The Colonoscopy Blog

The colonoscopy- it’s arguably my favorite medical procedure. Not!

The fun started this time at the Publix pharmacy. Prepopik, used to clean your innards so the doc can see what’s going on in there, ninety dollars. My CIGNA insurance didn’t cover it. So much money for so little fun. Ouchie.

Actually the fun started earlier in the day when I couldn’t eat all day the day prior to the procedure. That’s pretty much a lock to make me grouchy. The 90 bucks was just icing on the cake.

I don’t want to say that the Prepopik functions as a laxative, but NASA could consider its use as a propellant for humans if we could just solve the hydration problem. No tether needed, either! A bidet would have been real handy.

Due to all my porcelain visits I didn’t get much sleep.

At 6 AM in the doctor’s office they were asking me if I ever smile. Usually if I haven’t eaten in 36 hours and I’ve spent the night on the can, smiling is not in the repertoire. I need to work on that.

If you’ve never had a colonoscopy and are wondering what it is, the doctor knocks you out and inserts a little camera on a long, thin, flexible tube into your butt. He then examines your colon searching for cancerous or pre-cancerous growths. The first time I had one done they drugged me only enough that I couldn’t feel what was going on. I wanted to, and did, watch the picture on the TV screen. It was not terribly entertaining, although that’s true of much of what’s on TV today. The procedure itself only takes about 30 minutes and is not a big deal.

The prep work is no fun at all though.

That having been said, colon cancer is probably much less fun than the prep for the colonoscopy, lasts much longer, and often ends in death.

If you are in your 50s and haven’t had a colonoscopy you ought to consider doing so. Maybe it will become your favorite medical procedure too.

John Kumiski
http://www.spottedtail.com

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