Notes on My Colon Cancer • Hacker News Board

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#281

Post by ajxs » Thu, Oct 22, 2020, 9:42 PM UTC

thaumasiotes wrote: post #107

dbcurtis wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

> In fact, I remember I was making HILARIOUS jokes the entire time. I could not remember them afterwards though. This is the primary purpose of the "sedative". I had samples taken from the interior of my stomach via a machine that went down my throat. It was an intensely unpleasant experience; you're trying to vomit for most of the time the cable is there. Anesthesia was not even recommended, but they really wanted m…

> This is also how women were drugged for childbirth in the mid-20th century...

Can you provide any additional information on this? I can't find anything online. Maybe I'm using the wrong search terms.

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#282

Post by lemming » Thu, Oct 22, 2020, 10:09 PM UTC

azalemeth wrote: post #189

lemming wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is something I've been wondering for a while, perhaps someone here knows. I've had two colonoscopies, and my understanding was that what they used was a sedative, but I was definitely totally unconscious. What's the line between sedation and general anaesthesia?

Medically, anaesthesia is a "balanced triad" of three elements: analgesia (pain relief), narcosis (sleepiness), and muscle relaxation. It's a spectrum: we talk about having various "planes" of anaesthesia that are in principle relatively woolily defined but in practice oddly specific. An example would be the difference between a "light" form of general anaesthesia for a relatively non-invasive procedure -- such as a…

Thanks, that's very interesting! And yes, I definitely agree about seeing your doctor. We're often unreasonably embarrassed about things like this, but a good doctor will have no problems putting people at ease. And obviously the outcome can be really bad if something serious goes undetected.

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#283

Post by ajxs » Thu, Oct 22, 2020, 10:30 PM UTC

cameldrv wrote: post #73

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…

Second this. There is evidence that anesthesia causes brain damage. This shows up in the data most for babies and small children, and the elderly, where you can see it on IQ tests and chance of dementia. It's more pronounced with multiple surgeries. It may be that it's damaging everyone's brains, but it's just not as noticeable for adults. One study with twins showed about a 1.5 point IQ loss from a major surgery. Of…

Could you post any resources that discuss this? I don't doubt that you could be correct. After a quick search I wasn't able to find any material online that really supported this claim. There is the well-known condition of 'Postoperative cognitive dysfunction', however that doesn't quite line up with the kind of brain damage you're describing.

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#284

Post by CryptoPunk » Thu, Oct 22, 2020, 11:26 PM UTC

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…

A back of the envelope calculation would say colon cancer poses a higher risk to you than the coronavirus.

The Infection Survival Rate of COVID19 for those 20-49 is 99.98%, according to the CDC:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/planning-scena...

0-19 years: 99.997%

20-49 years: 99.98%

50-69 years: 99.5%

70+ years: 94.6%

This gives a death rate of 20 out of 100,000 people for the 20-49 age group who get COVID19. And there is no guarantee you will contract COVID19.

I don't know what proportion of people with your symptoms have colon cancer, but I assume it's unfortunately much larger than 20 out of 100,000. The survival rate for colon cancer is highly dependent on how early it is diagnosed.

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#285

Post by m463 » Thu, Oct 22, 2020, 11:39 PM UTC

dreamcompiler wrote: post #272

m463 wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had one a few years back and it was amazingly painful. Nonetheless I would choose it over getting knocked out. This may sound like a strange sentiment, but years ago I broke a bone on a weekend and they put my arm in a sling at the emergency room. I got to see a doctor on monday and he said - you have to move your arm. "Move it every day, otherwise you will lose your range of motion. Let pain be your guide". Comple…

The doctor's experience matters a lot here. Try to find one who has done several thousand colonoscopies. Going around the corners in your colon is a potential source of pain, and more experienced doctors do this best.

Oh my. That was exactly what they said to me. I was like OOWWW and they said "hey look at the screen, we are going around the corner!"

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#286

Post by Lichtverschwend » Thu, Oct 22, 2020, 11:59 PM UTC

mgerb wrote: post #78

icecap12 wrote: post #59

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 f…

27 at the moment and reading this thread has gotten me worried as I have a family history of colon cancer. Both of my parents get checked regularly and have had polyps removed. I wonder if I should just go or if it isn’t realistic to worry about it at my age yet.

As I already tweeted the author please consider getting tested for Lynch syndrome if your family tree is full of colon cancer. It will make a major difference knowing the result when talking to the doctors from my experience. Good luck.

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#287

Post by unishark » Fri, Oct 23, 2020, 12:24 AM UTC

dmm wrote: post #29

JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't know it was painful enough to require anesthetic. Consider me mildly more relieved.

My understanding is that in many places they are regularly performed without anesthetic so they must not be that painful.

They do pain research on people getting colonoscopies because it varies so much. A lot of people do find it unbearably painful. It's a relatively small fraction though.

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#288

Post by Diesel555 » Fri, Oct 23, 2020, 1:49 AM UTC

Kosirich wrote: post #105

Since "becoming an adult", I've lived in three cities in two countries, which means that've generally had no idea who my primary care doctor is or was, only that I'd need to find one to give me a referral to get this wart on my foot removed. F?%k, this is way to relatable. Same as the author I'm an expat which hasn't had a GP check in 5 years, not counting getting a dermatologist procedures. I feel like this is an ex…

Relatable to a lot of people in the military. Pretty much every visit is with a new person who doesn't know you, they just know the record they reviewed minutes before.

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#289

Post by tlavoie » Fri, Oct 23, 2020, 6:01 AM UTC

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 have a family history of colon cancer, so get them done periodically. The procedure isn't terrible, but the prep is worse. Pretty sure I need seat belts for the toilet for that day. Otherwise... meh. Beats dying.

Re: Notes on My Colon Cancer

#290

Post by cameldrv » Fri, Oct 23, 2020, 6:07 AM UTC

jac241 wrote: post #201

cameldrv wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Second this. There is evidence that anesthesia causes brain damage. This shows up in the data most for babies and small children, and the elderly, where you can see it on IQ tests and chance of dementia. It's more pronounced with multiple surgeries. It may be that it's damaging everyone's brains, but it's just not as noticeable for adults. One study with twins showed about a 1.5 point IQ loss from a major surgery. Of…

I'd love to see the study for this and how they controlled for the fact that being sick enough to require general at a young age probably will ding your IQ a couple points. I'm guessing they didn't do a randomized controlled trial.

One of the studies I saw was from Sweden and it looked specifically at twins where one had been injured. This is probably about as close to an RCT as you can get. That said, it doesn't separate the anesthesia from damage due to the injury itself, or the trauma of the surgery.

Still, getting anesthesia for something like a colonoscopy or a root canal strikes me as a very disproportionate risk given the evidence.