A Word That Scares A Lot of People: Colonoscopy

By Roger

When I was in my forties the word colonoscopy scared me. I knew I should have the procedure done but I was scared of the preparation it took and the violation of my body. Even after all that procrastination, once I was in my early fifties, I still had to have the procedure I dreaded so much.

The fretting was really much ado about nothing. The first part of the treatment is to cleanse and empty your digestive system. This is done by drinking this substance with a vanilla flavor. Soon you will be heading to the bathroom to evacuate the contents of your entire digestive system. This isn't so bad because it's something you have done since birth, just maybe not as often in such a short time.

The next procedure happens at the doctor’s office. They prep you by sticking a small needle in your arm so they can deliver medicine to your body. The first medicine is just a "relaxer" to keep you calm and comfortable. You are the wheeled into a room where the colonoscopy is performed. Then, the nurse gives you the medicine that puts you into a temporary sleep. Before you know it, you’re awake with no recollection of what happened. I don't remember falling asleep. It turned out, the worst part of the whole procedure was getting a needle stuck in my arm, and that DIDN'T hurt at all.

Please don't wait to have this procedure done. It may save you from serious surgery and many awful hours of chemotherapy. If I had had this test done just a year earlier my cancer would have been in such an early stage that a simple surgery could have removed it. Unfortunately my cancer grew at such a fast rate and it twisted around my colon so that surgery was not an option. Now I'm depending on chemicals to kill the cancer that wants to kill me. Men and woman, this cancer has no favorites. I pray that this message will help you decide to have this painless procedure done.