Colonoscopy vs Cologuard

[Cerveza Fria]

So, @57, I had a physical wherein my new Gringa Primary Care doctor asked me why I hadn't had a Colonoscopy. I just don't like being put under unless it was necessary, and since I don't have any symptoms I wasn't game for it. She suggested Cologuard - the deal where you dump in a box and mail it off to the lab. Results came back negative. Way better, safer and cheaper than a Colonoscopy. They say I can wait 3 years and try again. So, not doing the Colonoscopy. Wifey still wants me to get a Colonoscopy, but it's not happening. Any of you fellow oldsters go this route? Or did you give in and let a stranger give you a roofie and violate you with an anal probe?

[Dan Druff]

So, @57, I had a physical wherein my new Gringa Primary Care doctor asked me why I hadn't had a Colonoscopy. I just don't like being put under unless it was necessary, and since I don't have any symptoms I wasn't game for it. She suggested Cologuard - the deal where you dump in a box and mail it off to the lab. Results came back negative. Way better, safer and cheaper than a Colonoscopy. They say I can wait 3 years and try again. So, not doing the Colonoscopy. Wifey still wants me to get a Colonoscopy, but it's not happening. Any of you fellow oldsters go this route? Or did you give in and let a stranger give you a roofie and violate you with an anal probe?

I am like you in that I hate the idea of being put under.

My concern about this was what had me putting off my first colonoscopy until I was just about 49, despite a family history of colon cancer which killed my grandmother and caused adenoma polyps in my father (which also might have killed him, if not for colonoscopies).

Sure enough, I had some bad looking adenomas in my colon in my 2021 colonoscopy, and I felt stupid for not having done it sooner. Fortunately they were caught in time.

Colon cancer is very hereditary. If you have no known direct family history (parents or grandparents) with colon cancer or colon polyps, you are much less likely to get colon cancer.

This is why they feel Cologuard is fine for those without an elevated risk, but bad for people like me who have a high risk.

I assume you do not have an elevated risk.

The good news is that Cologuard does not have a terrible false negative rate (8%). It DOES have a bad false positive rate -- 13%, last I checked! This means 13% of healthy people get Cologuard results indicating they might have colon cancer! Then you have to twist in the wind until you can schedule an receive a colonoscopy to verify. That would be awful.

The false negative rate of 8% is far higher than that of a colonoscopy, which is why it's not recommended for someone like me.

So if you're willing to tolerate the 13% false positive rate, as well as don't have a family history of colon cancer/polyps, you are probably fine doing Cologuard. It's not ideal, but you're not taking a huge risk.

In fact, colonoscopy is not risk-free. The biggest risk is NOT from the propofol, which is very safe. The risk tends to be from damaging the colon during the procedure, which can sometimes lead to death. For people like me, the risk is justified, as there's a much higher chance I will die of colon cancer than die from the colonoscopy. For someone like you, the risk is probably still justified (because lack of family history doesn't guarantee no colon cancer), but it's not as clear cut.

My mom has no family history of colon cancer. After several completely clear colonoscopies, they actually instructed her that the risk of the procedure was actually higher than the chance polyps would show up, and she was told to stop getting them, and do Cologuard instead.

[Sanlmar]

Overall cancer rates are now higher for those under 50 than those over 65.

thought I’d lighten up the thread a little

[tgull]

So, @57, I had a physical wherein my new Gringa Primary Care doctor asked me why I hadn't had a Colonoscopy. I just don't like being put under unless it was necessary, and since I don't have any symptoms I wasn't game for it. She suggested Cologuard - the deal where you dump in a box and mail it off to the lab. Results came back negative. Way better, safer and cheaper than a Colonoscopy. They say I can wait 3 years and try again. So, not doing the Colonoscopy. Wifey still wants me to get a Colonoscopy, but it's not happening. Any of you fellow oldsters go this route? Or did you give in and let a stranger give you a roofie and violate you with an anal probe?

