How clever of me to schedule my colonoscopy on Yom Kippur! I don’t usually fast, but this might qualify.
Hope you have an “easy” fast. …“Shana Tovah”
Or you can convert and do it during Ramadan. 
I just had my first colonoscopy this past Friday, and I am glad I had read this thread in advance.
But, it is 2020, so of course I am getting referred for a second colonoscopy because I have a good-sized polyp at the entrance to the appendix, which the doctor wanted someone else to remove. (All this assuming the pathology report is good.)
This follows a call back on a mammogram earlier this summer. I’m thinking I should put off the overdue dental and vision appointments until 2021 . . .
@KnearSeattle that stinks! Was the polyp too big to remove as is standard for some polyps during a colonoscopy? Or was it the location? It never occurred to me that I could need a second procedure, yuck! Keep us posted!
Just got done with my first one today. They did remove a large polyp - so she said I might need to come back earlier than normal - perhaps in 3 years. Will know more after the results are back from the lab.
The prep (I used Suprep) wasn’t too bad. H says that whatever he took several years ago was really really bad.
@tomcats88 in http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/22911355/#Comment_22911355 (and a few later posts) describes needing a second colonoscopy soon after the first one because the first one resulted in bleeding. The second one also discovered another polyp that the first one missed.
Sometimes a polyp is in a bad spot geographically and needs more specialized interventions.
My MIL unfortunately had to have surgery to have her pre-cancerous polyp and a small portion of colon removed because it was in a place too difficult to remove the polyp with a snare or other method.
My precancerous polyp is in the appendiceal orifice, so hard to access and/or remove. Now I’m hearing that if the second colonoscopy doesn’t work, the next step is to remove part of the colon. Joy.
One step at a time. Don’t worry until you have to.
Ouch! I am beginning to think that I got lucky. I think the polyp I had was in the transverse colon and she said she got all of it. Now, just to wait for the pathology results.
Since this was a “large” one, she said that she would likely recommend that I have another procedure in 3 years. Was catching up on the rest of this thread - is the general recommendation to do a FIT test in the years between procedures?
It seems that the typical US screening recommendation is yearly FIT or colonoscopy every N years (N = 10 generally, but may be lower individually based on indication of increased risk, such as a finding of dangerous polyps). However, since sometimes colonoscopies miss polyps, or colorectal cancer appears in fewer than 10 years, and FIT is inexpensive and non-invasive, it may be worth doing FIT yearly even if you are also doing colonoscopies for screening. Obviously, a blood finding by FIT brings forward the next scheduled colonoscopy.
Most other rich countries recommend FIT every year or two years (not colonoscopy) as primary screening, but Germany and Austria recommend both yearly FIT and colonoscopy (but starting colonoscopy at a later age than FIT): https://publichealthreviews.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40985-018-0080-0/tables/4
A yearly colonoscopy? Oh my. I wonder what the compliance rate for that is.
@KnearSeattle
I hope it does not get to an operation for you. But even if it does, the surgery should be quick and painless. A friend of ours had to remove a cancerous kidney, the incision was only about 2 inches wide and she recovered in less than a week.
^ In H’s case, very. Usually, if you get put on that schedule, it’s for a good reason. (This is probably “oversharing” but it’s to be helpful! LOL) H went in for an initial routine at age 50 with no symptoms. Came out to be told he had a 2.5 inch “polyp” removed. (Originally, the doctor called it a polyp. At the last visit, he called it a tumor.) It was pre-cancerous. He got put on the 3 month schedule. He went back and it had grown back a little. We were told that was to be expected. Then, he got put on the year schedule. We were happy with that! And he definitely made sure to go back. He was fine this time and now is on a 3 years schedule. I don’t think you’ve seen someone celebrate the 3 year schedule as much as H. But if he had said 1 year, he would have complied - and this is coming from someone who NEVER goes to the doctor.
Germany: FIT yearly starting at age 50 and colonoscopy every 10 years starting at age 55.
Austria: FIT yearly starting at age 40 and colonoscopy every 7-10 years starting at age 50.
My mother had surgery for a large pre-cancerous polyp and had yearly colonoscopies for 2 or 3 years before they pushed her back to every other year.
I don’t how you can make that statement based on the experiences of a friend with a completely different issue. None of us are privy to the relevant facts of KnearSeattle’s medical condition.
@KnearSeattle, it’s possible you won’t need surgery at all. It’s possible that if you do need surgery, it could be done via laparoscope or some other less invasive process. It’s also possible that it might need to be done using traditional surgical methods. Whether or not you find the recovery process painful or a breeze will depend upon factors that we can’t really speak to. But the important thing is that you remove a polyp that has a potential to cause you bigger problems down the road. This should bring you peace of mind, which might well make your recovery process at least a little easier to tolerate.
I’m crossing fingers for you that the solution for this does turn out to be as quick and painless as possible.
When I wondered about the compliance of an annual colonoscopy, I was under the impression that was the recommendation for everyone, even without any symptoms, based on the post immediately above mine. If I had symptoms or An Issue, I’d comply with whatever they recommended.
As explained later, the recommended yearly test was FIT, and colonoscopy every 10 or 7-10 years, in Germany and Austria.