OT: Colonoscopy, don't put it off
- Thread starter TheReelEss
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A lady I know had a colonoscopy this week and said they gave her a pill instead of the liquid prep. She said it cleaned her out.
I am 52 and have never had a colonoscopy. I asked my doctor about it and he said that nowadays, they are recommending not getting one until 55. Have wondered why but that is exactly what he told me.
He's wrong - or you heard wrong. The recommendation is 45 now from 50.
My doctor told me point blank that if you wait to 50, it should be the first thing you schedule if you haven't had one already.
I highly recommend folks get one before 50. My brother in law just turned 46. He just had his and he had 3 polyps removed. They were benign but he had absolutely no signs of anything. His doctor told him he's removing a lot of polyps from people in the 45-50 range.
You are 52 need to call your doctor this week and go ahead and work to get it scheduled and get it done.
The American Cancer Society's newest guidelines recommend that colorectal cancer screenings begin at age 45. The recommended age was lowered from 50 to 45 because colorectal cancer cases are on the rise among young and middle-age people.
New guidelines lower colorectal screening age from 50 to 45 - UChicago Medicine
As deaths from colorectal cancer rise among younger adults, the American Cancer Society now recommends testing start at age 45.
I dread it but I guess I am going to have to do it. I had thought you had to get it at 50 and was a little surprised that the doctor told me that. I just lost a friend of mine about a month ago. 45 and was diagnosed on last July 4th weekend. Cancer started in the colon but by the time they found it, it was already in his liver. He didnt make it 9 months....
It's really no big deal. The prep isn't fun but it wasn't nearly as bad as I had imagined. It was just a bit aggravating. I had thought I'd be up all night long going to the bathroom but by the time I went to bed I was mostly cleaned out. I think I got up one overnight to go.
The procedure itself was no big deal at all.
There is nothing to dread. Its literally an outpatient procedure nowadays and the anesthesia is awesome.
You are back home in a few hours.
My dad died from colon cancer at 68 because he didnt listen to his doctors advice to have a colonoscopy.
It was three years of hell for him before he passed. Thats what one should dread.
I wouldnt wish that on anyone, even DeeDave.
Just friggin do it.
Had my first 4 years ago, no polyps. I'm on the 5 year rotation. As has been said here, it can be a lifesaver. My uncle had one around age 60. They found so many polyps that surgery was suggested. Postsurgery testing showed a number of precancerous spots on the 7 inches of large intestine removed. He died just a few years ago at the ripe old age of 96.
Back in the 80s I worked for Eckerds. We had a great promotion but we didn’t think it all the way through. The pharmacists gave away collection kits in the store with postage paid envelopes to mail into the lab. We did the promotion in July and used a lab in Charlotte. We had between 1500 and 1800 stores and customers from all over was mailing their crap to one lab in a heat wave. Did I mention that the USPS does not have air conditioned delivery trucks. The poor mailmen could not take the odor and complained. As a plus, we caught a cancer in one of our customers and she got immediate treatment.
I’ll echo the others. If you’re 50, get the dang thing done. Had mine a month ago, and it wasn’t bad at all. The prep was the worst part. My gastro doc has a grist mill, and we were talking about grits and cornmeal when I went to sleep. Next thing I remembered, I was eating breakfast and asking my driver who to the hell put my clothes on me. I honestly had no idea how I got dressed and out of the doc office. I have a family history, so I’m glad I got it done.
Get it done. Many times, there are folks who have colon problems with no symptoms that go undiscovered and when those symptoms come around to be noticed, it is too late. And a colonoscopy early in the process could have easily fixed the problem. Do it.
****. Guess I'm going to get mine this year. I'm 42. Haven't had a real physical in my life. The doctors back in the day didn't do any real physical for us to play sports. I deal with Gout some and our family history isn't the best. This thread has scared me enough.
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