Colonoscopy - All Oly equipment!

[BosseBe]

If I had accepted the needle and pain killers they offered, I don't think I would have been asleep as they wanted me to turn on the bed during the exam.
But pain relief during the procedure looks like a good thing at least from my point of view.
I was stupid and thought it could not be worse than fixing a hole in a tooth, but it was!
I didn't know that you had pain receptors in your intestines! But found out the hard way!

 

[RichardC]

Gastroscopy was doable without sedation. I had arranged to collect my daughter from school so had to be able to leave hospital straight after. Throat spray works far better than one would imagine. They ask you to swallow as the scope goes down. I found it more comfortable not to.

If anyone is worried about having a scope at either end, they can be reassured that while it's uncomfortable it's not horrendous. Both of mine were completed in about 10 minutes.

 

[BosseBe]

My colonoscopy took an hour, maybe it would have been faster if I hadn't felt the pain? Who knows?

But my take on all this is that it is better to have it done so you get to know!

 

[Replytoken]

If I had accepted the needle and pain killers they offered, I don't think I would have been asleep as they wanted me to turn on the bed during the exam.

When you are sedated, you are technically still awake, so you movement is still possible. Typically for an endoscopic procedure, you may be offered a mixture of something for pain relief like Fentanyl, and some type of amnesiac, like Versed. They can vary the amounts given from very mild to very heavy, but they want you (safely) comfortable, and that can vary from patient to patient.

 

[John King]

Stupid as I am I declined the anaesthetic, it hurt like H*LLl!

I always have an anaesthetic ...

I also always have a double ender - colonoscopy and gastroscopy - every 3 years.

Hope that your results are good, Bo. All cancers start from polyps, but about 99% of all polyps are benign.

 

[John King]

Don't forget the dreaded prostate exam.

All very embarrassing, but the best way to break the ice is...........











.......wait until his finger is in and ask him if he's a real doctor.

Totally agree, Richard. Two good friends have died of prostate cancer. Both under 50 y.o. at time of death ...

 

[BosseBe]

but about 99% of all polyps are benign.

That is what I have intended to research but haven't gotten around to! The odds of it being benign/malign.
So if 99% is benign, my odds are good!

 

[John King]

@BosseBe Bo, I've had dozens removed over the last 20 years. One in my stomach about the size of my thumb! It grew in about 18 months to 2 years. All benign, including the ugly one that I had 5 days in hospital for, and home visits for 10 days prior and post. I had to be weaned off Warfarin onto Clexane, then back onto Warfarin for the surgery.

Better out than in ...

They also have to inspect the anastomosis where my small intestine is joined just above the top of my rectum.

 

[PakkyT]

Thanks @PakkyT for starting this thread!

You are welcome. Of course I started it as a joke because I was kind of thrilled to see the rack of Olympus equipment for my procedure. But as I mentioned I had the procedure because I had put off a lot of "getting older" procedures and wanted to catch up. No point in dying for being too stubborn to go to the doctor when it isn't really hard.

After I started this thread, there was an article in the Boston Globe about how doctors and hospitals were concerned that with COVID a lot of people would be putting off screenings and other routine care because they didn't want to catch COVID. They even cited a couple examples which included one person who had a cancerous melanoma (skin cancel) removed and was supposed to go back every year or some such for screening and that person has put off their last appointment due to COVID fears.

Get your gawd damn screening and tests!

I don't think they put you to sleep only dampen the pain.
You are supposed to be able to walk out of there after the exam.

In my case they put me completely out but it was some sort of sedative that keeps you out while administered and you wake up as soon as they stop. I woke up and remember everything as they were cleaning up and I was still in the exam room. I was only in the recovery room long enough to get dressed, given some literature, and to eat some crackers and drink some juice.

My colonoscopy took an hour, maybe it would have been faster if I hadn't felt the pain? Who knows?

Rough! Mine was literally 12 minutes and I didn't experience any of it. In and out (ya, that pun was intended).

 

[RichardC]

Rough! Mine was literally 12 minutes and I didn't experience any of it. In and out (ya, that pun was intended).

Sounds like Bo got the 'shake it all about'.

Probably the Okey Kokey Colonoscopy Clinic in Stockholm.

 

[Bob in Pittsburgh]

Agree and there is no use worrying before you know.

From what I heard from the nurse I talked to when booking the time, people often don't want to do the colonoscopy after something was found in their tests.
That seems stupid to me, isn't it better to know if you have a problem then not knowing?
If you take the first test but don't want to take the test resulting from it, why bother with the first one?

You are correct about this, Bo. I think people don't always make the most sensible decisions. Good that you got this done.

 

[BosseBe]

Just to let you know I got the result yesterday, no problem!
I will be called to do a check again in 2 years time (the screening test that is) and I will do it!

 

[RichardC]

Just to let you know I got the result yesterday, no problem!
I will be called to do a check again in 2 years time (the screening test that is) and I will do it!

That's fantastic news Bo.

 

[jhawk1000]

In 2013, I had my first colonoscopy. I had been photographing in Rocky Mountain National Park and was feeling weak. It was January and cold as could be. When I got back to the hotel, I noticed that I had some blood when I used the toilet. We continued our shoot, drove 600 miles home, and on the next morning after arriving home, I was eating breakfast and passed out with a huge amount of blood being passed. EMS came, carted me off to an emergency room and I had 4 units of blood pumped in me, stabilized and the next morning went to a colonoscopy. Very painless since I was out with propofol while they did the procedure. I had a diverticulae that had burst and it was all they found and it was corrected. When the Dr. came in after the propofol wore off, he told me that this was the stuff that Michael Jackson used and I commented that this must be the reason that I felt like getting up and moonwalking. He had little humor. I have had a couple more and my Doctor now has that wonderful thing called "send in a stool sample" for cancer detection and has told me that I more than likely will have no more colonoscopies to which I say "bravo". The procedure is okay, the preparations are not.

 

[Chris5107]

My wife is a cancer survivor and we still go in every 6 months for checks. Not colon cancer on her part. The point of the story is, this expert we meet at Johns Hopkins Hospital each year has told me stories about the person dying in bed with Colon Cancer who would not be bothered to take the test.

The test may be a PITA but it is easy compared to what could result if things are not caught.

They gave me some photos from mine but the corner sharpness was poor and I am convinced the focus was off. Nothing seemed sharp. Likely not Olympus equipment.

 

[PakkyT]

The FL-50R would have helped with that!

 

[Panolyman]

Just to let you know I got the result yesterday, no problem!
I will be called to do a check again in 2 years time (the screening test that is) and I will do it!

Excellent news Bo; good to hear it.

 

[Bob in Pittsburgh]

This is good news, Bo.

 

[pake]

Hmm... Just occurred to me that I would very much prefer these operations with Olympus gear instead e.g. Hasselblads... I dunno, maybe it's just me....

 

[John King]

Hmm... Just occurred to me that I would very much prefer these operations with Olympus gear instead e.g. Hasselblads... I dunno, maybe it's just me....

Or an E-30 with FTs f/4 7-14 attached ... .