Colonoscopy Prep Day

[Bogie]

Okay... This one is #2...
 
<bad joke possibility...>
 
The first one, they gave me one bottle of something called Moviprep, and while it did not produce an earth shattering kaboom, it was moderately efficiently violent...
 
This go-round, two different kinds of basically over the counter stuff, and a whole lot of gatorade, with instructions to run dietary restrictions for the past few days.
 
Less dramatic overall. Really hope that everything is flushed, because I hate doing this.
 

[BobR]

You can shorten the whole ordeal by a small amount, and make it less inconvenient by having it done without sedation*. That way your time in recovery is shortened immensely and you can drive yourself home. I am just full of helpful healthcare tips like this. :)

bob

* This is pretty common in many European countries.

[lee n. field]

First time around, I hadn't finished the gallon (so it seemed) of foul koolaid, before it was clear coming out, and I stopped.

Last time, it was a bit different.  Half now, get up at 4AdafukM and take the rest.  I almost bobbled it by misreading the directions.

sedation

First time around, full out.  Next couple, basically they gave me something that put me to sleep.  I had pretty much totally slept it off by the time DW got me home.

[Brad Johnson]

Had on in Dec. Doc used a combination of magnesium citrate (early day) and Miralax (late afternoon). That, along with a self-imposed light&soft diet beginning three days prior, made things tolerable. Also meant I didn't have to get up at AYFKM oclock to take a final dose. Anesthesia was propofol. Out, then awake. Only downside for me is it makes me super sleepy the rest of the day.

Brad

[Bogie]

The first one was my first experience with anaesthetic... Out like a light, woke up like someone threw a switch.

[Bogie]

Okay - At 10am, took two pills that were in the package. 10:30 magnesium citrate. At noon, started on a half-gallon of miralax... Just finished the last of that. We shall see. I have a gallon of lemon lime gatorade until tomorrow at 1pm, but I stop that early morning... Gotta be good and dehydrated for 'em to play pincushion...

[Kingcreek]

I went through this 2 weeks ago. It took from Sept 8 to get a January appointment and they said they would send me detailed instructions. I had picked up the Rx gallon of powder to mix the poop goop. I never received the instructions so I called the clinic who acted like I was inconveniencing them but said they would resend USPS (they didn't want to email them). I didn't get any instructions in the mail because we were snowed in for 3 days so I called again. Clinic closed due to weather. Finally got a doc on call and asked about my "detailed instructions" and was told to just google it.
Started the prep based on what I could find (different versions).
Called clinic to confirm appt time for next day and was told that Dr was out of the clinic all week! Nobody called me to let me know and I had already started the prep!
I had a bug eyed fit and asked to speak with an office manager and unloaded on her. She promised to look into it.
She called me back 1.5 hours later and said she was able to get me into another provider later next morning since I already started the prep.
I told her forget it. I was sitting down to enjoy the plate of food and mug of coffee that I was denied for prep.
So now I get to wait another 3 months and do it all again.

[Bogie]

Gut seems to have quieted... You know, I could have started this crap at 6PM, and not had to miss a day's work.   Well, the probing will commence at 1pm tomorrow.

[lee n. field]

Gut seems to have quieted... You know, I could have started this crap at 6PM, and not had to miss a day's work.   Well, the probing will commence at 1pm tomorrow.

Really.  Every one of mine, I started prep late afternoon.

[HankB]

The first one was my first experience with anaesthetic... Out like a light, woke up like someone threw a switch.

My experience was like a movie splice - film running normally, change in scenery from one frame to the next with the film still running normally.

[castle key]

Last year I finished up an aggressive prostate radiation thing.

A couple of biopsies, several planning mri's, placement of markers, test run, real event multiple treatments, and each one of these moments demanded the full colonoscopy prep. Essentially every other day! Each treatment or test also had a three hundred mile round trip.

I so hate that prep. On one of them, I had the tablets, liquids, and carriers arrayed in front of me. I called Mike I and told him that I'm willing to die an agonizing death from cancer to avoid the prep!

Hope you have a nice cancer free colon!

[Bogie]

Me too... A few benign polyps last time.
 
Gut still moderately active. No napping. Sigh.
 
Every other day? They were trying to starve you to death?

[JTHunter]

Good luck Bogie.

[Hawkmoon]

I went through this a couple of weeks ago. They found and removed a couple of polyps. Just got the pathology report -- not cancerous. Whew!

[Ben]

Have fun on colonoscopy day!

I have decided that I'm only getting one, or at most two, more probes. Though they have twice found small polyps, I'm at the point where the probability of damage from the probe becomes a greater risk than the cancer. At the rate that polyps grow, the time it takes them to get cancerous and the time that I'm going to die of old age anyway are intersecting. I'll be up to doing any non-invasive procedures that are discovered in the next twenty years.

[RocketMan]

My doctor has been after me to do a colonoscopy for a number of years.  I've always said, "Nope" each time she asked me to schedule one.  Had a sigmoidoscopy once in my mid-twenties.  Kind of like a less invasive colonoscopy, and I don't really want to go through anything like it again.  Living dangerously I suppose.
The last time I turned her down she suggested I do the at-home poo test instead.  Poo in a box, take an additional scraping and put it in a little jar, then send them both in. I did that.  Turned up negative.

[Ben]

The last time I turned her down she suggested I do the at-home poo test instead.  Poo in a box, take an additional scraping and put it in a little jar, then send them both in. I did that.  Turned up negative.

My previous doc had me do those in between probes, but still wanted me to do probes because of the previous polyps. I just keep reading more and more about potential problems with colonoscopies, and it really has me weighing the pros, cons, probabilities, and time.

[K Frame]

I recounted my first poocano prep back in 2018 here. What fun that was. At least I got to share part of it with Mtnbkr. 

I had hoped that I was on the 10 year train, but guess who reached out to me in December... yep, the steel eel doctor wanting to schedule me for another one. I guess because I had a couple of small polyps removed I'm on the 5 year train.

Talked to my primary care doc a last month and he said it's perfectly fine to wait until next year if I want. I just don't want to deal with a colonoscopy for me while I'm dealing with Seren's lymphoma.

[Bogie]

Five polyps - they are on the way to the lab. Quack didn't seem overly disturbed.
 
Whew, so far.

[Hawkmoon]

Have fun on colonoscopy day!

I have decided that I'm only getting one, or at most two, more probes. Though they have twice found small polyps, I'm at the point where the probability of damage from the probe becomes a greater risk than the cancer. At the rate that polyps grow, the time it takes them to get cancerous and the time that I'm going to die of old age anyway are intersecting. I'll be up to doing any non-invasive procedures that are discovered in the next twenty years.

They have a non-invasive "virtual colonoscopy" available now. When there was a crisis a few years ago because some VA hospitals managed to inject multiple patients with hepatitis by not properly sterilizing the hose between procedures, the VA hospital I go to offered me the virtual one. I took it. It was negative, so my doctor immediate recommended that I do the real thing "just to be sure." I declined. Didn't have a real colonoscopy until several years later.

I don't know if the virtual is an MRI or a CAT scan.

[JTHunter]

Five polyps - they are on the way to the lab. Quack didn't seem overly disturbed.
 
Whew, so far.

Good to hear.