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My friend has been through them several times since his father died from liver cancer. He hates them mostly and here is what he wrote on his online joural a few months ago:
See I have to have colonoscopies because my father died of liver cancer. Don't follow? Well he had a colonoscopy and they found polyps. They told him to come back in 3 years and have it done again. He didn't go back. When Mom brought it up he would complain about having a "pipe stuck up his ass" and that was that. When he got real sick it was colon cancer, but it got worse.
When they were prepping to do surgery and remove part of his colon they noticed a few shadows on his liver in the MRIs. So while they were "in the neighborhood" they checked his liver. It was covered in small cancers--the cancer had migrated. He lived 5 more years.
I had my first colonoscopy soon after. They found polyps, but they were benign. 3 years later I had another and was clean, save for a couple of internal hermeroids. I was told I didn't need another for 5 years. That was 2 years ago. See right before Thanksgiving I had blood in my stool. Just at night and once, then a couple of days later it happened again. Off to the doctor I went.
My doctor was like "Well in anyone else I would say--forget about it, but with your history..." off to the internal medicine doctor to have a colonoscopy. (this is the same one who did the last 'scope) he said the same thing. "Well, in anyone else I would say it was the hemeriods, but with your family history..." so the day after Christmas I started prepping.
The problem I have with colonoscopies are not the procedure (I'm drugged to the point of disassociation. I'm awake because I have to move occasionally for them, but it all seems to be happening to someone else) but the prep.
For those who have never done it, the procedure goes something like this:
1. No food the day before, you can have all the clear liquids (broth, water, tea) that you want.
2. Now I use the Fleet prep and it goes this way:
24 hours before the procedure-you drink a 10oz bottle of Magnesium Citrate laxative. It tastes like a salty 7-UP and is the best tasting of the bunch. This gets the party started--chemically induced diahrea.
6 hours later you get the double whammy. Fleet Phosapha-Soda laxative and 4 Dulcolax tablets. The Fleet is only 1.5 ounces poured into 4 ounces of water--it is horrible tasting. Now chase the lot with at least 8 glasses of water (64 ounces) in a couple of hours. Along with whatever else you have been drinking. This causes the condition I know as "peeing out my ass" because all you have is liquid.
6 hours before procedure: repeat the above step. However drink you water in an hour.
4 hours before procedure: You can't drink anything, but you're still passing liquid. Cotton mouth is usual.
Now you are up to procedure time. You go (with a driver because of what they give you) you get the drugs and they do the procedure. Then I'm loopy for quite a while after (at least that is what my wife says. I also keep telling her I'm fine. (Good drugs)
What gets me is the prep. Not the no food part, that's rough, but doable. Being a bit of a control freak it's the loss of control over the body that gets me. Not knowing is that is gas that's coming or liquid. Being up and down all the time--that gets to me. Luckily I'm married to a wonderful woman who puts up with a grouchy rhino.
Now after all that--would I not go through it again, or put off a procedure? I would do it the next week if I had to. Much as I hate the prep--it can keep me alive. I don't want to go through what my dad did. So despite what I've said get it done if you need it.
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