SabrinaP
Pearl Clutcher
Busy Teacher Pea
Posts: 4,350
Location: Dallas Texas
Jun 26, 2014 12:16:22 GMT
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Post by SabrinaP on Jul 4, 2023 22:53:02 GMT
My MIL died of colon cancer when DH was 40. He’s been getting a colonoscopy every 5 years since then.
This year, I turned 45 and it was my turn. My doctor referred me in September, but I put it off until summer because teacher life.
I was nervous, but honestly the prep was the only bad part and really the prep wasn’t as bad as I had assumed it would be.
I was shocked though when my doctor came to talk to me after the procedure. He just kept saying I’m so glad you came to see me. I had a very large (50mm) polyp that he feels would have been cancerous in just a year or two. It’s especially scary since the age used to be 50 just a few years ago.
I now get to go back next year so the doctor can check again and he also highly suggested my siblings go ahead and get one if they are over 40. I called them both before I was even home! My brother just turned 45, so it’s time for him anyway.
Anyway don’t forget all those checks! This summer I’ve had my mammogram, Pap smear and colonoscopy. Teacher life in the summer!
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peabay
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,598
Jun 25, 2014 19:50:41 GMT
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Post by peabay on Jul 4, 2023 23:35:35 GMT
So glad you went! Exact same thing happened to my dh (he had pre-cancerous polyps) and the doctor told him the same thing - call your siblings. One of his brothers then went for his first colonoscopy and he had many more dangerous polyps and ended up having major surgery!
Yeah, the prep sucks but cancer sucks more.
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Post by christine58 on Jul 5, 2023 0:12:40 GMT
Waiting for the gastro office to call and schedule. They have you fill out paperwork first.
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Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Jul 5, 2023 0:30:38 GMT
This reminds me to nag my husband. Haha. I’m caught up on mine. He’s not.
I’m glad you did yours and it’s all turning out well.
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SabrinaP
Pearl Clutcher
Busy Teacher Pea
Posts: 4,350
Location: Dallas Texas
Jun 26, 2014 12:16:22 GMT
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Post by SabrinaP on Jul 5, 2023 0:38:10 GMT
So glad you went! Exact same thing happened to my dh (he had pre-cancerous polyps) and the doctor told him the same thing - call your siblings. One of his brothers then went for his first colonoscopy and he had many more dangerous polyps and ended up having major surgery! Yeah, the prep sucks but cancer sucks more. I’m so glad your BIL went! My sister is only 40, so I don’t know if her insurance will cover it. She has psoriatic arthritis and is going to talk to her RA.
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Post by cat2007 on Jul 5, 2023 0:46:15 GMT
My initial screening was delayed due to Covid so I went when I was 51. Everything was all good, thank God, but I make sure that I never miss my mammo or my pap!
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ModChick
Drama Llama
True North Strong and Free
Posts: 5,060
Jun 26, 2014 23:57:06 GMT
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Post by ModChick on Jul 5, 2023 0:49:40 GMT
My husband has his scheduled and isn’t worried about anything but the IV. He’s deathly scared of needles. Ugh. I just told him the prep will be worse. He asked what prep they just told me to show up at such and such time. Oi. Wonder if they’ll call closed to date to give him instructions. My last colonoscopy was about 15 years ago and she gave me all the details during scheduling. Is it still same prep, drink a ton of gross drink then live in toilet most the night?
And thank you for the reminder. I’m glad all was caught early.
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Post by librarylady on Jul 5, 2023 1:07:58 GMT
I have followed the recommendation for having them and thought at age 70 I was through. I have no family history of colon cancer and have never even had polyps.
I have a new internist and she made me use the colon guard test. Yuck! The patient has to mail in a sample of poop! I guess it beats all the colonoscopy prep. I am awaiting results of that experience.
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Post by librarylady on Jul 5, 2023 1:09:04 GMT
OP, glad your problems were discovered early and I hope nothing else develops.
