Today I gave myself a gift! I really didn't want it! I gave myself this gift five years ago, and I hate doing it but...I want to live! I had my five year colonoscopy. Why would I promote this on a real estate site? We have almost 200,000 members and this site gives me internet exposure. For those of you who fear this procedure, let me explain. You visit a doctor who is board certified to do all types of endoscopy...your family doctor, gynecologist, or any other specialist can do the referral. You will visit them and they will give you a prescription for a liter container that you mix with water and a flavor package (some people use crystalite). I suggest you get it very cold and use a straw...it is vile and the last quart is so hard to get down. There are many suggestions on the internet on how to make it more palatable but I recommend a big box of popsicles (no red/purple). The doctor will give you a suggestion sheet. Just be sure you follow it. If you lie that you drank it all, believe me the doctor will know when that little camera is moving and you will not get a 100% accurate test. Thank goodness you only do the test every five years if all is clear.
Your doctor may take the easy way out and prescribe pills or bottled liquid to drink but my doctor, Greg Locklear in Lumberton, NC says he has tried them all and nothing will clean you out like the liter of electrolytes. He says if you have one little pocket in your intestines that is not clean, that could be the one pocket that is hiding cancer cells. The first year I was totally clear; this time he found two little diverticuli and I was told to eat more fruits & veggies. I may die from something but right now I don't have to worry about colon cancer.
Example...five years ago I nagged my husband to get one after hearing that three of his Italian family members died from some type of digestive system cancer. He and his brother both had some polyps and their doctors removed them while they were sedated. Sedation is administered by IV and you wake up with no side effects except you sleep all day after you get home. Soon after, they flew to New York to visit their family and they were harrassing their cousins to get tested. One did while they were there; he was in his late 30s and he did it just to shut them up. Long story short...he is a cancer survivor. It took him two years and several surgeries to allow him to lose the colostomy bag but he did survive and is still cancer free. He is getting to watch his four children mature into young adults.
Don't have insurance? If you are high risk, visit your health department. High risk means someone in your immediate family died from intestinal cancer. My husband's friend did not have insurance either and local doctors and a major hospital dropped the price 50% by paying cash and a few specialists put him on a payment plan.
Don't play with this colon cancer...it is deadly! The procedure is painless; it's the prep that is not pleasant.
PS
Be sure to have a big tube of Preparation H!
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