I wasn't sure whether I should post on the subject, since it seems that there is little left unsaid. But, since I just had a colonoscopy recently, and haven't posted yet, this is as good a subject for introduction as any.
I had a colonoscopy in the beginning of May, after having it postponed by a couple of weeks due to a little inconvenience called Covid-19, which was just coming off a peak in NY. I had an initial appointment with GI doctor a few weeks prior. When asked,"What brings you here today?", I answered "My wife", which prompted an understanding laugh from the Dr. It was partially true, though, since my wife saw the same doctor about a year earlier and had both upper and lower endoscopy after a little scare that, thankfully, turned out to be nothing. Ever since then, she kept reminding me from time to time that I should go as well, since I had reached the age of 50+. I didn't have any particularly bothersome symptoms, other then occasional gas, but it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that I would get a colonoscopy due to age, it was just a matter of scheduling it. Since I knew it was coming, I did some research online, watched some videos (apparently, there is a whole genre of celebrity colonoscopies), and felt emboldened to ask the doctor if he would do it without sedation. He politely declined, explaining that the few times he did them that way, the patients were uncomfortable and some had to abort. He also shared that he had his done unsedated, and felt very uncomfortable and crampy the whole time. I decided not to push the subject any further.
The Dr. sent a prescription for Suprep directly to the pharmacy. I read the whole instruction booklet shortly after picking it up, and had a feeling of anticipation in the weeks before the procedure that was borderline exciting (of course, I am a freak, otherwise I wouldn't be here). I am not going to dwell on that aspect of it, since this is not a fetish thread.
The GI office instructions said no solid food the day prior to procedure, but the Suprep booklet, as well as some online info, including from GI doctors,said that you can have a light breakfast. I saw info that there is no difference in prep quality, as long as the rest of the prep is followed correctly. So I decided to cheat a little and have a light breakfast of plain yogurt, white toast, eggs and black coffee, around 8am, and had no solids afterward. My other deviation from protocol was giving myself two 2Qt enemas, to clear out my colon from whatever remained in there from previous night's dinner. I drank water throughout the day. When the time came to drink the first half of the prep solution, I used a straw. Despite some reviews that said the taste was horrible, it was actually not too bad, like watered down cherry syrup with slightly salty aftertaste. It took me about 15 minutes to finish it, then follow it with the same quantity of water. In about an hour and a half, I felt a mild sensation that it would be nice to go the bathroom. I had loose, mostly watery stool, with not a lot of solids (earlier enemas might have something to do with it). I felt no cramps and no strong urges. It was almost disappointing in a way. In the next hour or so I had a few more trips, with gradually diminishing results.
The next morning, around 7am, I did round two of the prep ( my appointment was at noon). The results were just as anti-climactic as the day before, mostly yellowish water. Then I showered and my wife drove me to my appointment.
My GI Dr. is a part of a medical practice in Manhattan, and they have endoscopy suite right in the office. Since we were still in the midst of the pandemic, I wore a mask and all personnel wore masks and gowns. On a plus side of it, they likely had a lot fewer people scheduled than usual, so there was very little wait time. I got checked in right away and led into a small curtained-off area with a gurney and a little locking cabinet for my clothes. I was told to remove everything, including underwear, and given a standard hospital-type backless gown and thick knee-high socks in a sealed bag. Shortly after I settled myself on a gurney and covered up with a blanket, a young female tech came and wheeled me into the procedure room, just down the hall. There, a middle-aged female Dr. introduced herself as anesthesiologist, asked me some standard questions, put a blood pressure cuff on my right arm and started an IV on the left one. She also lowered my mask and put an oxygen cannula in my nostrils. After a few more questions, the GI Dr. asked me to turn on my left side, and anesthesiologist connected a syringe with white stuff (propofol) into my IV. I saw her push it, and tried to see how soon it would take effect. Judging by a large clock on the opposite wall, less than 15 seconds. It was like flipping a switch, and the next thing I remember was waking up in the same little cubicle where I was pre-procedure, in what felt like a few seconds, but in reality was more like a bit over an hour. I didn't feel dizzy or hungover, just a little lightheaded for a minute or two. I got my phone out of the locker and called my wife to tell her that I was out. I felt bad for her, because she couldn't even go anywhere while waiting for me, since everything in the city was closed. She told me later she spent time taking pictures of empty streets and squares, which felt very weird in the middle of Manhattan, in the middle of the day.
After a nurse checked my vitals, the Dr. came and spoke to me about the results of my colonoscopy. He removed six polyps, five of which were small (under 10mm), but one was 22mm large, and of the type that tend to turn cancerous over time. I got a few printed out pages with the results and color pictures of my insides. Apparently, he had some difficulty performing the procedure due to excessive looping of the colon, which was resolved by straightening the scope and applying abdominal pressure. Maybe it was not a bad thing that I didn't feel any of it after all. The prep quality was good.
Because of the large number of polyps I was told to repeat colonoscopy in one year. Also, my direct relatives (children) would have to start screening at the age of 40, which I conveyed to them shortly after( didn't make them all too happy, but on the other hand, might save their life).
As far as concerns about modesty some have expressed , it probably helped that I didn't have any (concerns, not modesty). I am sure that when they were flipping me around to advance the scope, they respected my modesty as much as possible under the circumstances, while I was knocked out. But if anyone saw anything, or everything, I couldn't care less. My ass was one of about a dozen or so they saw that day, and it wasn't even a particularly busy one. I am just glad I didn't delay by another year or two, because it could have gotten pretty serious by then.
To summarize this long and verbose post, in the words of my Dr. , "It wasn't horrible, right?" Right. While others might have had an experience that was more unpleasant, it's still comparatively mild as far as invasive medical procedures go, so get it done!