Friday, December 13, 2024

Turning 65 and time for Colonoscopy

 

  One of the privileges of turning 65 is that my nurse practitioner says it's time for a colonoscopy screening. Let me first talk about the nurse practitioner. With the changes in the medical field, I don't have a doctor anymore—I now see a nurse practitioner. This is pretty much the same for most of my other specialists. My urologist has moved, and now I have a nurse practitioner there as well. I guess it's something I'll have to deal with.

  For my colonoscopy, my doctor directed me to use the new pill method for the prep. In the old method, you had to drink a very nasty fluid along with a lot of Gatorade to wash it down. While the fluid did its job, it wasn't deemed efficient enough by the medical community. So, they came up with a new method of cleaning a person out. The pill method involves two steps: taking 12 pills with 48 ounces of water. The first step is completed the day before the hospital visit, and the second step is done five hours before hospital check-in time. This meant I had to get up at four in the morning to perform the second step, which requires drinking 48 ounces of water over an hour and a half.

  I can tell you that the new method does clean you out very well, but in my opinion, it's more of a hassle than the old system. The bottom line is that a person needs to have the cleanest colon for the best results, and that's why the new method is used. Just some FYI for anyone considering a colonoscopy in the future.

  I will update this page in the future with results.

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