Who's Afraid of a Colonoscopy?

I had a colonoscopy yesterday - my first one.  Since my myositis diagnosis last year, I have been on a journey of seemingly never-ending cancer testing to rule out any malignancies in my body that might have caused the auto-immune disorder.  So far so good, but I suppose I will always be considered high-risk and screened closely.

My overall experience was not that bad.  I talked to many people who had experienced the procedure to get their advice and war stories.  On the day before the procedure, "prep" day, I was prepared for debilitating starvation, and setting up camp in my bathroom for hours.  My actual experience turned out to be nothing like that.  Yes, taking 4 laxative pills and drinking 64 ounces of Gatorade mixed with a 268-gram bottle of Miralax does things to a person's body.  However, after about an hour of consuming the mixture I felt ok.  The test was no big deal, either.  The sedative that the doctor used is propofol (yes, the same drug that Conrad Murray gave to Michael Jackson), and it knocked me out to the point that I didn't know that I was even having the procedure.

The doctor found six pre-cancerous polyps in my colon, and removed them.  I am awaiting my biopsy test results, but she said that she would be shocked if the polyps are cancerous.  I am so thankful that I took two days out of my hectic schedule to have the test done. 

This week, I have thought about our beloved Judge Billy Tunstall and my belief that if he had gotten a baseline colonoscopy at the age of 50, he would still be with us.  By the time that Judge Tunstall's colon cancer was found, it had metastasized to the point that the doctors did not give him much hope of a recovery.  If colon cancer is detected early, it is almost 100% curable -- at least that's what the reputable medical websites say. 

If you have a family history, or are at an elevated risk of developing any type of cancer, please go get a colonoscopy.  Make your physicians order the test, and demand that insurance companies pay for it.  It truly is not bad at all, and you'll be glad you did.