I had never understood why anyone over 50 would refuse to get one. It was a routine scoping when they discovered my colon cancer. I have had several scoping's and my only bad experience has been with nurses that aren't highly experienced at inserting the IV. After such an experience, a couple exams back, the most experienced nurse was called in and she put it in no problem. She told me to tell anyone putting in an IV, that my veins are very flat. They appear large to the untrained eye, but are easy to go through and wiggling the needle around torturing me won't accomplish anything. She said to always ask for the most experienced nurse. This last time, I got the top nurse first and she had it in quick and easy. That helped me to not fear IV's from now on. just ask for the most experienced available and always have it in my right arm. This topic came to my mind today, because I received a message that a cousins husband that has had symptoms of colon cancer for years, but has refused to get a colonoscopy until recently. He is now faced with metastasized stage 4 colon cancer and intensive chemo before they will remove at least half his colon.
There are loads who don't get them worldwide. I never had one and I'm fine at 85 yrs... I was introduced to Grape Seed Extract in 1995 and we were told "May prevent cancer(s)""...so I've banked on these words... Then there was my dear daughter who is now 60, since she had a history of stomach issues "they" pushed these tests down her for too many years. She does have a bad taste for docs..
I've had a few. Different types of sedation are used in colonoscopies, and usually, when I have had it done, I don't remember the procedure beyond the part where they have me count. With conscious sedation, I think they give you something to forget about the procedure. One time, however, I was not only awake but remembered watching the screen through a small portion of it. It was a bit like playing Doom - you never know what might be lurking around the next corner.
I know someone who did not get sedated. I've had a few colonoscopies and was always put under, although during my first one I recall hearing the doctors talking.
The VA performed 4 procedures within a couple of months on me about 10 years ago when I was having so many health issues and I was completely awake during all of them. They did give me something to keep me calm but other than that, I not only heard their conversations but at times, they’d ask me questions or told me to do this or that. Now, the one that I had a civilian doctor do, the only thing I remember about it was the beautiful young blond who introduced herself as the person who was going to do the procedure and wish me goodnight. Sadly, when I woke up, she wasn’t there to say good morning and I never saw her again. To the point that @Joy Martin brought up, a colonoscopy is more about discovery and then, a possible bit of preventative stuff. It’s like checking a car for oil. The old Buick may be running fine but ya still check the dip stick to affirm that everything is alright. On the chance that there is water, particulates or burnt oil, a person then knows that there is some work that has to be done. Same principle with a colonoscopy. A person may be feeling just great but there may be something hidden that could cause problems later on. Alas, there are some doctors who feel that when a person reaches an advanced age that colonoscopies are superfluous. Yvonne had one many years ago and they told her she wouldn’t need another one so for whatever reason, she won’t have to lay on her left side again unless she wants to.
I’ve always been put under for the ones I’ve had, prefer just to have it done with ASAP and that way it happens in an instant, seemingly. My last one was a year or two ago and doc told me that was my last one, period, no more. I got scoped from both ends while I was under and there just wasn’t anything worth further visits given my age.
I wonder if insurance stops paying for them after you hit a certain age. I had a friend who died of colon cancer in her mid 80s. I do not know if she had ever had a colonoscopy. Perhaps the risk of being put under becomes too high.
I think it depends in part on the results of the previous exams. If they are clear, you get a ten-year break; if they find polyps or suspicious areas or diverticuli, then it is usually a 5-year break unless there is a real threat. I have had two, both under sedation. Both times--one under private insurance and one under the VA--I was told it was the cleanest they had ever seen. The second one told me he was giving me a pass for 10 years and he didn't often give those, but that I would be over the age for routine exams after that--70 or 75 I can't recall. Same goes with PSAs. If the value is low, you really don't need them every year, but if they are suspicious, then annual or more frequent is indicated. My urologist says he does annuals on anyone who he has a history of values for, but that a random out-of-the-blue PSA value is useless unless it is over 10.
Typically colon cancer is very slow-growing. Once we get to "a certain age," they expect we'll die of other causes before the colon cancer gets bad enough to kill us. I've only had one colonoscopy when I was in my 50's and it was clear... no polyps. I decided then I'd not have another one, and I haven't.
