whoa @tomcats88 … Thats scary. Glad you are ok.
Thanks, I’m treating the whole episode as a fluke. All the polyps were precancerous and it could have been worse.
According to https://www.asge.org/docs/default-source/education/practice_guidelines/doc-56321364-c4d8-4742-8158-55b6bef2a568.pdf , serious complications occur about 2.8 times per 1,000 colonoscopies, the miss rate for colorectal cancer is about 6%, and the miss rate for adenomas larger than 1cm is 12% to 17%. It also notes a large study where hemorrhage (bleeding) was more common when polyps were removed.
Seems like the first doctor managed both to cause a serious complication and miss a polyp.
Wow, this is the first time on this thread that some one is reporting directly a faulty colonoscopy. I wish you well.
If you don’t mind, can you share how did you find out that you were bleeding? I believe a internal bleeding will effect your stool, because my uncle had an ulcer while traveling detected a very dark stool. But I am not sure if your symptom was the same.
"All the polyps were precancerous and it could have been worse. "
Wow. That is a scary situation. However, at least it sounds like a good thing that you had a colonoscopy. I also would not return to the first doctor.
It is coming up on 10 years since I had my first colonoscopy and had one precancerous polyp removed. I am in retrospect very glad that it is long ago gone (along with two more recent polyps that are also gone).
I had to use the bathroom every 30 to 45 minutes. It was very evident that I was bleeding. Each time it seemed like the bowl was full of blood. If my blood level had dropped one more time I would have been scheduled to get a transfusion.
Hurrah! The colonoscopy thread is back on top, right on schedule! It’s been 5 years for me, so I got a notice it was my time, and went to the office and my doc (who had done previous two and I like him very much) had moved on. They told me a scheduler would get in touch with me to schedule, and it never happened. Meanwhile I am feeling like I really prefer to have the same guy do this one, and guess what? I’m on Medicare now so I don’t have to worry about network this and network that, so I called his different new office and scheduled an appointment for next week. (I recently went on a blood thinner so I need an office visit before we schedule the actual procedure)
oh, and I stopped eating meat 2 years ago, so I am looking forward to getting compliments from my doc, “Wow! Sure is clean in there!”
Medicare (original) effectively does have a network, which is “providers who accept Medicare”. This is still a very large network – 72% of primary care physicians accept Medicare for new and existing patients, increasing to 93% including those who accept Medicare only for existing patients ( https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/primary-care-physicians-accepting-medicare-a-snapshot/ ; there do not seem to be stats on Medicare acceptance for other types of physicians).
I’m going to jump in (60+ pages behind since I last checked this thread) and say, I haven’t gone back for a second colonoscopy because I got so angry at the doctor for accusing me of using laxatives when I have never touched one in my entire life, that I just kept putting off the whole thing. I have an aunt who had a tumor removed from her colon 30 years ago, she’ll be 90 in a few months. So I know I should grit my teeth and go back - preferably with another doctor - or try one of these other stool tests, because the other thing I cannot do is drink sweet drinks. No soda. No ginger ale. No Gatorade. Ugh.
Anyway it’s on my list of things to do before the second wave of Covid hits NY.
@mathmom: Sometimes a doctor is a schmuck. No other way to put it. Most of them are good! Don’t let that first guy keep you from getting the appropriate test.
Yes, @mathmom, please go! I am so glad I did. I would go every year if they told me I needed to (I was on a three-year schedule; now it’s five).
When looking for polyps you need either a white light exam and or blue dye. The dye will find the polyps that are lying flat and the white light helps with finding them also. NOT all doctors use these methods which is a real surprise to me. If your docs don’t know about these or use them find someone that will. It can be the difference of life and death…literally. It is especially important if you have a family history of colon cancer/ polyps etc.
Just a fyi.
My public service message for today. Everybody on CC, please schedule your colonoscopy if you are due for one. My husband got his a couple of months ago. The prep was simple - no gatorade, you mix miralax powder with water and it completely dissolves and tastes like water.
A terrible consequence of the pandemic is people putting off routine medical procedures meant to catch cancer in its early stages. Oncologists are very concerned that missed mammograms, colonoscopies, skin exams, etc. will mean that many patients will end up not finding their cancer until it has reached a later stage. The cancer rate in the US for 2020 is down a ridiculous amount - not because people are not getting cancer, but because people are not finding out they have cancer.
(I have heard this from doctors from both Sloan Kettering and Dana-Farber - two of the most respected cancer treatment facilities in the US).
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@mathmom - My dr accused me of using laxatives too. The only one I used was for the prep itself. Fortunately, I won’t be seeing that dr again since I’ve moved.
Find someone else, but get it done.
This is correct. You do not have to mix Miralax with a sweet drink; water, tea, anything you can stomach will work fine. Miralax is completely tasteless. I used Gatorade the first time, which I don’t like. I’ll just use water or unsweetened decaf tea the next time.
I had very reluctantly scheduled my first colonoscopy in January. Ended up rescheduling since I had to go take care of my mom. Canceled it when Covid hit. I called and scheduled it again for next month now - one of the pre-requisites here, is that you need a covid test three days before the procedure! So, called and scheduled that as well.
Not looking forward to this, but it is something that must be done. D was on a colorectal surgery rotation last year, saw a few cases that she believed would truly have been treatable but folks hadn’t checked in early enough. She’s been insistent that I not put this off any longer.
Put it off for over a year now. Doctor ordered one and upper GI too over a year ago. Scheduled and then had to reschedule because of work. Order expired so doctor had to renew. He told me originally (as a joke) they would use the same instrument for both tests. I told him as long as I got to pick the order of the tests. LOL
Scheduled for tomorrow morning. Instructions said to split the night before and the morning of in terms of prep solution. Given I have an early morning test, was hoping I could just finish prep tonight. But got confirmation today they want me to wake up 4 hours before test (4 am) to finish the prep. Ok.
DH had a colonoscopy two weeks ago and was prescribed SuPrep which tastes terrible and has to be taken in two doses, one at O’dark-thirty. He chose to eat very lightly the day before starting the prep and did the OTC Dulcolax/Miralax instead. Everything went fine, and the doctor didn’t know the difference. As long as you’re cleaned out, I don’t see why it matters which prep you choose.
Good luck, @saillakeerie.
DH had the same protocol as you do, @saillakeerie. He wasn’t happy about having to get up at that hour to finish the prep, but came home and slept when it was over.