Colon cancer is the easiest cancer to detect. ALL colon cancer is a result of polyps. Bumps in your colon.

All can be removed before they become cancerous.

If they become cancerous, you basically have a death sentence. It's almost irrecoverable.

You can read the dissertation from Druff all you want. The only preventable way to prevent a fatal dose of colon cancer is to get screened every 3 to 5 years. Insurance covers it. And stay away from the retarded Gatorade solution Druff pimps, just take the solution they give you so you get full visibility of your colon. Or listen to Druff and slug a couple Gatorades and get 30% visibility, he knows better. He is a computer scientist we have been told.

[Sloppy Joe]

So, @57, I had a physical wherein my new Gringa Primary Care doctor asked me why I hadn't had a Colonoscopy. I just don't like being put under unless it was necessary, and since I don't have any symptoms I wasn't game for it. She suggested Cologuard - the deal where you dump in a box and mail it off to the lab. Results came back negative. Way better, safer and cheaper than a Colonoscopy. They say I can wait 3 years and try again. So, not doing the Colonoscopy. Wifey still wants me to get a Colonoscopy, but it's not happening. Any of you fellow oldsters go this route? Or did you give in and let a stranger give you a roofie and violate you with an anal probe?

I am like you in that I hate the idea of being put under.

My concern about this was what had me putting off my first colonoscopy until I was just about 49, despite a family history of colon cancer which killed my grandmother and caused adenoma polyps in my father (which also might have killed him, if not for colonoscopies).

Sure enough, I had some bad looking adenomas in my colon in my 2021 colonoscopy, and I felt stupid for not having done it sooner. Fortunately they were caught in time.

LOL how retarded and cowardly.

Recently lost a colleague for the same reason; he stupidly neglected this and made it a point to educate others.

[Dan Druff]

So, @57, I had a physical wherein my new Gringa Primary Care doctor asked me why I hadn't had a Colonoscopy. I just don't like being put under unless it was necessary, and since I don't have any symptoms I wasn't game for it. She suggested Cologuard - the deal where you dump in a box and mail it off to the lab. Results came back negative. Way better, safer and cheaper than a Colonoscopy. They say I can wait 3 years and try again. So, not doing the Colonoscopy. Wifey still wants me to get a Colonoscopy, but it's not happening. Any of you fellow oldsters go this route? Or did you give in and let a stranger give you a roofie and violate you with an anal probe?

Colon cancer is the easiest cancer to detect. ALL colon cancer is a result of polyps. Bumps in your colon.

All can be removed before they become cancerous.

If they become cancerous, you basically have a death sentence. It's almost irrecoverable.

You can read the dissertation from Druff all you want. The only preventable way to prevent a fatal dose of colon cancer is to get screened every 3 to 5 years. Insurance covers it. And stay away from the retarded Gatorade solution Druff pimps, just take the solution they give you so you get full visibility of your colon. Or listen to Druff and slug a couple Gatorades and get 30% visibility, he knows better. He is a computer scientist we have been told.

Don't listen to bottomset.

The Gatorade/Miralax prep for a colonoscopy has been extensively studied, and found to be either equal or superior to the awful tasting crap they originally made you drink. The only downside to the Gatorade prep is it sometimes causes nausea.

You should definitely NOT get screened every 3 years if you have a clean colon. That is inducing unnecessary risk of complications, with little benefit. No ethical doctor would do that.

It is better to get a colonoscopy in your spot, given you're 57 and never had one done. However, if you have no family history, and really don't want to do the procedure, Cologuard is a reasonable other option, albeit not ideal.