Having a third of my colon removed, but luckily the large cancer was big in diameter, not depth, and was stage 1 nearing stage 2, I am an advocate of getting a degreed and skilled spelunker to play paparazzi up my patoot. I had undergone four scopes up the patoot, in the ten years it took the cancer to grow, but it was located where the colon meets the intestines and almost impossible to see, but thanks to seeing a specialist doc that does nothing but digestive system scopes all day, it was found. All the docs agreed it was at least 10 years old. My current, girl surgeon and medical spelunker, says now with that tricky part of the colon gone, getting a thorough photogenic documentary of my colon, is easy. Had I not gone to the specialist, the cancer would be metastatic by now. If you have never had polyps, then chances are you will never have a problem, but if any polyps have been removed, even benign, then a routine scope is a good idea up to age 75.
So so thankful for my smarts to stay away from the Dinosaur machines and poison medicines of Western Medicine....and learned to work with PREVention ALTERNATIVESS since the 1980's... But I made a big slip and let them cut up my right hip and do their damage....
I think that for every procedure there can be good and bad outcomes, @Joy Martin . It depends on the doctor doing the procedure, and how good of a job that they do, and that nothing unexpected happens. Many people have hip replacements and are perfectly happy afterwards, even though yours was apparently a botched-up job of doing it incorrectly. I had a friend when i lived out in north Idaho who had both hips replaced, and she was in her mid-70’s at the time. Afterwards, she still went snowmobile riding, 4-wheeling, and kayaking in the summertimes, all with NO problems at all; so whomever did her procedures must have done a great job. As people have pointed out about colonoscopies, it is an important way to check for colon cancer, and a fairly simple procedure (at least if not done at the VA where Bobby’s was done). However, my former brother-in-law had a simple one and polyps removed and a few weeks later he was in the hospital dying because of infection from the procedure. By the time he got to the doctor and sent to the hospital, the infection had spread through his body and his heart, and they had no chance of saving him from what should have been a minor polyp removal procedure.
Yep. There are trade-offs, risk:benefit to all we do. My dad, both my granddads and most of my uncles died of heart disease in their mid-50s. With my family history and having bad blood chemistry all my life, I never expected to make it out of my 50s but here I am, 76 in a couple months. I attribute that to interventions by the two cardiologists I’ve seen. My spinal surgery was a huge relief. I should have done it decades ago. My wife and I have been fortunate to have had excellent medical care through many different episodes but I realize it’s not the same in other areas of the country. The Baltimore-DC area is something of a hub for quality health care.
There are many valid reasons not to get colonoscopies. 1. Propofol is used during the procedure - with the risk of death. That's why you sign a waiver before the procedure. And that's why other medical personnel are there to monitor heart, blood pressure & respiration. (Joan Rivers died during her endoscopy - due to Propofol.) 2. Another risk - perforating the intestine - which is almost always fatal. 3. Most cancers are not found until they have been there long enough to be seen. At that point, what matters most is whether or not they are aggressive. 4. Polyps (which are normal in people over 50) are cut during colonoscopies. Some doctors have said they are better left alone. Not everyone considers the risk worth it - aside from the preparation. Personally, no one in my family ever had colonoscopies - mom lived to 86, dad lived to 88. Brother is 73, sister is 70, I'm 71. But, if getting them gives you confidence......that's reason enough - for you.
I have had 3 colonoscopies so far. I will probably not have another one. I had my first one when I was in my 40’s. My dad died of colon cancer so it was recommended by his colon-rectal surgeon that I have one done. I have never had any polyps, but the surgeon at my local hospital said I should have a colonoscopy every 5 years, (which I did not do) since my dad died of colon cancer. The procedure has never been easy on me. On each different colonoscopies; I have had either a reaction to the medicine before I even got to the surgical room, or I woke up in the middle of the procedure (horribly painful), and my colon went into spasm and the surgeon wasn’t able to scope me----so I was carted down to x-ray to the radiologist and had to have a barium enema. That wasn’t fun.