Letters to the Editor
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My Want to Try a Virtual Colonoscopy
At the age of 53, and given a Mother that died of colon cancer (albeit at the age of 80), after procratinating for years I finally got a colonoscopy. However, I went the virtual colonoscopy route. My review of the research was available was that, with current software, it is at least as sensitive overall to finding any colon problems, had no danger of a colon puncture, had a less uncomfortable prep procedure, and did not knock you out of a day of work (or even an hour of work) from the anesthetic. It also had the benefit of picking up any ancillary tumors hanging around especially since I combined it with a couple of other scans. And, at least the EBT as opposed to the CT x-ray version, did not seem to have any problem with excess exposure to x-rays. I got a heart calcium scan at the same time that seemed well worth doing. None of this was covered by insurance, of course, which as far as I can tell is a fault of insurance (and quite unseemly and vastly unproductive "guild issues" between gastroenterologists and radiation physician spcialists), not the procedure. It was a family Christmas present that got me over the psychological hump of getting the darn thing done. To my surprise, I came though completely clean as to colon, abdominal cavity, and heart, and had minor potential items on my lungs, that are probably "nothing to worry about," but which I am very glad to know about. I highly recommend this approach, especially since it got me over the frankly embarassing hump of actually getting it done. It would seem foolish to unnecessarily die of colon cancer, but I think many folks, especially men, find the traditional colonoscopy to be a big mental barrier.