Hi, I’m new here. Awaiting colonoscopy for suspected bowel cancer, got all the symptoms. In pain & Worried sick. Any tips would be much appreciated. Thank you!
I would try and not get to stressed because it could be a load of other things , i had bowel cancer it has since been removed and i am waiting for chemo now , but i never had any symptoms other than a small bit of mucus and blood on my stools , i never felt ill i never had any pain , i wasn’t losing weight i never felt fatigued in fact it would have been so easy to dismiss it as nothing as it was just another day , let us know how you get on , wishing you luck
Hi Winniecat this is my first post. I had a colonoscopy a few years ago after a acute appendicitis. Everything went ok. The only thing that I found a bit of a bind was the consumption of the solution to clear the bowel! After taking the mediprep you have to stay very near the toilet! The process lasts quite a few hours. As for the procedure that went well had a seditive or some sort of very mild anesthetic . DON'T WORRY YOU'LL BE OKAY
I've had 40 colonoscopys, so I can tell you pretty much all about them. But the one thing I will tell you is i lthe procedure itself isn't as bas as your probably thinking it is. Reading the forms you get sent with the prep,can be a bit daunting when you read the parts that can happen, (you will understand once you've read it) but it rarely ever does I've had 40 of them and had no problems.
They give you the options of having a very mild sedation, it doesn't put you to sleep,your well aware of what us going on but the sedation just helps you to stay calm, whilst the procedure is being carried out. You can mostly see the procedute being done on the screen moniter if you look.
I always choose sedation, sone tines they place and insert small tubes with a sponge on the end of it to give you small amounts of oxygen into your nose to help you breath easily, but not always the case, again it depends who does it.
With sedationif you have it a candular is inserted into your hand or into your arm just into where you would normaly have bloods taken on a blood test again that depends on who's putting it in and how good your veins are,as to where they put the candular.
If you opt for sedation as I do they give you a small amount t of sedation and some painkillers. You will need someone to pick you up ,as you can't drive or operate , machinery . And you will need someone with you for 24hrs after.
The prep isn't great ,I find making it up and putting it in the fridge so it's cold helps with the taste of it.
The prep causes lots of dioreah, so it's best to be near a toilet. Another tip is before you drink the prep but some nappy rash cream like perpantham on your bottom ( or vaseline ) as the frequent bowel movements can cause you to feel vety sore .it really does help.
Ohh and your given some lovely pants to put on with the bum part cut out, to wear before your procedure lol.
But if you relax yourself and try not to stress yourself out,that in itself realy helps its not painful honest, only a bit uncomfortable when they put a bit of air ,nto your bowels to make it's easier for the scope to pass in and around your colon , but this t ny bit of air is only for a few seconds. You will be well looked after and the procedure isn't that long.
They normaly take you jnto a small recovery section after the procedure, they take your observations blood pressure etc.
Then they usually give you a cup of tea and a biscuit. Then take out yiur candular. You can then get dressed ,then they come and disscuss everything with you, and once alls OK and your person arrives to take you home you can go.
Good luck with it all and I do hope this has helped put your mind at rest .
Thank you so much, that’s a lot more detailed than the official advice! I’m not do much worried about the procedure now, as what it may reveal. We’ll see. I really appreciate your support
Winniecat.i can understand that your worried about what it may reveal that's normal ,to be anxious about that I too do feel this way every single time I have to go through it ,but I try to put my positive head on and think ....if they find anything sinister again it's better its found than not,as the sooner its found the better the outcome. Obvously I'd rather it all just be ok, and I think maybe it will be . My last one showed I had diverticulitis and internal hemroids. I'd been bleeding for 4 days non stop so that's why the ladt colonoscopy was done. But they couldn't tell me which one had caused the bleeding as both can cause this. Disscused it all with consultant at a later aplointment and he advised me not to have an operation to remove the internal piles as it is a very painful procedure and I might go through all that and still bleed occasionally, as it may have been the diverticulitis causing it. I was also diognosed ar age 18 with ulcerative colitis ,they kept me in hospital for 2 weeks and treated me with medication to shrunk the ulcers om my bowel which it did. But I was also told by the consultant that once you've had ulcerative colitis , you will always have it as it is an auto immunity disease and can lay dormant fir years but could flare up at anytime.ive been lucky, apart from all my other problems with my bowels,it hasn't reared its ugly head again so far so good.
Thank you for the reassurance, Jassoscared. I’ve never been through this before, so it’s really helpful to hear people’s stories. I’m feeling quite poorly & imagining the worst, but hopefully it’ll be something treatable. Colonoscopy on Monday - can’t come too quickly. I’d rather know what I’m facing. Xx
Ahh bless you,the week will go quickly ,and the weekend I'm thinking it' will be time to take your prep. Monday will be here before you know it,and it will all be over for you,and hopefuly you will get good results. Let me know how it all goes I will be praying all goes well and sending you positive vibes. Xx
