Jan

31

Get Your Colonoscopy

Posted by cameron

January 31, 2007 |

We all know that men over 50 need to get this done. We also know that most men will not. I am posting this in the hope that it will change some people’s minds and make them take action. Details will not be given so you have no excuse to stop reading.

Pre-procedure:

At my annual physical three years ago my doctor recommended that I should get the procedure purely based on my age. My external reaction was “whatever you say doc”. My internal reaction was “no way doc”. This is the most feared procedure in Mandom and I am no exception to that rule. I kept it to myself so my wife wouldn’t hound me until I went. Long story short, over two years later I suddenly had a bout of courage and decided to get it out of the way.

The Procedure – I was unconscious

Post-procedure:

As I’m driving away from the hospital after the procedure my overriding thought was “why didn’t I do this sooner?” They put you to sleep so you are not aware of anything; there is no post procedure pain. Nothing! The only downside at all was the 24 hours before when you have to fast and take stuff basically to cause dysentery. If they could find a better way to do this you wouldn’t know anything had ever happened. The upside of course is the peace of mind it affords that comes with knowing where you stand. Oh, and the loss of fear for the next time, which is 5 years away.

Ok I was stupid in the first place, but now I know better. Don’t you be stupid.


Comments

2 Comments so far

  1. heidi on January 10, 2008 9:01 am

    Glad to hear that your colonoscopy went so well; I just had one it was pure hell. They told me that I would be “asleep”; not true, they give a drug that causes amnesia called Versed and small doses of painkiller and you are not supposed to remember the horrible procedure…I sure do; I was very traumatic and I recall it all…..the smugness of the nurses almost laughing as I cried out in pain saying: “dear: you won’t remember a thing”………if you even consider getting a colonoscopy, get a virtual one first (none of the terrible scope and no amnesia drugs)…then if you have polyps, get a colonoscopy with real anesthesia (something that you doctor CAN NOT) give you; it require anesthesia nurses and costs more…they use a drug called propofol and puts you really to sleep…….colonoscopy…if your doctor schedules one; mke sure that you have real anesthesia if they say Versed…cancel it…you might be one of the over 10% who have nightmares for the rest of your life……….most docs don’t want you to have colonoscopy with real anesthesia…it may cost you more, but it slows them down and they hate that…….it’s a very painful exam and can haunt you of you are not totally under anesthesia….and your GI doc is not credentialed to provide that service

  2. cameron on January 13, 2008 7:24 am

    I’m sorry to here that. Mine was nothing compared to yours and I was totally out of it. Something to double check for others.

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