[Cerveza Fria]

So, @57, I had a physical wherein my new Gringa Primary Care doctor asked me why I hadn't had a Colonoscopy. I just don't like being put under unless it was necessary, and since I don't have any symptoms I wasn't game for it. She suggested Cologuard - the deal where you dump in a box and mail it off to the lab. Results came back negative. Way better, safer and cheaper than a Colonoscopy. They say I can wait 3 years and try again. So, not doing the Colonoscopy. Wifey still wants me to get a Colonoscopy, but it's not happening. Any of you fellow oldsters go this route? Or did you give in and let a stranger give you a roofie and violate you with an anal probe?

I am like you in that I hate the idea of being put under.

My concern about this was what had me putting off my first colonoscopy until I was just about 49, despite a family history of colon cancer which killed my grandmother and caused adenoma polyps in my father (which also might have killed him, if not for colonoscopies).

Sure enough, I had some bad looking adenomas in my colon in my 2021 colonoscopy, and I felt stupid for not having done it sooner. Fortunately they were caught in time.

Colon cancer is very hereditary. If you have no known direct family history (parents or grandparents) with colon cancer or colon polyps, you are much less likely to get colon cancer.

This is why they feel Cologuard is fine for those without an elevated risk, but bad for people like me who have a high risk.

I assume you do not have an elevated risk.

The good news is that Cologuard does not have a terrible false negative rate (8%). It DOES have a bad false positive rate -- 13%, last I checked! This means 13% of healthy people get Cologuard results indicating they might have colon cancer! Then you have to twist in the wind until you can schedule an receive a colonoscopy to verify. That would be awful.

The false negative rate of 8% is far higher than that of a colonoscopy, which is why it's not recommended for someone like me.

So if you're willing to tolerate the 13% false positive rate, as well as don't have a family history of colon cancer/polyps, you are probably fine doing Cologuard. It's not ideal, but you're not taking a huge risk.

In fact, colonoscopy is not risk-free. The biggest risk is NOT from the propofol, which is very safe. The risk tends to be from damaging the colon during the procedure, which can sometimes lead to death. For people like me, the risk is justified, as there's a much higher chance I will die of colon cancer than die from the colonoscopy. For someone like you, the risk is probably still justified (because lack of family history doesn't guarantee no colon cancer), but it's not as clear cut.

My mom has no family history of colon cancer. After several completely clear colonoscopies, they actually instructed her that the risk of the procedure was actually higher than the chance polyps would show up, and she was told to stop getting them, and do Cologuard instead.

No family history of Colon cancer. And I should have added that my Primary Care doctor said some new protocol for healthy people with no family history is to wait until 60. Just don't want to be put under without necessity. That being said, I will be put under in May when I have surgery on my shoulder, but I can't put off surgery any longer (it's been 2 1/2 years dealing with Frozen Shoulder, Torn Labrum.) Interesting enough, Shoulder doc says my Frozen Shoulder was caused by getting my Moderna booster shot. There are studies that are showing this data to be real, and he has numerous clients like me who claim their issues started when they got the shot. But he says it could also be caused by the Flu and RSV vaccines).

[tgull]

I have never heard of anyone, anywhere, advocating against colonoscopy's. Until Druff. He pulls out one obscure example of someone having a side effect and then treats it as gospel because he read some article on the internet. Kind of like the one guy who says seat belts are dangerous because one driver ran into a lake and drowned because the clip malfunctioned. That guy.

The reason Cologaurd exists is because its far cheaper for the insurance companies. Your best bet is to get the procedure done every 5 years, more frequently with family history. Don't listen to Druff on this, he has no idea what he is talking about. He just read something on the internet and has yet again declared himself an expert.

[Kalam]

I have never heard of anyone, anywhere, advocating against colonoscopy's. Until Druff. He pulls out one obscure example of someone having a side effect and then treats it as gospel because he read some article on the internet. Kind of like the one guy who says seat belts are dangerous because one driver ran into a lake and drowned because the clip malfunctioned. That guy.

The reason Cologaurd exists is because its far cheaper for the insurance companies. Your best bet is to get the procedure done every 5 years, more frequently with family history. Don't listen to Druff on this, he has no idea what he is talking about. He just read something on the internet and has yet again declared himself an expert.

