Prepping right now for my 4th one. It's been 6 years. My Dad died at 48 from Colon Cancer. I'm 50. I'm sure I'm not alone here, the prepping is awful.
But considering a few of the truly sad threads we have had here in the last while, I shouldn't complain much.

You can always do the poop test and only do the colonoscopy if something is indicated. There can be complications from the colonoscopy.

That is what I’m doing.

That option wan't even presented to me. Maybe I should have asked my family doctor.

With your family history and being 50, I STRONGLY recommend doing the colonoscopy. Good luck. The prep is the worst part, for sure.

Thanks,
Yeah, that's probably what my Dr. thought.

do the colonoscopy, also ask your dr about the option of doing an annual CT scan - if your insurance covers it (it probably should if you are genetically at risk). an annual CT will pick up anything dangerous pretty quickly.

when the CT results come out, get the Dr. to play back the CT results on his screen and take a video of it (Or if he'll send you the replay file directly, even better). monitor it carefully from year to year.

Going the traditional route (no pun intended) they can remove any polyps they may find at the same time to get tested. Could make the difference.
There are worse places to run a camera line, don’t sweat it!

Wango, just got a letter in the mail the other day from Cancer Care Ontario.

link in the letter, www.ontario.ca/coloncancercheck

Something less intrusive is the Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT).

Yes, CT scan for sure. They are a piece of cake. Just make sure you know your deductible/co pay up front.

Also, ask your doctor about a CA antigen blood test too.

On the plus side... it's not a prostate biopsy. (The prep is not as involved for that, but man does it suck while they are in there grabbing samples)


I applaud your attention to the issue, and I hope you continue to get good results!

Thanks for the info guys.

Coincidence..... I'm due for one a week tomorrow on the 10th. I've had them before and am advised to continue doing so as I have other cancer issues, also last time I had a few polyps removed. The prep is not so bad imo.

Unless you have a history the poop test is fine ..... it's a lot cheaper so the clinic doesn't make as much. Cost of poop test/kit $70 max. Avg cost of colonoscopy $3,081

Just my 2 cents. 1st Best of luck to U Wango the Colonoscopy does save lives. As 4 me, I just do the Test. However , My adopted Sister hand it done and she said that It certainly Opened Her Eyes.

I am going to gently disagree here.

No history of colon cancer in my family. I passed the "poop test," but it was recommended that I get the colonoscopy.

Five polyps removed, three of which were the kind that tend to turn cancerous.

3K for a colonoscopy is a helluvalot cheaper than chemo.

+1 Dart

Its a good idea to get a colonoscopy at 45 ..... but unless they find polyps that could turn cancerous (or you have a family history regarding) I'd stick with the poop test after that. My dad never had a colonoscopy (he especially did not like doctors) and never had colon cancer.

I lost my co-worker to colon cancer two weeks ago. He was 62. He had a history of the disease in his family. He had been treated once before and they removed it from his colon. Some 4 years later in came back - by the time they discovered it this time is was stage 4

Having my 3rd one scheduled in 2 weeks.
The cleansing med and unavoidable running surprised me greatly the 1st time. Since then I have learned to have tactical iPad, magazines and books on standby for the time spent in the loos.
Is this what you guys are referring to with the awful prepping ?

The actual thing has always been the anesthesia nurse telling me to countdown to one, then I wake up speaking Swahili, or a mix of Mandarin, Cantonese swear words with a dash of French and English.
Different for you guys?

Cheers,
Slug

I had another co-worker who'd swear he enjoyed getting colonoscopies and bragged about getting the procedure done each year. He was also ex-Navy.

Yeah, they're talking about the powerful laxatives.

I didn't think it was all that bad.

But then again I've had the trots on three continents, so it's not a novel experience.