My 22 y.o will be having his 8th or 9th upper scope this summer (third in 8 months!) this next one will be an upper and a lower, so for the first time he has to do a prep. DH and I just were scoped last year but son has to do the Gatorade/miralax route (we did SuPrep) and we are all apprehensive. But I will stock up on popsicles!
My father told me not only did he have many pre-cancerous polyps around age 50, but my brother who is younger than that already had pre-cancerous polyps removed.
Also have a friend who got sick in her mid-teens and had most of her colon removed. She uses total parenteral nutrition. Life is tough but she managed to go to college, get her degree, and also meet a guy and get married and adopt a child.
Iāve had 4 and my liquid diet the day before has consisted of Sprite, popsicles without red dye, strained chicken noodle soup, and strained Trader Joeās onion soup. No complaints from the physician on my prep, although I was scolded by the RN last time for not doing all the middle of the night round 2 prep due to nausea. Physician said I was plenty clean though.
Okay - so have people not heard of Italian ices or do they not like them?
http://dinosaurdracula.com/blog/marinos-italian-ice/
(there is an expletive in the title of the article, if you are faint of heartā¦)
I need to look for Italian ice at my local grocery, but I canāt recall seeing them at our local markets anytime recently. I Selection is so poor that I take a cooler to Nashville for Trader Joeās and Whole Foods visits when I go to see D, but Iām limited to shelf stable items and things that are frozen enough that they can sustain the two hour drive home. I love lemon ice and I bet they would be a perfect prep food 
Walmart has plenty of Italian Ice, some times Costco carries them as well
@LasMa - the feds issued regulatory guidance in February, 2013 providng that ACA insurance must cover costs routinely associated with colonoscopy, and specifically mentioned polyp removal and pathology, as long as it was a colonoscopy scheduled for routine screening purposes. Then in May of this year there was an update to the federal FAQ that specifies that sedation was to be covered as part of the colonoscopy coverage if the doctor determined it was medically appropriate for the patient.
The feds (unreasonably) gave plans until plan years starting in 2016 to make some of these changes, but many insurers have already changed.
Mine is Friday, so weāll see.
I missed earlier posts on this - are you saying that some insurances cover colonoscopy but NOT sedation during it?
I had to ask for more sedation last time!
Good luck, arabrab!! Itās not as bad as it sounds!
@rhandco - Not quite. Some insurance companies were declining to cover colonoscopies as (no charge) routine screenings if the colonoscopy found a polyp. Even if they did cover the colonoscopy as a routine screening, they were sometimes declining to cover with no deductible or copay charges for associated sedation or pathology.
The feds have clarified that for policies that fall under the Affordable Care Act (which includes many but not all policies, including many but not all policies obtained through employers) insurance policies must cover the items regularly associated with the colonoscopy, including polyp removal, pathology and sedation if the doctor believes it is medically indicated. However, the last one on sedation was issued as part of a FAQ that says that insurers wonāt be held to that until plans beginning in 2016. They can choose to do so earlier. (Most insurers chose to increase the age limit for covered young adults before the date it was mandated, so that isnāt unlikely.)
Thanks, @busdriver11 ā Iām stocking up on lemon sorbet and italian ice. I despise Gatorade, so Iām not looking forward to that. Iāve decided to just give in and enjoy the dietary restrictions today and tomorrow ā white bread, pasta, mashed potato (without the skin), and so on. Livinā La Vida 1955.
Oh yeah, white bread, pasta, and potatoes! Without guilt!
That lemon sorbet and Italian ice sound delicious. Whole Foods had some things that looked really yummy.
Yeah, the rules on colonoscopies seem strange.
My doctor wanted me to get a colonoscopy to check for bleeding, and I asked insurance. They said because Iām under the age where itās recommended, and because itās to diagnose something else, not routine cancer screening, they would just cover it under regular insurance rates. It was too much out of pocket for us; Iām putting it off.
Man sues and wins $500,000 after his cell phone records audio of surgical team mocking him during his colonoscopy.
Holy cow. How unprofessional.
Glad I work for the state - most insurance for government employees is very good.