Nah, I dont have the time or personality to deep dive this kind of stuff on my own. Always appreciate Druff doing the dirty work and then providing the info to the people. If anything wish he had started talking about this stuff earlier, so I could have requested the other treatments. I recently had a colonoscopy (only 44, but I was having an endoscopy for heartburn anyways, so why not do both at once?) and did the Prep 500 (or weaver it is called exactly) which is basically drinking 10 gallons of the most horrible tasting liquid you have ever had in your life over a 24 hour period. You literally have to force it down and hold down throwing it all back up, it tastes so bad.

[Cerveza Fria]

I have never heard of anyone, anywhere, advocating against colonoscopy's. Until Druff. He pulls out one obscure example of someone having a side effect and then treats it as gospel because he read some article on the internet. Kind of like the one guy who says seat belts are dangerous because one driver ran into a lake and drowned because the clip malfunctioned. That guy.

The reason Cologaurd exists is because its far cheaper for the insurance companies. Your best bet is to get the procedure done every 5 years, more frequently with family history. Don't listen to Druff on this, he has no idea what he is talking about. He just read something on the internet and has yet again declared himself an expert.

Nah, I dont have the time or personality to deep dive this kind of stuff on my own. Always appreciate Druff doing the dirty work and then providing the info to the people. If anything wish he had started talking about this stuff earlier, so I could have requested the other treatments. I recently had a colonoscopy (only 44, but I was having an endoscopy for heartburn anyways, so why not do both at once?) and did the Prep 500 (or weaver it is called exactly) which is basically drinking 10 gallons of the most horrible tasting liquid you have ever had in your life over a 24 hour period. You literally have to force it down and hold down throwing it all back up, it tastes so bad.

From what I understand from several friends and family members, it's quite common to do the Endoscopy and Colonoscopy at the same time. But, it's imperative to do the Endoscopy first. Otherwise, the probe might leave a shitty taste in your mouth.

[Kalam]

Nah, I dont have the time or personality to deep dive this kind of stuff on my own. Always appreciate Druff doing the dirty work and then providing the info to the people. If anything wish he had started talking about this stuff earlier, so I could have requested the other treatments. I recently had a colonoscopy (only 44, but I was having an endoscopy for heartburn anyways, so why not do both at once?) and did the Prep 500 (or weaver it is called exactly) which is basically drinking 10 gallons of the most horrible tasting liquid you have ever had in your life over a 24 hour period. You literally have to force it down and hold down throwing it all back up, it tastes so bad.

From what I understand from several friends and family members, it's quite common to do the Endoscopy and Colonoscopy at the same time. But, it's imperative to do the Endoscopy first. Otherwise, the probe might leave a shitty taste in your mouth.

I was under anesthesia, so have no clue what went down in what order. It wasn't full anesthesia, but it might as well have been, as I have zero memory of what happened.

[tgull]

From what I understand from several friends and family members, it's quite common to do the Endoscopy and Colonoscopy at the same time. But, it's imperative to do the Endoscopy first. Otherwise, the probe might leave a shitty taste in your mouth.

I was under anesthesia, so have no clue what went down in what order. It wasn't full anesthesia, but it might as well have been, as I have zero memory of what happened.

That is by design. You basically took what Michael Jackson was abusing, but not in a lethal form obviously.

[OK2]

ass cancer incoming for this siesta loving senor

gringo medicine to the rescue once again because you can't limit yourself to less than 6 soft shells a day, hopefully you didn't reproduce

[Sanlmar]

ass cancer incoming for this siesta loving senor

gringo medicine to the rescue once again because you can't limit yourself to less than 6 soft shells a day, hopefully you didn't reproduce

colonoscopy and fast food franchise threads always surefire PFA hits.

its time to look in the toilet

[Sanlmar]

splitthis: Hmmmm human genocide is working

The differing cancer rate under 50 vs 65 is really interesting to me.