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momto4kiddos
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,151
Jun 26, 2014 11:45:15 GMT
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Post by momto4kiddos on Jul 5, 2023 1:23:17 GMT
So glad you went! Exact same thing happened to my dh (he had pre-cancerous polyps) and the doctor told him the same thing - call your siblings. One of his brothers then went for his first colonoscopy and he had many more dangerous polyps and ended up having major surgery! Yeah, the prep sucks but cancer sucks more. I’m so glad your BIL went! My sister is only 40, so I don’t know if her insurance will cover it. She has psoriatic arthritis and is going to talk to her RA. Sister should talk to her primary care, she should be covered and should probably have one too. I unfortunately have had precancerous polyps and gastro has seem me every year for the past few years. Anyway his medical advice to any siblings and my children are for first screening to be 10 years earlier than the age I was when my first polyp was found. So very early as far as recommendations go.
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TXMary
Pearl Clutcher
And so many nights I just dream of the ocean. God, I wish I was sailin' again.
Posts: 2,798
Jun 26, 2014 17:25:06 GMT
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Post by TXMary on Jul 5, 2023 2:35:38 GMT
That happened to my mom years ago. She thought it was silly and then they found cancer. I had my second one last October and DH is having his second in September. So far we have both been clean as a whistle. We’re both cancer survivors (breast and testicular) so having that clean bill of health is so reassuring.
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Post by papersilly on Jul 5, 2023 2:44:52 GMT
Great PSA! My friend's mom didn't get her first colonoscopy until she was almost 70. They found something and she was diagnosed with Stage 1 colon cancer. Thank goodness it was treated successfully but it also serves as a good reminder to stay on top of that screening.
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SabrinaP
Pearl Clutcher
Busy Teacher Pea
Posts: 4,350
Location: Dallas Texas
Jun 26, 2014 12:16:22 GMT
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Post by SabrinaP on Jul 5, 2023 3:32:02 GMT
My husband has his scheduled and isn’t worried about anything but the IV. He’s deathly scared of needles. Ugh. I just told him the prep will be worse. He asked what prep they just told me to show up at such and such time. Oi. Wonder if they’ll call closed to date to give him instructions. My last colonoscopy was about 15 years ago and she gave me all the details during scheduling. Is it still same prep, drink a ton of gross drink then live in toilet most the night? And thank you for the reminder. I’m glad all was caught early. The first time DH had it done he had to drink a gross, thick prescription drink. This time the doctor had us take 4 docalax, and then put a bottle of miralax into 64 ounces of Gatorade. We then had to drink 8 ounces every 15 minutes. It wasn’t bad at all and my doctor said my prep was perfect which was something I was worried about. Last thing you want is to go through all that only for them to not be able to do the procedure because of subpar prep.
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jediannie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,841
Jun 30, 2014 3:19:06 GMT
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Post by jediannie on Jul 5, 2023 5:39:30 GMT
I've had 2 so far in the past 6 years (darn diverticulitis!). So far, only 2 polyps in the first one and the 2nd I had none although I did pass out during the prep because I did not hydrate enough. When you're prepping, DRINK YOU WATER!
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Post by lucyg on Jul 5, 2023 7:17:59 GMT
I will reinforce your urging everyone to keep up with your, for lack of a better word, colon care.
I was doing the cologuard thing (Kaiser version) until four years ago, when I had suspicious results. So they made me come in for a colonoscopy. Honestly, I didn’t think the prep was terrible. They removed a couple of polyps and told me to come back in three years. That would have been last June, 2022.
So normally Kaiser calls to schedule that sort of thing but this time they didn’t. I will use any excuse to avoid going in, so I ignored/forgot about it. In early December, I started having stomach issues that morphed every few weeks, and eventually I ended up in a place where I just couldn’t eat, or if I did, everything came right back up. I lost 50 lbs over, well, I’m ashamed to admit it, three months, not trying, of course.
