to do, and can do easily and make money doing. This would include procedures like colonoscopies. Diagnosing less common or definitive symptoms, like I am guessing your father had, is harder and less profitable.

Modern medicine has made us healthier and allowed us to live longer, so we do get a net benefit from it, but not from all of it. Sanitation and clean water has done more to improve our health and longevity than medicine, we tend to forget that. https://sjbpublichealth.org/200-years-public-health-doubled-life-expectancy/
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I've already had two colonoscopies and endoscopies. Not a big deal, but if the doc, in his haste to get the max amount of patients through, shoves the scope through my colon, will I get more attention than my dad did? How clean is that instrument anyway? Did the doc catch his wife with another man the night before? Is he a closet drunk? Does he stay up late watching porn on YouTube? We're all supposed to be so casual about these things.
 
For me, it isn't about prolonging life....it's about the immense sufferings I have watched numerous others have,
from undiagnosed polyps, which could have been removed while small, but weren't.

Therefore to me, I prefer the difficulty and risks of the colonoscopy, to what I saw them go through, which seems a whole lot worse.

Past some age, now, though, (approx 74, depending on which doctor you ask)
unless you've had extra risks of dangerous polyps show up in the past, they stop doing colonoscopies then, because the small risk of the procedure, becomes larger, so it doesn't make sense.
 
I have had a number of colonoscopies over the years and will have more in the future. I have ulcerative colitis that has been in remission for several years, it still needs to be monitored every few years. The one I had a couple of months ago found one precancerous polyp which was removed.

Colonoscopies are unpleasant, but not that bad in the overall scheme of things. I am 78 and still have things to do to ensure an extended quality of life for my lovely wife. My next one will occur in 4 years.

One of my favorite neighbors died of colon cancer a few years ago. He suffered greatly during his final few weeks and he had to deal with the guilt that he was prematurely leaving a grieving family behind because of his refusal to get a colonoscopy years earlier when those developing polyps could have been easily removed.
 
fmdog44 said:
What the hell is so scary about a colonoscopy? You are out cold when they do it. When you are done your friend drives you home. My best friend died of colon cancer three weeks ago and you better get the procedure. Trust me. I have had three. Now the hospitals are filled again with Covid patients so again like last year I can't get the procedure. This two years I can't have it done because the hospitals are too busy with treating people that refused to wear masks. If they find any polyps you will definitely need to go back for follow up procedures years later. It takes roughly 10 ten years for polyps to develop in to tumors.
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I have to butt in fmdog .....excusing the pun ......but the hospitals are NOT full up with people refusing to wear masks , some people just cannot wear them, ! And nobody asked for covid , bless their souls .......my husband is a stroke survivor , and in a lot of pain, but not heard from any drs or nurses for a few years now.........but life goes on !!
 
hollydolly said:
yes that maybe the case in the USA but here our treatment is free.. it would certainly cost the NHS less money if they didn't carry out the preventative procedures, so it's not always all about the Big Pharma Buck here when it comes to the patient and preventative medicine..
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Same in Canada.
Kaila said:
For me, it isn't about prolonging life....it's about the immense sufferings I have watched numerous others have,
from undiagnosed polyps, which could have been removed while small, but weren't.
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Exactly.

The flavours of the ‘stuff’ have improved and you don’t start drinking it until later in the day and into the night. The hell is not as prolonged as it used to be. A few hints - soft toilet paper, baby bottom cream, tasty drinks and jello in the permitted colours.

@charry What are you saying that your husband hasn’t seen from doctors or nurses in years. Doesn’t he go to a doctor?
 
My father and his sister (my aunt) both died of colon cancer, so I had colonoscopies every 5 years for at least 30 years. Its not a big deal you are unaware that anyone is messing with your butt! About 5 years ago I apparently aged out. I was informed that I didn't have to have any more.
 

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