Post

You just cant stop talking about yer butt

Pics or it didn't happen.

I had my first last year, at 57 lol. I had one polyp. I go back in 7 years. I had a similar experience in that while it wasn't fun, it was not nearly as bad as I was dreading. I think it's good to share our stories to encourage everyone around us to get tested. Better than getting cancer treatment!

Glad to hear yours went well! Ironically? Synchronicitously? Either way, I’m in the waiting room as my wife’s gone back for hers. The prep regimen has changed since mine a few years ago, and we’re not sure if it worked well enough… Here’s hoping, though… 🤞

The procedure is a breeze. The prep is what sucks tho. Still, a small price to pay for peace of mind.

I had one last year and it really is no big deal. I'd say the peace of mind is well worth a few hours of mild inconvenience. Also, if there are any minor issues such as polyps, they can be addressed during the procedure. Yes, there's a chance something bad might be found but that's the point of it.

The worst part of getting a colonoscopy is the prep the day before. The procedure is easy, you sleep through it. Beats the hell out of getting cancer.

The prep is the worse part. Colonoscopies are a breeze. Get checked people.

Glad things weren't horrible horrible and you had the All Good results, John. Love Brideshead Revisited homage!

Colonoscopies aren't so bad. It's the preparation for them that's awful. :)

The farts afterward are epic, if you enjoy that sort of thing.

When my mom had her last one she was free of polyps and didn’t have to go back for ten years and she acted like she’d scaled Everest

So i thought I could drink water leading to it and ended up needing to go without anesthesia. That was fun. All the air they pumped in cause me to have a two minute fart

Been there. Will be there again. Worth it!

No one has mentioned that if you're not sedated it's quite interesting. I first had one checking on my appendectomy from the other side and opted for gas & air pain relief. The NHS keeps you until they are sure you've fully recovered from sedation, but without it you can leave as soon as you want.

It is called "TL;DR", John, not "spoiler".

The prep really really sucks (like needing to sleep on the floor next to the toilet) and at my last one they couldn't get the IV in because I was so dehydrated. I'm not going through that again but since they stop recommending them at 75 and I'm 74 I guess that's okay.

I'm glad to hear it. Now, as Spice observed t'other day, you have work to do. Spice and the other kitties want a steady stream of premium cat food, and I want more books. 😀

"Post-Mortem" sounds morbid. Perhaps it should be a "pre-mortem" since (presumably) you're not dead yet?

Happy to hear

Thank you for this. I have one in a couple of weeks, and this was reassuring.

Congrats on the clean colon. I am glad everything worked out well and easy. And yes propafol is your friend.

That's the main thing. It's a pain in the arse (no pun intended, it's actually painless) but after a certain age you have to go through the ordeal every few years

Good to hear for you.

Glad to hear your prep went better than mine did. I threw up. I also fainted. But not in that order. I’ll still do it again when I’m told to. (Though I’ll be having a conversation with the doctor about how to modify the prep for next time.)

Thank you for this. I put mine off a bit as well and woke up to find I had advanced cancer. Sharing your experiences and letting folks know a colonoscopy is a pretty easy procedure is a great way to convince folks to get theirs.

One note for coffee drinkers: when they say don’t drink coffee within 8 hours don’t be too literal and drink a cup at 9 hours before. It still stains the colon, which makes it hard to see as well, so they will recommend you come back after 5 years instead of 10.

Thanks for doing that, John. Good people.

I appreciate this. I’d just scheduled my first earlier this week.

The anesthesia nap is the best part of the process.

Thanks for this. Today is my clear liquids only/prep day. I said fasting before but that's day of. Today's liquids can still have calories.

@tomchansky.bsky.social thanks for the reminder King Tom. I know that it’s time

I’m here to tell you that you don’t have to do that epsom salts cleanse — it’s just the default with some docs. If you ask, they’ll (probably) prescribe one of the many other ways to do it.

Mine went so well that, when it was over, the gastroenterologist happily handed me a business card for his winery.

The prep is the worst part. I had one a couple years ago, and I grabbed two different colors of Gatorade off the shelf to mix the prep with without reading the labels. I live in Alaska. One of the flavors was ‘Arctic Blast’ 😄

It's nice that, in a world that seems overflowing with people with their heads up their own asses, you allow us a peek into someone else's.

No lie. My doctor told me mine was the worst he had ever seen.

I am eating no more processed meat; only vegetarians or fish. All those yummy sausages like pepperoni … nope! Oatmeal for breakfast (put chocolate chips in it) and all that good stuff. We'll see at my next c-scopy in three years whether that works.

closest I think I’ll ever get to teleportation—was in one room one second with the nurses than back in the recovery room the next

I had colonoscopy+EGD in 2024. Went just fine. Exactly 7 days later, I had a GI hemorrhage; lost 40% of my blood. 4 days in the hospital. Another colonoscopy+EGD, 10 days after the previous. Also fine. Fun fact: my diet is so restricted the hospital basically couldn't feed me. Yes. I'd do it again.