My son was screeching for me to go to the doctor, but she was having her second baby in two years and just not really focused. She prescribed meds to ease my stomach issues. They didn’t work. Again, I’m into avoidance. Finally DS insisted that my daughter (an RN who lives/works several hours away) come home and MAKE me go in, since I wouldn’t listen to him.
So we went in to the ER on a Monday. Oh, I forgot to say, my doctor had finally got me in for a CT scan the previous Thursday night. The results came in late Sunday night but we didn’t see them until Monday AM, but we could see it was colon cancer before the doctor even called. We were going in that day anyway (I knew I was at death’s door by then, and badly dehydrated) but now we were walking in with an order for them to admit me ASAP.
I had surgery on the Wednesday to remove a chunk of my colon, and the cancer had spread to my appendix so that came out, too, and there were a bunch of lymph nodes involved. Which makes me stage 4, but the oncologist says it’s barely stage 4 since it hadn’t spread beyond the abdomen.
So now I’m halfway through six months of chemotherapy that isn’t as bad as it could be, but still isn’t a picnic, have lost 3/4 of my hair (thank God I had a lot to start with, but it looks like witch hair now), my entire front side is covered with scars (I’ve had a mastectomy too, for an unrelated breast cancer 25 years ago), and I popped a hernia at my surgery site that they won’t fix until next year sometime, if I’m lucky … so I look pregnant. gahhh
On the plus side: I didn’t have to have a colostomy; I’m still down 50 lbs; I have hair, if not enough; and oh yeah, I’m still breathing.
Next week I’ll have another CT scan to see if there’s any sign of further spread. So that’s kind of life or death.
So to return to the point … I don’t know if being on top of things and getting my colonoscopy last June would have changed anything. But probably it would have at least saved me from the cancer spreading.
Get your damn colonoscopy when it’s due. Trust me, a colonoscopy is lots better than colon cancer.
Sorry this is so long.
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Post by jamieson on Jul 5, 2023 7:33:28 GMT
Thank you for posting this valuable reminder! Colon cancer is so treatable if caught early. I'm so glad you were screened and are being monitored! Again, thank you for posting. The hours of prep discomfort are a small price to pay.
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Post by jamieson on Jul 5, 2023 7:38:08 GMT
Waiting for the gastro office to call and schedule. They have you fill out paperwork first. Hey, Christine, with so many offices dealing with understaffing, if you don't hear back, please don't let that result in you not getting an appointment scheduled. Just being a nag!
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Post by christine58 on Jul 5, 2023 9:50:19 GMT
Waiting for the gastro office to call and schedule. They have you fill out paperwork first. Hey, Christine, with so many offices dealing with understaffing, if you don't hear back, please don't let that result in you not getting an appointment scheduled. Just being a nag! Good point
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Post by Bridget in MD on Jul 5, 2023 11:20:36 GMT
My MIL died of colon cancer when DH was 40. He’s been getting a colonoscopy every 5 years since then.
This year, I turned 45 and it was my turn. My doctor referred me in September, but I put it off until summer because teacher life. ugh this sounds just like me and i was JUST thinking I need to call my dr and get a script for cologuard (poo in a box) bc when she gave me the choice, I picked regular colonoscopy and I wish I had picked the latter, but my DH had done it and gotten a false positive so ended up having the colonoscopy.
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ellen
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,499
Jun 30, 2014 12:52:45 GMT
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Post by ellen on Jul 5, 2023 11:36:52 GMT
Glad you are ok. I got one when I turned 50. I used to try to do all of my medical appointments in the summer because I teach. One August my doctor told me that I had a spot that needed to biopsied. He was going to have his nurse schedule an appointment for me. I said to give me the number and that I would do it myself because school was starting the next week and I wanted a little say as to when the appointment was. I put it off and went in during June. I had melanoma. Fortunately for me it was easily taken care of with a couple surgical procedures, but it still bothers me that I put something like that off because of my job.