“You deserve a break today” was created by the Mad Men of Chicago advertising in 1971. You had to convince mom that fast food was an option. TV dinners were a rarity with their aluminum tins. Mom cooked dinner from simple ingredients. Nothing shipped from Mexico out of season. Maybe someone dropped off fresh eggs and milk on the doorstep in the morning.

You can go on and on once you begin to ponder why there is a difference in rates now.

The microplastics now found in the arterial plaque and the correlation to heart issues is a hot topic. I’ve completely freaked out the wife. She won’t drink or cook with plastic now. Maybe that helps but firstly the damage is done and second microplastocs are all pervasive so it is what it is. Fortunately, she did not grow up with the exposure which is most important.

Fun stuff.

Colon cancer is a brutal way to die but the outlook is pretty grim anyway

[Dan Druff]

I am like you in that I hate the idea of being put under.

My concern about this was what had me putting off my first colonoscopy until I was just about 49, despite a family history of colon cancer which killed my grandmother and caused adenoma polyps in my father (which also might have killed him, if not for colonoscopies).

Sure enough, I had some bad looking adenomas in my colon in my 2021 colonoscopy, and I felt stupid for not having done it sooner. Fortunately they were caught in time.

Colon cancer is very hereditary. If you have no known direct family history (parents or grandparents) with colon cancer or colon polyps, you are much less likely to get colon cancer.

This is why they feel Cologuard is fine for those without an elevated risk, but bad for people like me who have a high risk.

I assume you do not have an elevated risk.

The good news is that Cologuard does not have a terrible false negative rate (8%). It DOES have a bad false positive rate -- 13%, last I checked! This means 13% of healthy people get Cologuard results indicating they might have colon cancer! Then you have to twist in the wind until you can schedule an receive a colonoscopy to verify. That would be awful.

The false negative rate of 8% is far higher than that of a colonoscopy, which is why it's not recommended for someone like me.

So if you're willing to tolerate the 13% false positive rate, as well as don't have a family history of colon cancer/polyps, you are probably fine doing Cologuard. It's not ideal, but you're not taking a huge risk.

In fact, colonoscopy is not risk-free. The biggest risk is NOT from the propofol, which is very safe. The risk tends to be from damaging the colon during the procedure, which can sometimes lead to death. For people like me, the risk is justified, as there's a much higher chance I will die of colon cancer than die from the colonoscopy. For someone like you, the risk is probably still justified (because lack of family history doesn't guarantee no colon cancer), but it's not as clear cut.

My mom has no family history of colon cancer. After several completely clear colonoscopies, they actually instructed her that the risk of the procedure was actually higher than the chance polyps would show up, and she was told to stop getting them, and do Cologuard instead.

No family history of Colon cancer. And I should have added that my Primary Care doctor said some new protocol for healthy people with no family history is to wait until 60. Just don't want to be put under without necessity. That being said, I will be put under in May when I have surgery on my shoulder, but I can't put off surgery any longer (it's been 2 1/2 years dealing with Frozen Shoulder, Torn Labrum.) Interesting enough, Shoulder doc says my Frozen Shoulder was caused by getting my Moderna booster shot. There are studies that are showing this data to be real, and he has numerous clients like me who claim their issues started when they got the shot. But he says it could also be caused by the Flu and RSV vaccines).

I don't want to get into a COVID vax dicsussion, because we already had enough of that here, but yeah, I laughed at the "safe and effective" shit in 2021. No way to determine that without long term study and data. I was well aware when I got my shots that I was taking a risk. I just felt the risk was less than the COVID risk, which was somewhat high in 2020-21 for my age group (which you're a part of, as well). So you still did the right thing by getting the shot (as long as it was in 2021, and not 2022), and just had a bad outcome.