My ultimate takeaway from the colonoscopy is that I understand the appeal of propofol naps.

i do like the "shit in a box and mail it to us" kits. i'm sure they;'ll tell me i can't use them anymore soon due to "reasons" :o

Ok, so just 1 story. My friend Ray is getting prepped for a colonoscopy & overhears the doctors scolding some lady. I guess she had eaten some food & didn’t tell the staff. They got her prepped and inserted the scope and it all came flying out! Probably very messy. They were pretty upset about it.

I had a colonoscopy to look into some gut stuff a couple years ago and your experience pretty much mirrors my own. The prep is def the worst part.

I got the best sleep I've had in a long time during the procedure but the prep wasn't bad either. If you plan it properly it should not be as arduous as can be. But I didn't get a teddy bear, either!

I've had maybe 6 or 7 procedures in 15 years and it's all very doable. The procedure itself is ::poof:: nothing. I've had 2 friends die from colorectal disease and believe me, a colonoscopy is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

Funny, I just had mine earlier today. I agree that the procedure itself was not as bad or as long as I thought it would be, but the pre-colonoscopy prep, starting a day before was absolutely dreadfull. Didn't think of a teddy bear though.

The worst parts for me were the low-fiber diet for the couple days before prep day, and the IV site being kinda irritated. Not bad, but also the parts that I was most worried about were especially not a big deal!

For reasons, I’ve had more colonoscopies than your average bear. Some docs still default to the dreaded gallon of epsom salts, to which I say, “Eff, no.” There are much easier ways, as you now know. Glad you had a tolerable time and the optimum outcome. I’d like to keep you around (& writing.)

You should have had one way before the age of 57. But yeah, no big whup (I have had three).

We stayed in a vacation home for an extended period last year and brought a bidet to install 😂 luckily the host was all for it.

My first one is Monday.... Checking this post out now.

A couple of years ago, because of blood in pooh, a giant polyp and follow-ups, I had 4 colonoscopys in about 6 months. Everything was fine, all benign, but the procedures were greatly improved by sedation. If you can tolerate it, I would recommend the drugs.

Colonoscopy saved my life when a 9 cm malignant tumor was discovered on my appendix. (Consider Sutab pills for the prep for those like me who can’t tolerate the liquid solution, total game changer.) Please don’t procrastinate, get your colonoscopy!!

in 12 of the 19 colonoscopies i have had, i was not sedated or given any pain relief whatsoever ^-^ medical experiences are variable in this country and the weak are better off dying in the eyes of the establishment ^0^b a white male's experiences are not to be trusted ^____^

The drug they give you is amazeballs

Prep seems too complicated. Shouldn't they just ask you to eat some lettuce these days?

While waking up from my last colonoscopy a year or so ago a nurse asked if the doctor had spoken to me yet; I said if he had, I didn't remember. Dr. came in and mentioned something he saw and I said they'd seen the same in my last one. He said, "That's what you said when I told you ten minutes ago"

Do not put it off. Do not procrastinate. Get it in your early to mid 40s. I didn’t get one until I was 50 and without going into detail, let’s just say I wish I hadn’t waited. Don’t let the stigma of having a scope inserted in your butt dissuade you. GET IT DONE.

total anesthesia rocks!

Same here in Belgium, at least in my case (family history). Never found anything in me, and I hope it stays that way.

Excellent choice of comfort plushie! Also, you might not have been feeling 100% but that is a ridiculously great photo. Thank you for raising awareness and hopefully getting a few folks to schedule their very own!

Glad it went well! My experience a few years ago was similar: while unpleasant, the prep was far easier than I’d been led to believe, and I had a nice nap at the hospital and went to lunch with my wife after. Got a clean bill of health, too, but I’d rather catch a problem early if it’s there!

The cleansing experience varies. I found it more tolerable than my wife did, using the same meds.

Yep. The nurse didn't know what to do with me afterwards. She's like you can go whenever but why don't you have a snack first. Lol. My doc said she hadn't had anyone stop the procedure without anesthesia since fellowship. The fellow with her seemed very confused at my choice. 🤣

Also, I saw you had a different prep drink than I did, but for anyone stuck with Gavilyte, I figured out that flavoring each glass separately is a great way to do it, so when you get tired of sweet (I did powdered lemonade), you can mix a glass with fat-free bouillon. It's already salty so ... 🤷‍♂️

Everyone between 50 and 74 gets screened every 2 years by the NHS. Turned 50 last week, got a screening kit today.

I've had general anaesthetic twice and immediately vomited upon waking both times. Glad your first time was fine!

Had my first one last year. The evening of prep before it was worse than the procedure itself, and even that wasn’t that bad. Just a touch relentless.

I just complained to my husband that I didn’t get a treat after my colonoscopy last week. But yeah, everyone over the age of 50 needs to do this test.

Had my first a decade back. The drugs were so pleasant. Pleasant to the point that I don’t have first person recall of anything that happened. Including the fact I was out at the curb about an hour waiting for my wife to pick me up because she’d been told the wrong discharge time.

I find the hardest part is the liquid diet the day prior. I schedule mine for Mondays because I would struggle to not eat at work. At least on Sunday I can lock myself in a room with books and video games and be hangry away from everyone

The Colon Chronicles: A journey to discover myself

I'd rather not to reminded of mine. No anesthesia.