Thanks to kunilou for starting this thread. I was tempted to begin one, after having my first colonoscopy on Monday.
This is something I was dreading for several years, even though I knew a screening was necessary because of age and family history. Finally I couldn’t put it off any more - a longtime family friend was found to have colon cancer metastatic to his liver, and as a pathologist I keep seeing bad cases of advanced colon and rectal carcinomas, some in people only in their 30s.
The prep was not bad at all. The laxative I used was Miralax (sold over the counter). You mix it in Gatorade or something similar and it’s tasteless (unlike what I’ve heard about Go-Lytely). To avoid going into excess detail, I will only mention that instead of the Mt Etna explosion I was expecting, the clean-out was much gentler and without cramping. The procedure itself was nothing. With 75 mg of Demerol and 5 of Versed on board, I was only conscious for what seemed like about 5 minutes and there was no pain.
True, there is the “embarassment” of a colleague having seen my butt. However I am sure he has seen thousands of them* and mine probably wasn’t memorable.
The relief of knowing I don’t have a malignant tumor is enormous (I had a benign 1 mm polyp removed). I don’t have to plan for painful, debilitating surgery, a colostomy, radiation or chemotherapy.
I urge anyone with risk factors or who is old enough to consider screening to get this done. It beats hell out of the possible alternatives.
I had considered “virtual colonoscopy” (“non-invasive” imaging). But as noted, you still have to do the colon prep, they can’t remove any polyps they find (meaning you might need a colonoscopy anyway) and there’s a risk of missing small but problematic lesions.
Lastly, there is typically no connection between having thyroid carcinoma and risk of colon carcinomas, with the possible exception of unusual genetic syndromes.
Jackmannii, M.D.
*jeez, what a job.