News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Notes on My Colon Cancer by Cthulhu_ on Thursday October 22, 2020 @03:19AM (#24855636)
Cannot confirm; my girlfriend had a sigmoidoscopy (similar) and she experienced it as traumatizing and violating. I don't believe she got any anesthetics admitted; pretty sure it's not standard.

Please don't romanticize invasive diagnostics. If you want to advocate for the occasional bowel purge or using anesthetics to sleep have at it though. But also, general anesthesia should be avoided as much as possible, it's not a trivial matter.

Re:Notes on My Colon Cancer by BuildTheRobots on Thursday October 22, 2020 @03:27AM (#24855683)
In the UK it's uncommon to be anaesthetised for for endoscopies or colonoscopy. I've been offered either midazolam or gas & air for colonoscopies and pretty sure my last couple of endoscopies were done without anything.

The movicol prep stuff they give you isn't ideal either; you've got to drink a lot of odd tasting fluids that then give you basically explosive diorama which can be awful in itself. It also causes some people to explosively vomit as well (it's designed to make your body want to eject it asap) which really isn't fun when it's trying to escape both ends at once.

The actual procedure isn't amazing either. A camera down either end is uncomfortable at best ranging to extremely painful (short term) as they try and get round the corners in your bowel. There's also the potential it to go wrong in some nasty ways or for odd side effects, and at absolute best, you're still stuck on a table trying to make polite conversation with 2m of camera tube stuck up your bum.

Can confirm your refusal to confirm; none of it's a thrilling or trivial experience.

Re:Notes on My Colon Cancer by jbb67 on Thursday October 22, 2020 @05:14AM (#24856169)
I'm in the UK and I had a good level of sedation for mine. I wasn't even asked, just told that was standard.

I wasn't knocked out but I might as well have been as I didn't feel any pain and kept kind of drifting off half to sleep. It was completely fine and I'd not worry at all about getting it done again.

Re:Notes on My Colon Cancer by tidenly on Thursday October 22, 2020 @03:52AM (#24855807)
I really did not need to read this the week before I have a camera put in my stomach. Crap.
Re:Notes on My Colon Cancer by billforsternz on Thursday October 22, 2020 @05:29AM (#24856250)
I've had it done and it was fine. Clearly there's a range of experiences possible, you may as well be optimistic.
Re:Notes on My Colon Cancer by meheleventyone on Thursday October 22, 2020 @08:46AM (#24857416)
I’m about to have it done in a few weeks. Hope yours goes well.
Re:Notes on My Colon Cancer by tidenly on Monday October 26, 2020 @01:53AM (#24893180)
Just to calm your nerves. I had mine done today and, despite the intermittent choking and gag reflex, it was actually completely fine. Turns out I have Barrett’s esophagus, maybe caused from acid reflux and stress I've had since a kid. Slight increased cancer risk so I'll be getting this procedure more often from now I guess. Hope yours all goes well!