Mine (my first) is scheduled for November. The nurse was setting up my appointment and told me I could not drive to it. I said "no problem I was planning on riding my bike". She replied, it better be a bike for two. I think I'll just have my wife take me.

You definitely need to have somebody drive you there and back. In my written instructions they said that if I didn't have a driver come with me and stay for the procedure and drive me home, they would cancel the procedure. Bold, underlined and highlighted. You will be out of it to a degree for most of the day due to the general anesthesia. It is also best to have someone with you as the "designated note-taker" when the doctor tells you what he/she found and tell the doctor that you have a designated note taker. Both times I had the procedure I have no memory of what the doctor told me about what he found. I was glad to have my dad with me as the designated note taker and driver.

Ask for pictures of what they found - I did and it was not pretty. At least you know your enemy! :D In some places they will give you a video.

As for driving yourself home - you will probably be "legally impaired" and being a "procedure" there is always the possibilities of complications; the hospital I went to recomended you have someone with you for the next 24 hours for monitering.

Having had the procedure done ins everal different facilities I can tell you the staff will not let you go unless someone comes in and signs for you. In other words if there is no one to get you and check you out you stay put.

On that note, I drove myself to a test once. A friend came over after it was done and checked me out. I then walked down with him to my car and I drove myself home. I felt fine but no doubt if something happened I would have gotten into trouble. Just not worth taking the risk.

Dante - Boost? Was that on your list of things you could have? I definitely could have used a Boost or two but my instructions were clean liquids only. I was limited to water, juices (with no pulp), popsicles, broth and jello. It amazes me how different everyone's instructions are. No two alike.

Also as to seeing your films - ask if the doctor doesn't show you. I was awake during the procedure so watched the whole thing. I was alittle loopy so it was sortof like watching a psychodelic movie from the 60's. When the doctor ran into the cancer, he spent considerable time taking films and showing me the growth. I just remember him saying "...ahhhh! Here's the cancer..." and my mind going blank. Cancer? Did he say cancer? Anyway, thank the good Lord it's over with (for now) and I'm OK. A few scary moments there but now just a faded memory.

And Yen... since you, like me, don't like all that sugery stuff much, try doing a broth. Just water and chicken or beef bouillion cubes. The salty is good for balancing out all that sweet tasting. But I've gotten to the point where now I just do water (with alittle lemon added). For one day, I can do water.

Side note... I always say I can't miss a meal. When I had surgery, I had to fast for 2 days before and then I had nothing from the surgery day for 5 days. Just IV fluids. For 3 days after I could have nothing by mouth, even water (because of a nasal-gastric tube down my throat). That really sucked. The food thing I got used to. I was not ever really hungry but water, I surely missed sipping on water. The doctor after 2 days allowed me to such little plastic lollipops dipped in water. Ooohhh yeah!

I lost alot of weight during this time because even when I could eat I had little appetite (and little energy) and I was afraid to eat too much as my system was very "delicate". Sadly, the weight is all back on and plus some. 4 months of not riding did it's number on me!

[QUOTE=islandboy;5054070]According to my GI Dr. polyps are SLOW growing and if you get checked often enough they can snip them out during the colonoscopy - no muss no fuss.

+1 on the slow growth. A friend of mine waited until he had strong symptoms of a problem (he's 55) and is now going through chemo and multiple surgeries (he's stage 4). His doc says the growth was probably 10 years old. In other words, if he had gotten scoped when he was 50 the prognosis would have been tremendously better since it wouldn't have spread at that time.

Had mine two and a half years ago, at age 52. They found three polyps (no problems) and told me to come back in three years. So this April, I get to have the Kodak go where no Kodak belongs. I had some problems with the medication, don't think they gave me enough, 'cuz I was very aware of what was going on. However, it was, and will be worth any discomfort to get this taken care of.

How many more??? As far as colon cancer is concerned, there doesn't have to be ANY more...this is one cancer that can be detected and beaten by a colonoscopy, as long as it is done early. \

I hope that everyone who has said they were going to schedule the procedure has followed through and actually done it. DO IT NOW!!!!

Ok, I’m back home from my colonoscopy. Everything went perfect, NO PROBLEMS, NO POLYPS and I don’t need to go back for 5 years. :) It was easy and I feel fine. The staff was great and I didn’t feel the IV. The first thing I did was eat a piece of my birthday cake. Saturday was my birthday, my wife had a party for me and invited some friends over. Everyone got to eat, I was on the liquid diet. She saved me a piece of cake and I just had it, oh was it good.:D

Congratulations and Happy Birthday! You could eat that cake with a lot of peace of mind.

Got my results today from the colonoscopy done last Tuesday. The five polyps that were removed proved to be cancer free, although I was told they were the type that could develop into cancer. I have to return in three years for another test. If all is clear at that point, I will be on an every five year basis.

Well aren't you glad you went? Better the to come back in 3 years than mine - yearly checks!

And I thought my 3 year schedule was bad:eek:

My colonoscopy was bright and early this morning, and I got a clean bill of health: no polyps.

Overall, it was a very pleasant experience. I fell asleep listening to the beeps on the heart monitor and awoke in recovery as if nothing had happened.

Folks, if you haven't had one yet, get it done as soon as possible. If they find something, chances are good they can fix it. If they find nothing, you can walk away feeling good about that and not have to return for another 10 years.

My resting heart rate is so low now that while they were prepping me in the procedure room, my heart was "racing" at about 61 bpm. I said "I must be nervous because my heart rate is higher than normal." The doctor and nurse both said "HIGHER!?!" and said something about it being much lower than most, under the circumstances. That's the last thing I heard before I was out like a light...........

