Hacker News Reader

Comment by sevenzero | Hacker News Reader

I'd rather die over having a tube up my ass, and I've seen my father die to this exact type of cancer.

To anyone wondering about this, I did it last year. You don't remember the procedure at all, you're just left with the blissful afterglow of the drugs they use to make you sleep. That stays with you for a couple of days. The uncomfortable part is the day before when you have to do a cleanse. Worth it.

> You don't remember the procedure at all, you're just left with the blissful afterglow of the drugs they use to make you sleep.

Technically this will vary depending on the protocol. I have friends in this field and in some countries they effectively knock you out with sedation. Others you might get some anxiety medication and only sedate elderly or uncollaborative patients.

Regardless of that everyone should absolutely get checked but just wanted to make sure we don't set unrealistic expectations.

I've been reading about this and my sources said the preparation phase takes a week. Does it not have to be a week then?

I’m literally having a colonoscopy today (Wednesday), so I’ll say what my prep has been.

Starting on Friday, I followed a “low residue diet”. This primarily meant no fibrous fruits/veg or whole nuts/seeds. It was inconvenient but not hard.

Yesterday I started a “clear liquid diet”, which meant that I did not eat anything and only drank apple juice, gatorade, and the prescription prep solution. Starting at 5pm and going until about 6:45p, I drank half of the prep solution, which was like 64oz of stuff that tasted like flat Sprite. Right about the time I finished drinking, the draining out the other end began. It wasn’t a problem, and didn’t hurt, but I did visit the bathroom about 10 times over the next 2 hours with another few throughout the night.

I slept great overnight, and now I’m getting ready to start the second half of the prep solution. I’ll drink it over a 90 minute span, beginning four hours before I am scheduled to arrive at the endoscopy clinic.

(I’m also planning to have my colonoscopy without sedation. I have a very high pain tolerance, and was told that I’ll be able to watch the realtime video feed!)

Around here, they refer to the day of drinking the solution as "The Night of a Thousand waterfalls"

how'd it go

Totally fine.

The hardest part was probably convincing my doc that “yes, I’m sure I don’t want sedation.”

The procedure took under 15 minutes, with only about 2 minutes at the start being quite uncomfortable (“beesting way up my butt”). After that, it just felt like a bad case of gas rumbling through my gut. It wasn’t pleasant, but I’m not sure it is that much worse than a painful dental cleaning.

The doctor was quite good at talking through what we were seeing on the big screen. I didn’t feel anything when he used forceps to remove a few tiny polyps. I felt good that I saw the “problem spots” in realtime and could ask questions. (I’d likely have stressed out with a “we found a few tiny polyps” report after waking from sedation.)

After the procedure, I was free to leave. I put on my clothes and immediately left to walk home. No issues throughout the rest of the day.

I’m glad I skipped the propofol, and will skip sedation in the future.

It might depend on the doctor also. I had one last year and, from what I remember, there was no prep besides the 24 hour fast/liquid diet before the procedure. I was long overdue to the first one but I won't be from here on out. The entire thing was easy.

Never a week, I can't imagine how you would find a source that says so. Source for 1-2 days: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/colonoscopy/abou...

The sources are in my native language, so it's likely the local practice is outdated.

Did it without sedatives, nothing special. Common thing in northern Europe - not so much in eastern. Stomach checkup as well, cause you might as well at that point - the equipment and specialists are there.

A friend's girlfriend got stage3(?) recently, not 30 yet. My dad passed away ~5 years after diagnosed stage4. I had some pretty nasty IBD which, along with the mention of my family history, _finally_ got them to agree to do it. Anyways, all clean, other than h.pylori that got taken out with the first round - stomach - apparently exceedingly common here.

Watch your shit, get your stuff checked. I still had the needles set up in case perforation occurred and they had to sedate and do exploratory.

I think its okay when you tell the doctor no homo.

I think you need to get the doctor to say it, not the other way round

Surely

not sure if that makes it better for you, but usually you are knocked out and don't know what is happening during the procedure. Much worse is the preparation starting days before with disgustingly tasting things that intentionally give you diarrhea (and maybe make you puke) to clear the path, and no food at all

People get a safe but vile-tasting laxative by default. If you don't have any known problems with your colon then you could ask for a faster-acting laxative that is easier to get down.

I have a condition so I have a colonoscopy every year. Once I had found out about there being a fast-acting option, I've always chosen that.

I've never done it sedated. I prefer to watch the screen and and ask questions. I've found the view quite fascinating, actually. The doctors and nurses have always been professional, focused on the colon: not the butt. There is absolutely nothing sexual about it. I've never felt pain: only some tension, and that's been because of gas (needed to get a clear view). It is perfectly safe unless your colon has some illness of some sort. The worst part has always been the prep.

Yea I know, my life just isn't worth living and I'd prefer not to have something shoved up my ass to prevent something that could end it early cuz I am too foolish to do it myself.

Everyone who goes through the procedure says the same thing: it really is no big deal and the procedure itself is less of a problem than the laxatives you need to take the day before.

You are not going to catch the gay for having a colonoscopy, if that is your fear.

My fear is mostly shame to be honest. Never had an issue with gay stuff as I kissed my homies on the cheek before

The only thing they might possibly judge you on is how well you followed the prep instructions. They've all seen thousands of assholes, most of them professionally, and will forget about you as soon as they wheel you back to the recovery room.

> The only thing they might possibly judge you on is how well you followed the prep instructions.

Same with if you get snipped. I didn't realize that "shaved" meant with a safety razor and I just trimmed with a beard trimmer. I ended up having two younger women give me a proper shave as I laid there, which was about the dumbest I ever felt in my entire life. Made for a great story for my friends though.

Shame of what? From whom? GI doctors and their teams do this all day long. And nobody sane is going to shame you for following a medical procedure.

It really is not a big deal to go through it.

> GI doctors and their teams do this all day long.

I've had an extended conversation about this with an ER nurse friend, in which I reminded her that although the staff go through the gamut all day every day and it's normal for them, the patient (hopefully) does not and whatever procedure(s) are new and scary.

Add in the fact that (sexualized) abuse and med students using anesthetized patients for training without explicit consent is more common in the medical field than any of us would like, and people having concerns strong enough to avoid treatment sounds pretty reasonable to me.

"we see this all the time" may settle a few concerns, but it makes others (such as the power imbalance) worse.

It's just a butt, you don't have to be any more precious about it than about anything else that gets stuck into your body.

I dont want anyone to touch me, not in the face, not on my belly and especially not my anus.

Ok well you will have to be touched in order to receive medical care, particularly surgeries. I’ve had been touched while unconscious during surgeries. It was either that or die.

If it makes you feel any better, it is literally impossible to remember it. You can’t be traumatized by it even if you wanted to.

Dude it is nothing compared to any type of cancer. Besides, you are mostly sedated and dont remember a thing.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com