I'm so grateful you wrote this and demystified it. One thing I want to emphasize: the prep part is not nearly as big of a deal as people think because it's not painful and you don't feel sick. We associate diarrhea with feeling sick, perhaps nauseous, but you don't feel any of those queasy symptoms with prep for a colonoscopy. You just s…
I'm so grateful you wrote this and demystified it. One thing I want to emphasize: the prep part is not nearly as big of a deal as people think because it's not painful and you don't feel sick. We associate diarrhea with feeling sick, perhaps nauseous, but you don't feel any of those queasy symptoms with prep for a colonoscopy. You just sit on the toilet and go.
My brother-in-law—my husband's only sibling, who's a year younger than I—died of advanced colon cancer at 51. After he died, I got a colonoscopy mainly because my husband wanted me to. I have zero risks and honestly thought it was a bit unnecessary. But when I came out of anesthesia, the GI doc told me it's a good thing I went in because I had numerous polyps, one of which was a pre-cancerous kind that's most worrisome (I'm forgetting at the moment what it's called). He said to make sure all my sibs have been screened, since it has a genetic component, and my kids should start getting screened a decade earlier than recommended. I have to have one every three years now.
Finally, I'm inspired by my OBGYN, a young woman who's a kick-ass ultrarunner in addition to being a doctor, who had "poop problems" at age 30 she first wrote off as inflammatory bowel disease. Turns out, she had advanced rectal cancer with a massive tumor blocking her lower end. She endured two years of chemo and recovery, had all her lower plumbing removed, had her eggs retrieved and went through IVF because she no longer can carry a pregnancy due to her radiation treatment—and ultimately, she healed, and is now a long-distance runner again. But that is what can happen to a supposedly healthy person. Prevention and scanning are SO IMPORTANT. (I invite you to read a story I wrote about her if interested, https://www.trailrunnermag.com/people/live-through-this/).
I'm so grateful you wrote this and demystified it. One thing I want to emphasize: the prep part is not nearly as big of a deal as people think because it's not painful and you don't feel sick. We associate diarrhea with feeling sick, perhaps nauseous, but you don't feel any of those queasy symptoms with prep for a colonoscopy. You just sit on the toilet and go.
My brother-in-law—my husband's only sibling, who's a year younger than I—died of advanced colon cancer at 51. After he died, I got a colonoscopy mainly because my husband wanted me to. I have zero risks and honestly thought it was a bit unnecessary. But when I came out of anesthesia, the GI doc told me it's a good thing I went in because I had numerous polyps, one of which was a pre-cancerous kind that's most worrisome (I'm forgetting at the moment what it's called). He said to make sure all my sibs have been screened, since it has a genetic component, and my kids should start getting screened a decade earlier than recommended. I have to have one every three years now.
Finally, I'm inspired by my OBGYN, a young woman who's a kick-ass ultrarunner in addition to being a doctor, who had "poop problems" at age 30 she first wrote off as inflammatory bowel disease. Turns out, she had advanced rectal cancer with a massive tumor blocking her lower end. She endured two years of chemo and recovery, had all her lower plumbing removed, had her eggs retrieved and went through IVF because she no longer can carry a pregnancy due to her radiation treatment—and ultimately, she healed, and is now a long-distance runner again. But that is what can happen to a supposedly healthy person. Prevention and scanning are SO IMPORTANT. (I invite you to read a story I wrote about her if interested, https://www.trailrunnermag.com/people/live-through-this/).
The prep made my mom throw up and she was so miserable she gave up and cancelled the colonoscopy, so I think for some people it is a big deal.
That happened to my mom as well. I’m glad I’ve gotten to do the Miralax/Dulcolax/gatorade prep which I had no trouble swallowing
Thanks for sharing that article, so amazing!