My doctor found some polyps - what was I supposed to do - tell him to put them back!!?!?!
Also, the thing about recording the medical team is that in some states, thatās illegal if all parties donāt consent. And frankly, even in āone party consentā states, if you are not āpart of the conversationā, you canāt record as only an observer. I think indignation went beyond the law in this case. Especially if the doctor who talked about falsifying records isnāt taken professional action against.
NFN though, how did they know where the guy went to college? Iām rather familiar with my GI doctor, and Iām not sure if I ever mentioned what college I attended, in like 15 years.
Iāve had that chat with doctors when a diploma on the exam room wall was from my college.
Thatās one of the things that makes me nervous about procedures where I am sedated - I have to trust the medical team.
I wish they would allow a family member to observe.
That team was incredibly uncaring and certainly unprofessional. I cannot imagine that kind of conversation being okay anywhere.
It all comes down to this: what is the culture of a given facility starting from the TOP? If the owners/doctors are running a tight and professional ship, and their director of nursing has similar high standards, that is what it will be. At my facility, if we even get a drop of blood on the blanket from the IV stick, we are expected to replace it with a clean one. If the patient has not done a good prep and gotten ācleanā and has an accident in the room, the procedure room staff goes quickly to work to clean him up so that he never feels the embarrassment of knowing this. Our doctors would NEVER tolerate conversation such as in that video. Neither the doctors nor the nurses would ever settle for anyone other than the doctor discussing results with the patient. As to the reference of a āfake pageā in order to get the doctor out of having the required post op conversation with a patient, I could see a staff member doing an overhead page to help the doctor disengage from a chatty patient AFTER relevant information was conveyed. Some patients would be happy to monopolize the doc for half an hour talking about irrelevant stuff after their procedures.
As to colleges, the patient probably told someone there. I frequently know my patientsā alma maters. āOh, I see you are wearing an A & M shirt. Are you an Aggie?ā āNo, my son goes there. I went to Baylor.ā āOh, cool. My best friend is a Bear.ā And so on.
At the surgery OR where I also work, it is a HUGE no no to discuss the patient in any manner after they are asleep, other than to discuss details which are directly related to the surgery. First of all, itās unprofessional; secondly, you never know when you might run across a patient who is more alert than they seem.
Finally, of course there are patients who are highly annoying. They claim to be allergic to everything known to man but cannot relate symptoms which actually illustrate allergic reactions. They shriek as though going through an unmedicated amputation when you gently pull a piece of tape off their arm rather than wincing or gasping lightly. They say they are terrified of needles, yet stare intently at the site as you start the IV, then pass out. They refuse to answer questions about their medical history that are extremely relevant to being able to do their procedure, saying itās a HIPAA violation for me to even ask, etc. We are human and can get as annoyed as anyone else. I canāt say Iāve never rolled my eyes at a patient once out of their vision or that Iāve never ever been testy on a bad day. But in general, I always keep in mind that everything I do reflects on my professionalism, and I take that very seriously. Iāve also been on the other end of that IV, so I tend to be pretty understanding of most patient behavior.
The anesthesia provider in particular sounds like a huge jerk. Iām not sorry for her.
Iām not a fan of sedation for a colonoscope. I find the procedure to be completely painless. Iām not sure why sedation is even suggested. The procedure causes minor discomfort (like having your butt exposed to a room full of strangers as they probe your insides. Yikes!!). But on the up side, itās kind of neat to see your colon on the screen as the camera works its way up. You canāt even feel it when they take a sample for biopsy, plus you can drive yourself home.
That is you. We occasionally have patients who refuse sedation. Most of them watch the procedure with complaints of only minor pressure or discomfort. Others find it extremely painful, and those patients can then request and be given sedation. Itās very individual and one cannot extrapolate oneās own experience to everyone.
At my facility, our patients are completely covered. They are on their left side, with a blanket covering their body. The doctor only needs to visualize that area when he inserts the scope. Then he covers the patient completely as his attention is on the scope and the screen.
In the case of upper endoscopy, very few patients can tolerate it without sedation; most receive general anesthesia and are completely asleep.