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Notes on My Colon Cancer

charlieharrington.com

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Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#251

Post by refurb »

arcbyte wrote: post #226
marvin wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meanwhile, up here in Norway you have to beg and grovel and almost pretend to have a panic attack in order to get a one-off benzodiazepine-based IV sedative while taking a gastroscope down your throat. An acquaintance of mine with Down's syndrome, no less, couldn't do a gastroscopy to investigate a quality-of-life issue that was assumed to be benign, due to this. Boggles my mind, honestly. General anesthesia might be…

One of the vast number of reasons to prefer a nonsocialized Healthcare market: choice.

Nah... that has more to do with how medicine is practiced versus how it's paid for. I'd bet you'd have troubling finding any doctor willing to sedate for an endoscopy in that country.

It's just "how it's done". Just like the US has it's own unique methods that seem odd to Europe.

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#252

Post by cableshaft »

cableshaft wrote: post #65

I've had the blood bit off and on (mostly off lately, but it happened again recently for a day), but I've always been told by doctors that it's just hemorrhoids, I'm too young to get cancer. Then Chadwick died, and I'm like, man, he got diagnosed with Stage 3 the same age I am now, and I'm in terrible shape compared to him. I'm thinking I should probably get a colonoscopy next summer, after this wave of Covid dies do…

I'm thinking I should clarify some things here.

They did visually confirm inflamed external hemorrhoids a few years ago. I think they also took a stool sample and didn't find any blood in the stool itself, I believe (can't remember what else they tested in the stool), and when it happens it's usually after some significant walking (i.e. a long walk with the dogs), and it's bright red and not mixed in with the stool, so I've been inclined to agree with them.

I had blood almost 20 years ago back in college too, and it took forever for the situation to calm down because I had to walk so much to get from class to class every day (like a 15 minute walk between every class), so I was constantly irritating it. Back then I never got it checked out because I was too embarrassed, just tried to hide it as best as I could.

And when it was really bad a few years ago it was when we were living in a townhome with a dog and I had to go walk him for 15-20 minutes 4 times a day every day, so it was a similar issue to back in college. It's been pretty rare since then (I've only had it happen twice the past two years, and the most recent time it was after we returned from a 3 hour hike).

So I'm pretty sure it's more just the hemorrhoids. I do still want to get it checked, but Covid is more of a concern since I have some risk factors that could lead to a poor outcome. And I'm not even saying wait until Covid "goes away" or anything, just until next summer when it's likely to go down to a somewhat manageable level again (EDIT: Also another commenter made me aware that you can order and get at-home Fecal Immunochemical Tests (which I'm pretty sure was what I got at the doctors several years ago) to help detect blood within the stool, so I went ahead and ordered one. If that comes back positive, I'll schedule a colonoscopy right away.

Er, actually after consulting with my doctor, since apparently insurance companies aren't required to cover it before the age of 50 and they can cost up to $4000. Maybe with a doctor recommendation insurance will cover it.

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#253

Post by intro-b »

behnamoh wrote: post #250
adamredwoods wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That prep is awful! I've had many colonoscopies. The procedure is fine, but oh! That prep tastes horrible!

tastes?!

The day before the colonoscopy, patients are asked to drink a laxative solution that's generally some combination of magnesium citrate or another compound. The taste is generally pretty bad, but you can mix it with some kind of non-colored drink or flavoring powder (or just hold your nose and chug)

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#254

Post by sharru-in »

jac241 wrote: post #200
tibbydudeza wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like Propofol ???. Don't it just turn on the chlorine tap on a neuron to open so that the voltage is now much lower and it will inhibit the signaling ???. It is the natural mechanism of a neuron so I don't see what side effects there could be - it is like pulling a jumper wire from one pin to another pin on a board to get a voltage right.

Great point and I see that commenters above are suggesting conscious sedation (benzos) instead of general, which would probably be propofol in this case. Both benzos and propofol act at the same chloride channel...

I’m an emergency physician and we use all of the above medications with the exception of general anesthesia.

Benzodiazepines are considerate anxiolytics whereas propofol would be considered moderate sedation. Neither of these require airway control (intubation) because people tend to keep breathing on their own and we really would much prefer that.

With general anesthesia, you cannot protect your airway whatsoever and will need some form of airway control via either endotracheal intubation or LMA.

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#255

Post by cableshaft »

elric wrote: post #143

You can also get "fecal occult blood tests". Which has nothing to do with the devil, but it's a test which can detect blood hidden in your poo. There are at home test kits. These are as simple to use as dabbing a stick in a turd a couple of times and waiting for the result. Similar to a home pregnancy test. Our local bowel cancer charity recommends these. If positive, get a colo(no)scopy. If negative, retest in anoth…

Thanks for mentioning these. Ordering one now. Didn't realize I could do them from home without a doctor's visit. Last time I did one I had to go to the doctor to get it like 6 years ago.