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peabay
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,598
Jun 25, 2014 19:50:41 GMT
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Post by peabay on Jul 5, 2023 12:31:31 GMT
My husband has his scheduled and isn’t worried about anything but the IV. He’s deathly scared of needles. Ugh. I just told him the prep will be worse. He asked what prep they just told me to show up at such and such time. Oi. Wonder if they’ll call closed to date to give him instructions. My last colonoscopy was about 15 years ago and she gave me all the details during scheduling. Is it still same prep, drink a ton of gross drink then live in toilet most the night?
And thank you for the reminder. I’m glad all was caught early. No matter what it'll be living on the toilet, but my last one I was given ClenPiq - not nearly as much to drink and not horrible tasting. lucyg - wishing you all the best. Glad to hear it hasn't been that bad.
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Post by Katie on Jul 5, 2023 12:41:17 GMT
I am 52 and have been putting this off for 2 years. I NEED to do it but am always nervous because my Mom had a her colon knicked and perforated one time. That was very scary!!
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tanya2
Pearl Clutcher
Refupea #1604
Posts: 4,422
Jun 27, 2014 2:27:09 GMT
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Post by tanya2 on Jul 5, 2023 12:52:20 GMT
I'm so glad you caught it early and that you're going to be ok!
We did our FIT tests back in April. It took some convincing for my dh to do his, but he finally did. Both came back clear
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Post by dewryce on Jul 5, 2023 12:56:47 GMT
My MIL died of colon cancer when DH was 40. He’s been getting a colonoscopy every 5 years since then.
This year, I turned 45 and it was my turn. My doctor referred me in September, but I put it off until summer because teacher life. ugh this sounds just like me and i was JUST thinking I need to call my dr and get a script for cologuard (poo in a box) bc when she gave me the choice, I picked regular colonoscopy and I wish I had picked the latter, but my DH had done it and gotten a false positive so ended up having the colonoscopy. My doctor said with colon cancer in my immediate family that cologuard wasn’t a good option, and I think I may have seen that on the commercials too. Might be something to look into if your dr suggests it in the future. SabrinaP I’m glad you went in when you did! My father died of colon (and stomach) cancer, but I didn’t realize that meant I should get checked immediately at the time, I think I was about your age, maybe a bit younger. But when my bowel movements changed I went in and am glad I did. I also had a large mass along with 8 other polyps. My dr wanted me In every 1-2 years after that. I went in at 18 months and another 8 or 9 polyps had grown, including some of those that can turn cancerous. My last one (which I waited a year too long for) my doctor and I were happy to see I only had 5. She said I could go 3 years but I don’t know that I want to wait that long. Being able to have the colonoscopy (as miserable as it is) is so empowering. Knowing my risk, it gives me the ability to take control of this aspect of my health instead of just waiting and worrying. lucyg I had no idea you were going through that. (((Hugs))) I’ll be thinking of you and hoping for the very best results next week! I've had 2 so far in the past 6 years (darn diverticulitis!). So far, only 2 polyps in the first one and the 2nd I had none although I did pass out during the prep because I did not hydrate enough. When you're prepping, DRINK YOU WATER! I fainted the morning of my second colonoscopy as well, though I drank more than recommended. The drs office had me go to the ER just in case to be checked out, and then changed the location of my procedure to a hospital. And then automatically booked me there my last one. I’m sure my weight added to the it. But I have to admit it makes me feel better having it performed in that setting.
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Post by librarylady on Jul 5, 2023 13:26:12 GMT
lucygI was stunned to read all you have been enduring. I send best wishes for the future and nothing but good health for you.
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SabrinaP
Pearl Clutcher
Busy Teacher Pea
Posts: 4,350
Location: Dallas Texas
Jun 26, 2014 12:16:22 GMT
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Post by SabrinaP on Jul 5, 2023 15:04:50 GMT
lucyg thank you for sharing your experience. I’m sending you all my thoughts and prayers!