I haven't heard about the age 60 thing for the colnoscopy with no family history. Maybe what they mean is something like Cologuard before 60, and a colonoscopy after 60. I do think it's probably close as far as the risk/reward with a colonoscopy before 60 with zero family history. For me, the colonoscopy was a no-brainer.

BTW I don't get any flu shots. The flu is not very dangerous to my age group. I really don't like risking vaccine side effects for diseases which aren't long term dangerous to me. When I'm over 65, I'll start getting the flu shot, as that's around when the flu starts to be able to kill you.

[Dan Druff]

I have never heard of anyone, anywhere, advocating against colonoscopy's. Until Druff. He pulls out one obscure example of someone having a side effect and then treats it as gospel because he read some article on the internet. Kind of like the one guy who says seat belts are dangerous because one driver ran into a lake and drowned because the clip malfunctioned. That guy.

The reason Cologaurd exists is because its far cheaper for the insurance companies. Your best bet is to get the procedure done every 5 years, more frequently with family history. Don't listen to Druff on this, he has no idea what he is talking about. He just read something on the internet and has yet again declared himself an expert.

Nah, I dont have the time or personality to deep dive this kind of stuff on my own. Always appreciate Druff doing the dirty work and then providing the info to the people. If anything wish he had started talking about this stuff earlier, so I could have requested the other treatments. I recently had a colonoscopy (only 44, but I was having an endoscopy for heartburn anyways, so why not do both at once?) and did the Prep 500 (or weaver it is called exactly) which is basically drinking 10 gallons of the most horrible tasting liquid you have ever had in your life over a 24 hour period. You literally have to force it down and hold down throwing it all back up, it tastes so bad.

What is "Prep 500"?

Did you have to do this for the endoscopy?

The colonoscopy prep can be done by drinking 64 ounches of Gatorade/Miralax mixture. Tastes just like the Gatorade itself, except with a slightly different texture. So the taste is fine. The only issue is that it can cause nausea. I got mild nausea in 2021 from this, and bad nausea this past time a few months ago. But I didn't vomit either time. Still preferable to that awful tasting SuPrep. And unlike what bottomset thinks, the Gatorade prep is just as good. Both times it was told to me that my prep was "perfect", even with my fucking up eating some things I shouldn't have in the days beforehand this time around.

[Sanlmar]

Nobody has had covid more than me. The wife and i just completed a 4 week ordeal that just went on and on.

No covid shots for us though our patience was getting sorely tested. Annoying AF.

I really need to consider becoming a shut in.

[Dan Druff]

Nobody has had covid more than me. The wife and i just completed a 4 week ordeal that just went on and on.

No covid shots for us though our patience was getting sorely tested. Annoying AF.

I really need to consider becoming a shut in.

How many times have you had it?

I've still only had it once.

Amazingly, WSOP 2023 had almost zero COVID problems, despite what you'd think would be a tremendously contagious environment (indoors, thousands of people close together, poor ventilation, 12+ hours per day of exposure).

Instead, WSOP 2023 was plagued by a horrible cold which hit a ton of players, including me, and nearly everyone who got it described it as top 5 worst colds of their life.

Who knew that, in the age of COVID, the bad virus at the WSOP would be a common cold?

[Sanlmar]

Nobody has had covid more than me. The wife and i just completed a 4 week ordeal that just went on and on.

No covid shots for us though our patience was getting sorely tested. Annoying AF.

I really need to consider becoming a shut in.

How many times have you had it?

I've still only had it once.

Amazingly, WSOP 2023 had almost zero COVID problems, despite what you'd think would be a tremendously contagious environment (indoors, thousands of people close together, poor ventilation, 12+ hours per day of exposure).

Instead, WSOP 2023 was plagued by a horrible cold which hit a ton of players, including me, and nearly everyone who got it described it as top 5 worst colds of their life.

Who knew that, in the age of COVID, the bad virus at the WSOP would be a common cold?

5x

How do they know “the worst cold of their life” was not covid?

You run good at the tables. Always have. God bless