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#256

Post by sg47 »

defterGoose wrote: post #79
sg47 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stage 3 thyroid cancer survivor here at a similar age to the author. I totally feel like a fake cancer survivor but it's definitely turned me into a hypochondriac. I had to get a colonoscopy recently due to my GI issues and some of the symptoms were similar to the ones for colon cancer. I've tried to move on after 2 surgeries, RAI, medication adjustment but mentally it's been tough. I have to get tested regularly to…

Same here. TT at 32 last week. Also got a colonoscopy about 5 years ago for (unrelated?) GI issues. What are you looking at for screening going forward? I'm hoping the median synthroid dose im on ends up working out, but I still have to wait for pathology and RAI. Edit: if it makes you feel any better all the docs/surgeons ive talked to have expressed that if they had to choose a cancer to get, it'd be thyroid.

Fist bump. In my first year screening, they still found some thyroid tissues in the thyroid bed that hasn't been fully destroyed by RAI. I have an ultrasound and blood work in another 3 months. My synthroid dosage was too high initially as per plan which caused a lot of anxiety, heart racing, GI issues etc. After they lowered it, it's more manageable. RAI is a pain due to the low iodine diet and quarantine but there's no other choice. In my case, it had spread to the lymph nodes so had to get RAI. Hopefully, you don't have to go through it. This is one of the good 'cancers' for sure but it's still life changing in a lot of ways.

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#257

Post by fakedang »

_0o6v wrote: post #232

This was a good read. I have Crohn's disease and in 2015 had 5 ft of small intestine and half of the adjoining colon removed. Unfortunately my insides were so fucked up that they had to properly open me up (i.e. not keyhole, more doorframe). Then I got sepsis after the operation and was in the high-dependency unit (US equivalent is ICU I think?) for a bit. That was fun. I was there for a few days, but remember about…

Similar situation here. I was traveling, which made it even worse - I literally collapsed at the airport out of fatigue, which turned out to be severe internal bleeding. Thankfully didn't get any further complications although if I had delayed, it would have definitely put me at risk for colon cancer.

It's actually funny that the doctors in my case actually detected polyps in my intestine when I was 18 (showed symptoms since I was young, but all the doctors in India just waved it off as stress - for a 14 year old!). But again, they just waved it off for a long time and gave me meds that suppressed the symptoms. It was only when I was on work travel that the wonderful folks at the Zurich university hospital pinpointed it. Got a second opinion, and indeed it was Crohn's. Indian doctors just kept discounting it because Asians have a lesser tendency to get it, but recent research shows that your diet factors more than where you're from.

My only advice to anyone in my position or similar would be to take full control of your health and try to get the best possible treatment, instead of trying to reinforce your biases. Had I not been able to get checked at a much better facility then, I might have been in a far worse position now.

Don't count on family to be of help as much either, unless it's a spouse. For what it's worth, around the same time as that incident, my grandfather passed away at a ripe old age of 94. He previously complained about stomach aches and toilet issues, often getting grumpy af, but family members just brushed it away as signs of old age (including my parents). In the end, when he was shifted to a proper hospital in India during his final hours (quite literally), the doctors surmised that it might have been stomach cancer all those years. But of course, by then it was too late to take a biopsy and he passed away with the next couple of hours. That advice about recording your family health issues in a notebook is spot on.

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#259

Post by marvin »

nlitened wrote: post #195
marvin wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meanwhile, up here in Norway you have to beg and grovel and almost pretend to have a panic attack in order to get a one-off benzodiazepine-based IV sedative while taking a gastroscope down your throat. An acquaintance of mine with Down's syndrome, no less, couldn't do a gastroscopy to investigate a quality-of-life issue that was assumed to be benign, due to this. Boggles my mind, honestly. General anesthesia might be…

I always had issues with gastroscopy (I guess mostly panic and uncontrollable reflexes), but recently I discovered that there’s an option to do it through nose instead of mouth (of course, with a thinner tube) — highly recommend it for people like me!

I've done the nose variety. Triggered my gag reflex like there was no tomorrow. Sounds like you are different, thankfully :)

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#260

Post by marvin »

arcbyte wrote: post #226
marvin wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meanwhile, up here in Norway you have to beg and grovel and almost pretend to have a panic attack in order to get a one-off benzodiazepine-based IV sedative while taking a gastroscope down your throat. An acquaintance of mine with Down's syndrome, no less, couldn't do a gastroscopy to investigate a quality-of-life issue that was assumed to be benign, due to this. Boggles my mind, honestly. General anesthesia might be…

One of the vast number of reasons to prefer a nonsocialized Healthcare market: choice.

Oh, you can do it privately instead. Costs $500 or so, but there's as much choice as the market allows for. My description was how it's normally done in the public system.
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