A pleasant experience? You're a better man that I, Yen. I always found the actual test tolerable, with the prep unpleasant at best. Of course, it's the result that counts and the knowledge that colon cancer is not in your immediate future. You are correct about the meds - the anesthesia is good and the side effects are minimal. Now our job is to spread the word to all your friends and your friends friends, and maybe we can take a few small steps toward ending colon cancer

That's because I'm a WOman! :) ;)
By "pleasant", I don't mean it's at the top of my list of fun things to do. I mean that the nurses and doctor were friendly, conversational, courteous and professional, the environment was attractive and clean, the process was efficient, I didn't feel a thing, and I was treated with dignity and professionalism. Under the circumstances, I couldn't have asked for more.

The prep was somewhat unpleasant but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

I'll help you spread the word. So who's next in the 50+ group?

I had my third this year - been on a five year schedule. Here is my story though, my best friend, a man so good that too many bad things in life happened to him died of colon cancer in his 40s. He had a strong family history of colon cancer but his doc never signed him up for early screening (I had a better doc). He fought like hell but it got him. My first two screens were clear, my last one came up with a benign polyp. So far my luck is holding.

I always do mine in the summer - I drink the liquid cold, only way I can stand it but towards the end I get the chills. This last time I would get into the sauna to warm up.

Spread the word - I do whenever I get a chance.

Yen -

Oops. Sorry. That helmet threw me off. I'm new around here. The sun was in my eyes.

That's OK! :)

September 17, 7:30 am, with general anasthesia, to help with the "pleasantness" of the experience. Beats the living hell out of the prospect of undiscovered colon cancer growing in me.

My experience was very similar to yours. I'm good until 2016, unless symptoms show up that indicate I need a repeat procedure. :eek: But yeah, it wasn't as bad as it's been cracked (hee) up to be.

So, you slackers, just do it!

Even though I was told everything was ok, no worries. I did get a letter from the VA/colonoscopy center that I do have diverticulotis in the sigmoid colon area.. Makes sense as I have passed blood on more than one occasion, {reason for the colonoscopy, and twin brotherhad polyps removed}
So I am now using more fiber and will probably be eating a blander diet than I do now

That's the exact same thing that happened to me, the nurse kept checking the connection to see if the HRM was working ok.

I had both ends done at the same time, clean upper and lower..:D

just relax and and ask the nurse to pull your thumb...

http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.ya...reubens/mm.jpg

To anyone else deciding to go ahead with the procedure because of my colon cancer - I had to have 2 colonscopies and then surgery in a 2 month period.

The first time the prep sucked but by the second time I got the hang of it. Some advice. Say your test is on a Monday. That means you prep Sunday. Saturday, start eating lighter. No heavy meals. Just light snacks all day. Plenty of fluids. No big meat meals in fact veggie stuff all day. Sunday or prep day, start earlier than prescribed. Start by at least noon. If using Prospher soda don't mix it with anything else. Just drink half the bottle straight. You should only need one bottle. Drink the second half approximately 4 - 5 hours after the first. For breakfast have chicken broth. Drink plenty of water and during the day after you start stay with the water. I know you can eat all you want of popiscles, jello etc but all that sugar or sweetness makes you nauseated. Just stay with water, tea and/or broth. This makes the elimination period fairly painless. I look at it as a spa treatment - you know an inexpensive colonic! Usually by the evening I feel wonderful. Squeaky clean! And since I started early can get to bed and have a nice evening's sleep without having to worry about nightime elimination.

The third time was a piece of cake. Of course that was the prep for surgery and doctor made me stop eating solid foods 2 days before! That hurted. But the elimination process was easy, I had the routine down. Some recommendations - keep some TUCKS handy for cleanup.

BTW after my surgery I was not allowed to eat for an additional 5 days. So I went 7 days with no solid foods, 3 days with no liquids (only IV fluids). After that giving food up for one day is easy.

BTW I have scheduled by yearly exam for next month. I am becoming a veteran!

I had mine on a Monday and they started me on Saturday, 48 hours ahead. Clear fluids, sport drinks, soda, water, broth, etc, no red or purple drinks. Also I was able to have Boost. They gave me 2 helpings of Dulcolax on Saturday, 2 on Sunday and a couple quick flushes on Monday and I was ready. To me it was easy, my wife has problems with the same procedure. I had the same problem with the HR, I was lying there with a 48. They kept checking the connections until I told they I was a bike rider.

My prep (Osmo Prep tablets) began at 3:00 (per their instructions).... next time I'll start earlier so I can sleep peacefully. :eek:

For the clear liquids, I chose apple juice and white grape juice (both without added sugar, and the apple juice has a decent percentage of potassium) and beef broth (Swanson's Organic in the carton). The beef broth has a little fat (which I think may be why I didn't feel like I was starving yesterday) and also a little protein. I had planned to include lime Jell-O but I work very hard to restrict sugar except on occasion so I decided to not spend an entire day consuming it along with the additives and artificial this and that to spare myself the guaranteed sugar withdrawal the following few days -- and I tend to be a little hypoglycemic after consuming sugar if I don't have other foods of substance with it.

I began drinking the clear liquids first thing in the morning and continued throughout the day. The instructions emphasized adequate hydration in big bold letters -- before, during, and after the preparation. With the juices and the broth and plain ol' water, I didn't feel very hungry and my blood sugar didn't bottom out. Actually, I felt good. I never felt any dizziness or nausea.

I'd do it again the same way, but begin the pills (or whatever prep prescribed) earlier, like around noon.

I think it's funny they check the connections, instead of checking YOU. :)

On the other hand, there may be a reason why the instructions said to begin taking the tablets at 3:00 PM. They were very detailed with big bold letters saying to take them with plenty of liquids. Perhaps beginning later in the day allows more time for the patient to hydrate before beginning the prep. It's not good to mess with hydration, as anyone who has bonked knows!