Have you had a Colonoscopy??

PeppermintPatty said:
I just discovered today that my Cologuard test came back as abnormal and they want to do a colonoscopy on me.

My biggest worry is that I can’t have a general anesthesia. Can they preform one of these with another type sedative?
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My recent Cologuard test also came back positive so I'll have to get one too. But I have no reason to think I can't be put under with a general anesthesia since I've had them in the past. But there must be a workaround for cases like yours and I would think your nurse practitioner would know about that.

Good luck!
 
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CaliS said:
I hope this all goes very smoothly for you!

I had one with a light sedation. As others have said, the prep was the worst part. Hopefully they have improved on that!!!

Will be keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. Please keep us in the loop.
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Thanks CalS. It seems like many people HAVE had the ‘twightlght’ sedation to have this sucessfully done which is good to know..
 
jujube said:
Note: the "kit" that they tell you to get is fairly expensive even with insurance but you can get the same result with a large container of Miralax or the Walmart equivalent (about $12). It's all the same stuff.

My doctor wised me up to that.
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I’m going to ask the people who sent me this info if I can substitute this stuff. Apparently some specially trained nurse is going to call me and I can ask him or her that then. Thanks for the tip.
 
PeppermintPatty said:
I’m going to ask the people who sent me this info if I can substitute this stuff. Apparently some specially trained nurse is going to call me and I can ask him or her that then. Thanks for the tip.
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It's important you follow whatever prep they recommend. Without full clarity for the Dr. performing the colonoscopy, the procedure can end up with questionable results or even having to be redone.
I had one a few years ago (in Canada) and they did inject me with something that put me into the twilight zone but not fully out. I was semi-conscious throughout the procedure and fully awake right afterward.
The prep was inconvenient but not horrible, although by the end of drinking the stuff they recommended I was getting pretty tired of drinking it. As I recall, I was instructed to drink the last of it well before going to the hospital (6-8 hours?). I had no issues having to "go" on the way to or at the hospital.
I also remember I was mowing my lawn about a half hour after getting home so there were no lingering issues afterward.
It's not anything someone wants to do but it's not as bad as you may be imagining. Fear of the unknown is often unfounded!
 
I've had two but the last one was about 20 years ago. The prep was the worst part. As for the procedure I didn't even realize I had gone under and came back. It seemed like no time at all had passed. So I asked "when are you going to do it?" and they said "It's done".

I had some problems with my last test but they were not related to the test intself. They always insist that you have someone else drive you home. I guess it's for liability issues. Anyway, I didn't have anyone. My wife had to give up her license because she has epilepsy and my daughter lived in another town and would have had to miss work..

So I just lied and told them I had someone to drive me. When I was through I told them my ride wasn't here yet, but on the way and they insisted that I sit in a wheelchair in the lobby and wait. So I waited until nobody was looking and bolted out the door and into my truck and beat it out of there. What were they gonna do? Tackle me?

About two weeks later I got something in the mail from them. I thought "Oh crap, are they going to try to get me in trouble for leaving the way I did? But it wasn't. It was just a Thank You card for using their facility.

Another problem I had with them had to do with insurance. Since you live in Canada you don't have to worry about this. I was still working and I had BCBS though my work. Before I scheduled this colonoscopy I had gone down there and specifically asked them if they took my insurance and they assured me that they did. But then they snuck in an outside Anesthesiologist that wasn't "in network" and he or she nailed me for $500 and some odd bucks for their 15 minutes of work. :mad:

After that I decided no more Colonoscopies for me. And lately I've just been doing the Cologuard. But I'm going to have to get one now.
 
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PeppermintPatty said:
Hi KSav
What’s a twilight sedation?
I read about the prep diet and the foods allowed and which ones to avoid but didn’t know there was a solution to drink first. A gallon of foul tasting beverage sounds horrible. I just hope and pray that I don’t have colon cancer.
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The medical term is Gastric Lavage meaning you are flushing out all of the accumulated gunk that is in your digestive tract. I have had a number of colonoscopies over the years. The newer procedure is a CT scan , not a tube scope in your annus. The CT scan includes a contrast material that is administered via a small IV in your forearm. Takes about 15 minutes from the time you walk into the CT scan room, to when you are told you can leave. CT scan does not require any sedation injections.

Twilight sedation is simply a sedation that makes you feel dreamy, but you are still conscious, and able to see and hear what is going on in the room.

By the way the gastric lavage liquid is now a mild fruit flavor. It comes in a 4 liter plastic jug with powder that you add water to. I jokingly call it "human drain cleaner ". JIMB>
 
I had a colonoscopy twenty years ago with the traditional drink and twilight sedation, but when I had a false positive Cologuard test (I forget now if it was one or two years ago), instead of the drink I had the option of pills and water (I think the pills were more expensive/less covered by insurance). I chose to do the pills and water, it was still a lot of drinking and the toilet experience seemed to be the same either way.

I really wished I'd bought some adult diapers because after a night of no-warning trips to the bathroom (and having to do a load of laundry from not running fast enough), I had zero confidence that it was safe to not have a diaper. I wound up padding my underwear with lots of paper towels and carrying a towel to use on the seat of the car. Nothing happened but I still wish I'd had the adult diapers just to avoid worries (and if I'd had sense to use one from the start of taking the pills I could have avoided the middle of the night laundry chore).

The food prep days turned out to be enjoyable because it was an excuse to eat those little saltine 'oyster crackers' and white rice and all sorts of normally avoided refined carbs.

I stressed the most about getting a ride, a friend would have offered except she had a procedure the same day, and I found out my county has a site to find a free volunteer driver, but I didn't have enough days to be sure I'd get a ride that way (I think registering on the site would take a week or two but my procedure was in less than a week).

Luckily a person in the next building advertised driving jobs in our community paper and so for $45 an hour he took me and waited for me and brought me home. It wouldn't have been possible to pretend I had a driver because they would not start the procedure without the driver being in the waiting room (tho they did let him go sit in his car).

I'd recommend a little desitin ointment on the exit point during the toilet experiences.
 
I've had two colonoscopys, first was full anesthesia and the second was twilight, can't say I noticed any difference after waking. Twilight is safer I believe so would opt for that given a choice.

As for the prep drinking that much liquid is unpleasant but survivable. I've never experienced the "explosive" diarrhea but there will be some squirting involved.😉 The worst for me was having to get up a couple of times after I've gone to sleep, no fun sitting on the toilet at 4 AM.
 
jujube said:
With the twilight stuff, you're "out" almost instantly and then you're awake quickly and no aftermath like with stronger anesthesia. Just like you had a nice nap.
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I hope I’m not out almost instantly. I can’t be fully sedated. I need to be awake so I’m hoping that you are wrong about the twilight sedation. If you ARE right then I’ll need to choose a different option.
 
PeppermintPatty said:
I hope I’m not out almost instantly. I can’t be fully sedated. I need to be awake so I’m hoping that you are wrong about the twilight sedation. If you ARE right then I’ll need to choose a different option.
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I have heard some doctors can do a colonoscopy while the patient is fully conscious. I wanted to go that route with my last one but my doctors office said they won't do them without using some sort of sedation, so I opted for the twilight.

I can understand why, if a patient is fully awake and panics mid procedure and starts thrashing that could be a problem.
 
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