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Post by mollycoddle on Jul 5, 2023 15:14:09 GMT
I will reinforce your urging everyone to keep up with your, for lack of a better word, colon care. I was doing the cologuard thing (Kaiser version) until four years ago, when I had suspicious results. So they made me come in for a colonoscopy. Honestly, I didn’t think the prep was terrible. They removed a couple of polyps and told me to come back in three years. That would have been last June, 2022. So normally Kaiser calls to schedule that sort of thing but this time they didn’t. I will use any excuse to avoid going in, so I ignored/forgot about it. In early December, I started having stomach issues that morphed every few weeks, and eventually I ended up in a place where I just couldn’t eat, or if I did, everything came right back up. I lost 50 lbs over, well, I’m ashamed to admit it, three months, not trying, of course. My son was screeching for me to go to the doctor, but she was having her second baby in two years and just not really focused. She prescribed meds to ease my stomach issues. They didn’t work. Again, I’m into avoidance. Finally DS insisted that my daughter (an RN who lives/works several hours away) come home and MAKE me go in, since I wouldn’t listen to him. So we went in to the ER on a Monday. Oh, I forgot to say, my doctor had finally got me in for a CT scan the previous Thursday night. The results came in late Sunday night but we didn’t see them until Monday AM, but we could see it was colon cancer before the doctor even called. We were going in that day anyway (I knew I was at death’s door by then, and badly dehydrated) but now we were walking in with an order for them to admit me ASAP. I had surgery on the Wednesday to remove a chunk of my colon, and the cancer had spread to my appendix so that came out, too, and there were a bunch of lymph nodes involved. Which makes me stage 4, but the oncologist says it’s barely stage 4 since it hadn’t spread beyond the abdomen. So now I’m halfway through six months of chemotherapy that isn’t as bad as it could be, but still isn’t a picnic, have lost 3/4 of my hair (thank God I had a lot to start with, but it looks like witch hair now), my entire front side is covered with scars (I’ve had a mastectomy too, for an unrelated breast cancer 25 years ago), and I popped a hernia at my surgery site that they won’t fix until next year sometime, if I’m lucky … so I look pregnant. gahhh On the plus side: I didn’t have to have a colostomy; I’m still down 50 lbs; I have hair, if not enough; and oh yeah, I’m still breathing. Next week I’ll have another CT scan to see if there’s any sign of further spread. So that’s kind of life or death. So to return to the point … I don’t know if being on top of things and getting my colonoscopy last June would have changed anything. But probably it would have at least saved me from the cancer spreading. Get your damn colonoscopy when it’s due. Trust me, a colonoscopy is lots better than colon cancer. Sorry this is so long. Wise words-great advice. I put off getting a colonoscopy for years because I am a bit of an ostrich. It was an incredibly stupid thing to do, because my father and my aunt both had colon cancer-both survived, thankfully. Luckily I had one polyp, although I had to go back to get a rectal enema of some sort because I have a “bendy” colon. The prep was by far the worst part. I share this to say-don’t be like me. Get it done.
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Post by SweetieBugs on Jul 5, 2023 16:14:51 GMT
lucyg, your post is stunning and a very strong case for why it's so important to stay on top of our health and regular screenings. I'm so sorry you are going through this but glad you are getting the treatment while you can.
I'm high risk due to my father's death from colo-rectal cancer. My doctor doesn't feel the Cologaurd test is accurate or possibly sensitive enough and doesn't like risking that with anyone that has even a slight risk of colon cancer. He also said that some insurance companies won't cover the colonoscopy if they've already paid for the Cologuard test, even if your Cologuard test recommend further follow up.
I've been very fortunate so far and my 2 colonoscopies have come back with zero polyps.
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jediannie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,841
Jun 30, 2014 3:19:06 GMT
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Post by jediannie on Jul 5, 2023 16:54:35 GMT
lucyg - thank you for sharing your experience. Here's hoping your scan will come back negative! 🤞🏻
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Post by belgravia on Jul 5, 2023 17:13:18 GMT
lucyg wishing nothing but the best for you! I just did my first FIT test, which is a screening tool for colon cancer which is an alternative to a colonoscopy for those deemed lower risk, without a family history of colon cancer. Mortifying, yes, but it beats the alternative.
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