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Saturday, Jul 4, 2009
Thank you, Cary, for your timely reminder for colorectal screening and useful links for more information. One always hopes that increased awareness and knowledge will help the many who are otherwise reluctant to think about or act upon the necessity of this particular kind of prevention.
And to LW, I offer my best wishes for a full recovery.
Yes, thank you Cary for bringing up this issue.
I send best wishes to the LW - now you have all kinds of people thinking good thoughts for you.
My brother-in-law, in spite of having a mother who had colo-rectal cancer, did not get a screening until signs manifested themselves. Strange, becauuse this can be highly hereditary and highly curable if found early from what I understand.
So, peanut gallery, Carys advice is 100% right on this time!
... to have health insurance so one can afford to go to a doctor, to mention the blood, to have it tested, to find the cancer, to get it treated. Me? I'll just die.
As someone who just had his done, I make a few recommendations:
1) Go for the full colonoscopy. I say this because if you are having blood and the sigmoid shows nothing, you'll have to have the full deal anyway. PLUS, with the full colonoscopy you'll get drugged up and it will be more comfortable.
2) Make sure your doctor KNOCKS YOU ALL THE WAY OUT. Mine didn't. It hurt a couple of times. (At one point I shouted a stream of ex-pat New Yorker curses in to the face of the very sweet small-town nurse who I thought was going to faint from shock.) But that being said, on the pain scale it actually hurt less than stubbing you pinky toe on a cold morning...just creepier.
3) If you're someone who *ever* worries about finding blood, a colonoscopy will totally help you sleep better at night.
If you're over 40, just get it done. A clean result means you won't have to worry for another decade, and Katy Couric will no longer make you feel like a wimp.
Andrew
Cary mentions the psychosexual issues that some men may have with colonoscopies, sigmoidoscopies and digital rectal exams. I wish more research would be done on this topic, because some men's "nothing's going in MY butt" reaction is strong enough to inhibit them from obtaining essential medical care. How many more men would receive early or timely diagnosis if a way could be found to help address the psychosexual issues?
New flash, if it helps: No one will think you're gay if you receive these tests. The gastroenterologist sees anuses in the double digits every single day - male, female, straight, gay, adult, child. There's nothing special about YOUR butt. Sexually active women who have gynecological exams may have a leg up on men here - we're used to invasive tests performed while in embarrassing positions. But the psychosexual issues some men experience typically don't come into play at the gyno's office either.
I have had multiple colonoscopies. The scope used is quite small. To reduce test time, I recommend a thorough pre-test prep (more annoying than the colonoscopy, in my opinion), and finding a gastro who does a lot of colonoscopies and has a lot of experience. You'll be well-medicated. Some colonoscopies I've flat-out slept through, some were a bit more uncomfortable. But if you've done a thorough prep, it passes quickly. YMMV. Ask your friends for doctor recommendations if at all possible. If you can stay awake, watch the monitor during the test. Very cool. Ask for pictures. ;-)
LW, best of luck to you. Hang in there.
Actually, I can tell you I did the sigmoidoscopy, and it wasn't that bad. The colonoscopy isn't bad either, so I have heard. It's way, way better than getting cancer.
Can't say anything about a sigmoidoscopy but I can speak to the colonoscopy. It's not bad at all. You're during the procedure given a drug cocktail that, if you could buy it on the street, would quickly become all the rage. Put differently, you get to enjoy the first 10 seconds of the procedure and then you wake up asking if they're done. An hour or so later, you go home.
Frankly, it was less "distressing" than a digital exam.
My wife, in contrast, found out that she could stay awake for it if she wanted to. She was curious, did stay awake and was fascinated by the things she saw. Unfortunately, she wouldn't shut up about it for three weeks afterward. The doctor did warn that there would be some pain/discomfort at times but he told her during the procedure when "the next few seconds are going to be uncomfortable", they were and she appreciated being warning about it.
Of all the medical procedures I've come to be familiar with (wisdom tooth removal, root canal, "full physical exam", surgical fracture reduction, broken baby toes, flu, head colds, cardiac stress tests), the colonoscopy rates toward the bottom of the list in terms of discomfort and after effects. Honest.
It all sounds so easy when doctors talk about colonoscopies. Prior to my first colonoscopy, never in my life had I suffered hemmoroids. However, the first one resulted in a small hemmeroid. Some years later I had a second which exaserbated the problem--I was now a man suffering the joy of hemmorroids and all that entails.
Years later, diverticulitis required a sigmoid resection. I don't know what they shoved up my rectum, but whatever it was increased the hemerroid so that it now likes to protrude. This causes leakage problems, bleeding, and all the joys associated with this problem.
Conclusion: Medical procedures that require inserting hoses and other objects can damage the sensitive tissues and blood vessels around and in the rectum. I know... However, if one has certain symptoms, like dark blood, it might be necessary. Another less invasive way to just check out possible causes is with a barium treatment exam which a primary physician can order.
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.
The Wasilla soap opera just gets weirder as Palin complains critics are "picking apart a good point guard"
The media outlet's use of Bush euphemisms sparks a much-needed debate on journalistic standards.
And so are his Fox News pals, who lambasted Sen. Al Franken's "stolen election"
An inflexible right wing is allowing the Golden State to drown in debt. But it's not alone
Thanks for sharing, Governor. Now please take a cue from Norm Coleman, and go away
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