My husband was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer when he went for his first colonoscopy at age 47 (was encouraged to have one at 45 when his mother had a precancerous polyp removed).
It was a year of hell (radiation, surgery, chemo, surgery). We are so thankful he made it, but his life has never been the same. Cancer treatment changed his body permanently, and not for the better. At least he didn’t have to have a permanent colostomy, so he’s grateful it’s not worse.
Nrdsb4 - I’m very glad to hear your husband came through okay. Chemo is extremely rough, as is the (major) surgery - radiation tough too.
So, so agree with you. If you are lucky enough to have insurance coverage - there is NO downside to figuring out if you have a disease that can kill you (and getting the opportunity to fight it and possibly not die years/decades earlier than you would otherwise).
If you know you’re going to do it before your next exam, why not do it now and get it over with? There’s absolutely no downside, but many many upsides.
I could have written an identical post regarding my son, who was diagnosed following his first colonoscopy at age 46. With so many people being diagnosed with colorectal cancer in their 40s, I hope the age for first screening is lowered to 40 (or even 35).
I’m 74 and have had three colonoscopies so far, all negative. My next and hopefully last one is at age 77. Although the prep is unpleasant, it’s nothing compared to cancer treatment.
My 28 year old daughter recently had a colonoscopy and had a couple of pre-cancerous polyps. I’m grateful that reasons other than cancer screening brought her in, because she wasn’t scheduled to have a screening colonoscopy until age 36, which well could have been too late. She and D1 were recommended to have colonoscopy at that age because of their father’s early cancer diagnosis.
D1 is now going to ask her primary care doc for a colonscopy recommendation. She is only 32, but her sister’s diagnosis makes a great case for earlier screening.
Glad to hear that your daughter’s polyps were found in time. I think early screening is critical in cases of a strong family history of colon cancer. My older (bio) kids (including the one mentioned above) have a family history on both sides of the family (my father, their paternal grandmother and her brother). Unfortunately, I have no family medical history for any of my younger (internationally adopted) kids.
That’s an excellent point about life changing after cancer. My running/biking friend ended up having part of a lung lobe removed (if I have the terminology correct). She’s been in remission a few years but her lung capacity is reduced and she’s frustrated. She still exercises a lot but it’s tough for her.
She did have a family history of colon cancer but her doctor didn’t recommend an early test. She actually had symptoms (!!!) but for awhile her doctor attributed them to stress over losing a young nephew to a brain tumor. I’m so glad she made it but wow, it shouldn’t have been so hard.
However, that does seem to be another barrier to people doing it, since another person must also go to the appointment (take time off from work or other activities).
I am also someone whose life has been permanently changed by a rectal cancer diagnosis at age 48. I had the year of treatment which included chemo, radiation and surgeries. Since the cancer had spread to my lungs I have had three lung surgeries as well. I am happy to be here, but it was a very tough time in my life.
If the recommended age for colonoscopy had been 45 at the time, my life might be different.
That was not my point. The poster talked about being able to drive home himself. The driver does not have to be present for the duration of the procedure; the driver needs to be available to pick up the patient. This is not unique to colonoscopy; it is no different from dental surgery or other procedure that might involve being knocked out.
I had one colonoscopy where the sedation wasn’t quite enough. It also happened to be the one when the prep wasn’t as good as it should have been. The GI dr wasn’t happy & I heard way too much from her.
The next time, three years later, they changed up the prep & made sure I was well and truly out before starting. I’m went much better.
Seems like with that risk profile, they may want to do both periodic screening colonoscopy and FIT in years when they do not do colonoscopy, in case the last periodic screening colonoscopy missed something.
My spouse was diagnosed with colon cancer with first colonoscopy. Love the oncologist who does an excellent job of educating and explaining. He explained how the decision is made on how long to wait for next colonoscopy aside from risk factors.
It takes approximately 10 years for a polyp to develop into cancer. That is why if no polyps are found you wait the 10 years. I’m on the 10 year plan.
If a polyp is found you immediately are dropped to the 5 year plan as polyps can develop quickly.
Number of polyps and size of polyps will determine if you are dropped to the one or three year plan.
My spouse was on the 6 month plan but has now graduated to the 1 year plan. They have talked about graduating my spouse to the three year plan but honestly would feel better if they were just kept on the one year plan.
One of the reasons I didn’t have a sedative was so I could drive myself home. I didn’t want to bother anyone else with waiting around. At the VA hospital where I had mine done, your driver had to be there when you first checked in because there was a briefing they needed to be at before the colonoscopy was done. The VA also had a couple of recommended transportation services for anyone who had been sedated and needed a ride home after the colonoscopy. The drivers for these services apparently had some medical training in case something happened on the way home, and the cost was surprisingly inexpensive.
Chemo is extremely rough, as is the (major) surgery - radiation tough too.