Posted on 02/09/2022 1:17:04 PM PST by George from New England
His doc did an occult blood test. That’s not a cologuard. Cologuard involves filling up a fairly good-sized jar and shipping it to a lab in Wisconsin.
I just received a positive indication from my Cologuard test last night. I have begun the procedure for setting up an appointment for a colonoscopy as of today. There is the possibility of a false positive, as any blood in the stool, potentially from hemorrhoids, will return a false positive.
I had a blood test only days before, and the PSA test came back negative, so that may show what is going on. I will post my results for everyone’s edification in a vanity when I know what the facts are. Don’t go off half cocked if results are positive, as it could very well be a false positive. Good luck everyone.
First a question to you.
Is this just a routine colon health check or does the gastroenteroligist have cause for concerns?
If he has concerns and discussed this with you take the colonoscopy. If it’s your primary care Dr. look for the best GI guy in your area.
Had the colonoscopy, esophogus endoscopy and the pill cam for small intestine. Found pre-cancerous polyps that were excised during the procedure. Also examined the state of my diverticuli.(long past history)
Always opt for the procedure that provides the most detailed results, catchung something in the bud is far better than serious surgery later.
Had the full colonoscopy about 15 years ago (at or around age 51). Had no polyps. Because that one was clean they recommended 10 years before I have the next one. By then the Cologuard thing was offered IF you had not had any issues from a previous colonoscopy. Since mine was clean before and there is/was no history of colon cancer in my family I did the Colo-gaurd. Easy peasy and no day of prep.
No.
I didn’t stay at the Holiday Inn last night. I’m not giving any advise. Always consult your doctor.
Some of this is from memory and might need updating, other info I just looked up on UpToDate.
If you’ve had adenomatous polyps or cancer, or if you’re in a high risk group like family history of colon cancer, Cologuard is not typically recommended. I have rammed a few through for high risk but phobic individuals, but it was hit or miss.
Cologuard is for average risk patients.
As of 18 months ago, the odds on a positive Cologuard are thusly: cancer 5%, advanced polyps 20%, ash and trash stuff 25%, and normal 50%.
I am told that a false negative test is unusual, but I’m not sure I believe it.
If you’ve had colon cancer, no one would recommend anything less than ever 5 years. I preferred every 3 and never had any trouble getting them approved.
Stages 1 and 2 colon cancer are relatively cheap to care for. Stages 3 and 4 are very expensive, which is why insurance companies don’t typically nickel and dime you.
I’ve had 3. The last 2 were under propofol. I used a cheap prep (Miralax, Gatorade and Dulcolax) which gave acceptable results. YMMV.
“I will post my results for everyone’s ...”
You can stop short of the photos page. My colonoscopy report had 3 pages of full color inerds. Doctor used the word ‘beautiful’ to describe his findings !!
This is due to the start of medicare for each of us. We had them done ten years ago.
They air these commercials during lunchtime when my husband is watching the news or another program while he is currently home recovering from surgery and I have also seen them during or just after dinnertime.
I turn it off or mute the vulgar, very descriptive commercial and make a note to never purchase anything that has such disregard for human decency that they think it is ok to talk about stool samples, leakage, diarrhea, bleeding sores, uncontrollable vomiting and other graphic things during mealtimes.
I belong to Kaiser so my doc told me NOT to get cologuard he said its totally unreliable and gives false positives all the time..so if it comes back positive automatic colonoscopy so mind as well just get the colonoscopy. When I had mine done the worst of it was the GoLightly..for me since I have suffered from lifelong constipation I had to take two gallons of that stuff plus a one week of liquid diet but it worked they were able to see everything thank goodness
My doc told me that a colonoscopy missed more cancers than the cologuard…
Yes, let us know.
Yikes. I have the opposite side of IBS.
My “prep time” could’ve been cut in half. 😆
I'm 74, and have had colonoscopies since I was 50. Had my last one in June, and hopefully, won't have to deal with any again. My gastroenterologist says we can do ColoGuard unless there's a problem that shows up in the test.
I worked for NY State, so had insurance through them. When I retired, Medicare became my primary, and my State insurance my secondary. I've never had a ColoGuard test, and all my procedures were paid for by my primary insurance at the time for all those years. I was only responsible for the co-pay. Even when he did both a colonoscopy and bronchoscopy on me at the same time, I still only had one co-pay. That's because the insurance would only pay him for one procedure, not both. He's a nice enough doctor that he will do both for the price of one.
If oyu haven’t noticed there are much worse ads on TV now. Hulu and Netflix have 10 times grosser content. Off-air TV Ads are some of that too.
Mine was negative. Don’t know how it was coded, but it didn’t cost me anything.
Had to remind me didnt you?
GD roto rooter.
Medicare does indeed cover colonoscopy but with a copay. If one has a decent secondary insurance that will cover copay. Copay has never been all that much. Yes, the prep sucks in long strokes but the propofol is sweet!
My youngest son at age 48, was diagnosed with cancerous polyps in 2019. He'd never had a ColoGuard test, and only went to the doctor when he found blood in his stool.
The doctor/surgeon said they were the biggest polyps he'd ever seen, and wished my son had come to him 10 years earlier, but he would have only been 38 at the time, and they didn't screen people that young back then. They did two resections on him. Took several inches of his colon, along with about 70 lymph nodes, and he went through 6 months of chemo. While on the chemo he developed bronchitis, and a blood clot in his lung, which is a known side effect of chemo. He had to give himself injections of Heparin the rest of the time he was on the chemo. He also developed severe neuropathy pain in his hands and feet. It took about a year and a half for the pain in his hands to go away, but he still have numbness and pain in his feet, which will probably never go away. He turned 51 today, and is cancer free, but because they took out so much of his colon, he will have frequent, and loose bowels for the rest of his life.
When I had my last colonoscopy in June, my doctor told me that they have been screening people at a younger age, especially males, because they have seen an increase in colon cancer among that group.
My gastroenterologist finally started using Propofol several years ago. On at least three different occasions, when he's done both a colonoscopy and bronchoscopy on me, I've woken up during the colonoscopy. I don't know if it was the coldness of the scope that woke me, but I remember saying: "I think he's taking the scenic route." The anesthesiologist leaned over and said: "Pardon me?," and I repeated the line. Then I went back to sleep. When I had both procedures done this past June, I told the anesthesiologist beforehand, that I had woken up a couple of times before. When I woke up from this last procedure, the anesthesiologist was there and said to me: "Guess what? You didn't wake up this time."
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