I’m having a colonoscopy tomorrow. Oh boy! The preparation starts today. Actually, it started a week ago, when I purchased the laxatives and the clear liquids to take today. Then a couple of days ago, start a low-fiber diet, avoiding nuts, seeds, popcorn, and corn. Yesterday, drink at least 8 glasses of water or other clear liquid while maintaining a low-fiber diet.
Today, low residue breakfast: eggs (not fried), bananas, apple sauce, juice without pulp. Clear liquids for the remainder of the day. At 3 pm, start the laxative/clear liquid regimen, finishing up tomorrow morning, which of course will keep me…busy. The actual procedure will be around 12:30 pm tomorrow, and my wife will bring me home.
So if I’m a little slow visiting your websites, you will know why!
Here’s what humor writer Dave Barry said about HIS colonoscopy back in 2008: “Which brings us to you, Mr. or Mrs. or Miss or Ms. Over-50-And-Hasn’t-Had-a-Colonoscopy. Here’s the deal: You either have colo-rectal cancer, or you don’t. If you do, a colonoscopy will enable doctors to find it and do something about it. And if you don’t have cancer, believe me, it’s very reassuring to know you don’t. There is no sane reason for you not to have it done.”
I did this before, a decade ago. It was no big whoop; I don’t believe that I watched the procedure on the monitor. My wife gets one every five years – her brother John died of colon cancer at the age of 42 in 2002 – and she likes to watch.
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Colonoscopies Explain Why U.S. Leads the World in Health Expenditures: “The high price paid for colonoscopies mostly results not from top-notch patient care…, but from business plans seeking to maximize revenue; haggling between hospitals and insurers that have no relation to the actual costs of performing the procedure; and lobbying, marketing and turf battles among specialists that increase patient fees.”
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Good luck, Roger!
TMI
I disagree, Lisa. Making the point that people ought to do it, and needn’t be embarrassed about it.
Which you did stunningly well, actually. It doesn’t sound quite so awful the way you talk about it here, just temporarily uncomfortable and very important for your health.
The Dave Barry thing is hilariously awesome. Good to send on to people who you KNOW aren’t getting it done and really, really need to!
Well, it’s certainly not a picknic! I know this because my husband had to undergo the same treatment. The results were good at the time. I hope for you the same.My thoughts are with you.
Thanks for your comment! The beer was not x-rated, but… for adults only it was.
Good luck, Roger!
Wil, ABCW Team
Good luck, Roger. I’m typing this from the cancer center. Waiting on the doc before my infusion. I’ll be thinking about you. It’s not timing until you include pics of the procedure!
Which I PROMISE not to do, Eddie!
good luck Roger – hope it goes well
I hope your test went well. I’ve had two of them and they aren’t fun. I had to have a general anesthesia for the procedure because I have so much scar tissue so nice to sleep through it but the preps a drag.
The prep’s the worst. One small polyp to dissect; I’ll know in a couple weeks.