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Notes on My Colon Cancer

charlieharrington.com

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Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#51

Post by mkuklik »

graeme wrote: post #31
stevecalifornia wrote: post #5

Fellow readers: Do not be afraid of a colonoscopy. Do not avoid it-- in fact, look forward to it. They are easy and painless. Waking up from the anesthesia I felt more relaxed than I ever have in my life. Also, the prep of clearing your system will reset your digestive system and you'll feel like a new person. I think the prep cleared out whatever it was that was causing us to investigate my digestive system in the f…

Recommend anyone considering this to ask your doctor about using a sedative instead of general anesthesias. As best I can tell general anesthesia for colonoscopy for low risk appears to be a cultural custom especially prevalent in the northeastern USA. Anesthesia has many more possible side effects than sedatives and ought to be avoided unless needed (this applies to any unneeded treatment). Plus if you’re awake you…

I've got it done without sedatives 10 years. It was quite a ride. They went only half way and I had enough. It was literally a gut-wrenching experience.

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#52

Post by fortran77 »

dbcurtis wrote: post #47
graeme wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recommend anyone considering this to ask your doctor about using a sedative instead of general anesthesias. As best I can tell general anesthesia for colonoscopy for low risk appears to be a cultural custom especially prevalent in the northeastern USA. Anesthesia has many more possible side effects than sedatives and ought to be avoided unless needed (this applies to any unneeded treatment). Plus if you’re awake you…

> Plus if you’re awake you can actually watch the scope going, it’s cool! Not painful at all. For sure! My first colonoscopy I was sedated and enjoyed watching the screen. In fact, I remember I was making HILARIOUS jokes the entire time. I could not remember them afterwards though. My second colonoscopy my doctor sedated me again, but put me further under for reasons that remain a mystery. Also, a year ago we buried…

I remember asking my doctor (I was sedated, but not 100% asleep) to look for the iPod I lost about 10 years ago....

I must admit, the experience wasn't awful. It was like getting an intestinal reset. Getting completely cleared out from the fast and prep. I felt like a new man, and very well rested after the "twilight" sedation.

I only wish they could have given me a copy of the video of the procedure for my YouTube channel.

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#55

Post by staticautomatic »

stevecalifornia wrote: post #5

Fellow readers: Do not be afraid of a colonoscopy. Do not avoid it-- in fact, look forward to it. They are easy and painless. Waking up from the anesthesia I felt more relaxed than I ever have in my life. Also, the prep of clearing your system will reset your digestive system and you'll feel like a new person. I think the prep cleared out whatever it was that was causing us to investigate my digestive system in the f…

The night before is really not great. The first time I went through that I described to my wife what my body was doing in response as “evil ass piss”

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#56

Post by ridgeguy »

stevecalifornia wrote: post #5

Fellow readers: Do not be afraid of a colonoscopy. Do not avoid it-- in fact, look forward to it. They are easy and painless. Waking up from the anesthesia I felt more relaxed than I ever have in my life. Also, the prep of clearing your system will reset your digestive system and you'll feel like a new person. I think the prep cleared out whatever it was that was causing us to investigate my digestive system in the f…

I'll second the "do not be afraid".

At my first, I was offered the option of minimal sedation, which I took. Then my doc offered to put up an extra monitor so I could take the tour, as it were. It was fascinating.

By now, I've had 9 colonoscopies. My brother had colon cancer, hence the maybe higher frequency than usual. They've all been either non-events or pretty interesting.

If you have any symptoms at all, get the procedure done. Immediately.

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#57

Post by 01100011 »

drewg123 wrote: post #35
01100011 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, drinking a gallon of anything that fast is no fun, but the laxative they gave me was terrible. The worst part was that I tried drinking it cold, which made it sit in my stomach and build up, so I ran out of space to drink more. I heated it up, which got things moving again, but made it taste even worse. I will say though, after having the colonoscopy, my general bowel symptoms(never ending gas, mostly) improved…

You reset your microbiome; I think this is what the colon cleanse people are trying to achieve. I usually try to take good probiotics and eat right (avoid processed foods, especially sugar) after to try to establish good gut bacteria.

I've tried all kinds of probiotics, different kinds of fiber, I regularly eat yogurt and kefir, even prebiotics. I've had normal diets, and low-carb diets(not keto). Nothing ever made a significant difference until I did the cleanse. It wasn't even a natural cleanse. It was 2 gallons of chemicals.

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#59

Post by icecap12 »

Nice write-up, I'm happy to hear it was only stage 2!

Colon cancer runs rampant in my family. My dad was a stage 3 survivor (it's now been 12+ years), however his younger sister (my aunt) just died about 6 weeks ago after an 18 month battle. She was a former nurse, and had basically missed getting one of her regular colonoscopies. At that time, she was supposed to go every 5 years and I think she went 10 - too long for her age. She ended up with a blockage, which by that time meant things were realistically too late. She was only 64 and in otherwise excellent health. A second, younger aunt on that side suffers from diverticulitis and has had bowel surgery.

The cancer gene also runs on my moms side; an aunt there had both colon and breast but survived both. So, I'm pretty much screwed. As a result of those risk factors and various symptoms, I've personally had two colonoscopies (one just a month ago).

I'm close to 40, and I had a 2mm polyp removed. There's a high chance that such a polyp would have developed into colon cancer within a few years. I'm now on the 3-year plan for colonoscopy checks. The good news is, in general, colon cancer is one of the most successfully treated diseases if caught early enough. Gastroenterologists will tell you that there's no excuse to die of colon cancer if you get regularly checked.

What I would tell people is to get checked by age 40. If you have any symptoms don't hesitate to call a gastro and get in for a check. For most people, it is hemorrhoids or something else - but I've got a friend (39 years old) who was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer - the point is this thing is hitting people in their 30s, so it needs to be taken seriously if you're symptomatic.

On the topic of prep, it's not that bad. It's basically 24 hours of suckage because you're on liquid diet for a day, and taking the prep that evening (typically split-prep, some before bed, some in the middle of the night). Try to schedule your colonoscopy for the first thing in the morning so that you don't have to go more than a day without solid food.

(edit: spelling correction)

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#60

Post by axaxs »

stevecalifornia wrote: post #5

Fellow readers: Do not be afraid of a colonoscopy. Do not avoid it-- in fact, look forward to it. They are easy and painless. Waking up from the anesthesia I felt more relaxed than I ever have in my life. Also, the prep of clearing your system will reset your digestive system and you'll feel like a new person. I think the prep cleared out whatever it was that was causing us to investigate my digestive system in the f…

Thanks for that comment. I once, out of nowhere, had a bad bout of panic attacks and subsequent health anxiety. Every symptom(which were themselves manifesting) led me to believe I was dying. Literally the only thing that helped was googling the symptom + "anxiety.". I felt like an idiot googling 'random pinching pain anxiety', but found all kinds of accounts. After reading hundreds of poor folks in my shoes describe everything I was going through, the symptom faded, and I felt peace. Really weird time for me for sure. But just know people reading random comments can really put minds at ease.
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