If you had a colonoscopy 10 years ago to test for colon cancer, it probably wasn’t a very pleasant experience. The preparation required you to drink a gallon of chalky liquid that tasted like salted feet. You spent the entire night before in the bathroom emptying your insides. The day of the procedure, a grim anesthesiologist knocked you out with drugs that left you loopy, lethargic and nauseated all day. You might even have been unable to return to work the following day.
Sure, says Dr. Shannon Wesley, a proctologist with Midwest Surgical Specialists in Lima, Ohio part of the Lima Memorial Health System, she’s heard it all. But she has good news for you: It’s nothing like it used to be.
Colonoscopies are recommended for everyone who is 50 years old or at a high risk for colon cancer. For low-risk individuals over 50, they’re usually recommended for a follow up colonoscopy every 10 years.
While you’re formulating in your mind all the excuses to avoid a colonoscopy, consider these 7 reasons you should have one:
1. It’s the best way to know. Colonoscopies are currently the best way to diagnose colon cancer, identify and remove pre-cancerous tumors. Other methods are less accurate and, if they determine you have an anomaly, they may still require a colonoscopy.
2. The alternative risks missing information. The low-invasive alternative – taking your own stool sample, treating it with a solution and mailing if off – has a 13 percent false negative rate. That’s a one-in-seven chance you could be left with an undiagnosed colon lesion.
3. Early detection of colon cancer can lead to a full recovery. Some smaller lesions can be removed during a colonoscopy. Early lesions can be removed with surgical intervention often you won’t even need chemotherapy or radiation. The five-year survival rate for treatment of Stage 1 colon cancer is 92 percent according to the American Cancer Society,
4. Colonoscopies can actually prevent cancer by finding and excising pre-cancerous polyps before they become cancerous.
5. Colonoscopies are utterly painless. The newly used anesthetic for colonoscopies – Propofol – is fast acting and wears off rapidly after being administered. That means you wake up quickly and are back to normal faster. Patients sometimes feel bloated or “gassy” following the procedure due to the insufflation of air during the procedure; the feeling usually isn’t painful and goes away on its own.
6. The preparation is so much easier now. You’ll still spend the night before in the bathroom because there’s no way around that.
“Examining your colon is like trying to see what’s going on inside a pipe. You can’t look at the inside of a pipe without cleaning it out first,” says Dr. Wesley. “But the cleansing is less distasteful than it used to be. The cleansing solution is flavored and patients are only required to consume one-quarter as much as in the past.”
7. Colon cancer kills 50,000 people a year according to the American Cancer Society. Roughly one in 22 people will develop colon cancer in their lifetime. Why risk it?
Any screening test is better than nothing, says Dr. Wesley, but no screening test replaces a colonoscopy. Even if you try an alternative, you’re still likely to end up with a colonoscopy. “People are discovering that the bad experience from 10 years ago is no longer necessary because the drugs have changed and the prep is easier,” she explains.
Are you due for a colonoscopy? What better time than during National Colorectal Awareness Month! Make your health a priority and schedule your appointment this month with an expert Lima Memorial Health System proctologist like Dr. Wesley.
Lima Memorial Health System is committed to providing comprehensive health services in a family atmosphere. They believe that high-quality care starts with prevention and education. The physicians at Lima Memorial are connected to a whole network of specialists, including proctology within Lima Memorial Physicians.
For more information about Lima Memorial Health System or to schedule an appointment for a colonoscopy, visit online at www.LimaMemorial.org.
