Had my first colonoscopy today

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I'm 53 and my previous PCP never talked to me about getting one so I changed to another and had one a week after I saw her.

The good news is I had no polyps so I don't have to get another one for 10 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I do have diverticulum in my sigmoid colon and the doc said if I ever started to have any pain to call them and they would do a ct scan. I like him-I found a new gastro for my liver problem. I have a tortuous colon so it took a little longer.

The place I went to was so great. The nurse who started my IV actually listened to me when I said I was a hard stick and didn't even try to put one in my hand which hurts real bad for me because they always wind up having to stick me several times and I hate IVs. The nurse anesthetist was great-once she gave me the milk of amnesia I was out. Woke up with bad gas pains because they inflate your colon but it's gone now.

The worse part was the prep-that stuff is awful and my tushy hurts like heck. It was split in half-first dose at 10 last night and the second at 6 this morning. I took my laptop in the bathroom and watched some movies while it was going on so the time went by pretty fast. Like I said the prep was horrid but it's a small price to pay for knowing I don't have cancer!

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Specializes in PCT, RN.

This is a very interesting post haha.

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Lucky you for getting the 10 year ticket. I got a two year ticket. Whatever happened to professional courtesy?

:D

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Lucky you for getting the 10 year ticket. I got a two year ticket. Whatever happened to professional courtesy?

:D

I was hoping for the 10 year plan while he was explaining what would happen if they found polyps. The thought of having to do another prep in 3-5 years wasn't something I was looking forward too.

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Congrats on 10 years :). You should come to our clinic next time, we use CO2 for colonic insufflation, rarely have a patient complain of severe gas and cramping.

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5 year plan here! Lucky you for being on a 10 year plan! I had mine a couple days ago and the prep is the WORST!! I'm pre nursing, second career (previous career in the veterinary field) and the only thing I found strange was they just put 3 strips of tape over the IVC. We had better microbial protection for animals with IVC's. Not sure if this is normal practice but I guess I'll find out when I start clinicals in January!

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Congrats on 10 years :). You should come to our clinic next time, we use CO2 for colonic insufflation, rarely have a patient complain of severe gas and cramping.

Ditto for my facility.

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Specializes in kids.

Ha! The prep was a breeze, the post anesthesia, not so much. Puked for hours. But the good news is I too am on the 10 year plan!!

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Specializes in kids.
This is a very interesting post haha.

May still have a little sedation left?? LOL!

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I am 35 years old and have had 4 diagnostic colonoscopies, and 7 EGDs. I have GI issues to say the least! But I'm thankful I can relate to my patients, tell them exactly what to expect, etc.

If you have a tortuous colon, try to find someone who will use CO2 to inflate - absorbs 40x faster and have seen very few patients wake up in pain.

Congrats on the healthy colon! Wish I could go 10 years but I have a h/o polyps and a very long family h/o colon CA :(

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5 year plan here! Lucky you for being on a 10 year plan! I had mine a couple days ago and the prep is the WORST!! I'm pre nursing, second career (previous career in the veterinary field) and the only thing I found strange was they just put 3 strips of tape over the IVC. We had better microbial protection for animals with IVC's. Not sure if this is normal practice but I guess I'll find out when I start clinicals in January!

Yep, that's normal for such short procedures. There is a very very low risk for infection when the IV is only in for an hour or so. I've never personally experienced or heard of anyone else experiencing phlebitis from that. I also go to a pain clinic for facet blocks and they do the same when they sedate me for about 5 minutes. Just a little tape.

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