Make sure you know your options: Tales from the colonoscopy world
Mark Cuban brings us an important public announcement to make sure you get your colonoscopy as suggested by the public health folks. On his blog he describes how most people tend to view the procedure:
Like every guy, the thought of being violated by a long tube is at the very bottom of the list of things I want to do on a summer day. I could live with having to take all the laxatives that lead up to the procedure, That’s just more time to get my reading done. But the tube up the outdoor, that’s scary.
I was definitely nervous. Despite doctors and nurses telling me it would be a breeze, I was naturally skeptical.
Now when it comes to his actual experience, he has quite a bit of a different experience than some of his readers:
A breeze was an overstatement. I can honestly say that if it made medical sense to get one done every year, i would have no problem with it. It was easy and breezy
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Once I got into the Gastro Room where they did these, they told me that they were going to knock me out, and I would get a nap and wake up like nothing happened . They were right. One minute Im talking rugby, the next I’m waking up, picking up the conversation where I left off and being told to “dispell the air in my system”.
Lucky for him this happened automatically. Some of his readers clearly had different takes on their non-option of getting knocked out for the procedure.
19. Interesting. I had to have one done at 19 (10 yrs ago) because of some digestive problems, and not only was I NOT knocked out, but I got to watch the whole thing on the TV screen as the doctor was doing it. It wasn’t too bad by any means, but when the doctor “turned the corner” it wasn’t the best feeling in the world. This was verified by the blood we saw on the way out from the tearing.
Even so, it wasn’t anything at all to be afraid of. And it gives a funny-yet-disgusting story. =)
Posted at 2:21PM on Jun 14th 2007 by John
It’s pretty clear that these two readers had very different perspectives on staying awake through the procedure. What is shocking is that the decision was made for them by their doctor, rather than them being aware of the options and choosing for themselves. Clearly, each had different tolerances for the procedure and its approach, and one even seemed to enjoy being able to watch the process.
With HealthShoppr, we’re creating a system where these men would be able to read about their options and choose ahead of time– optimizing their choice of provider and services to match what they wanted most. Until the consumerism movement puts this information in an actionable, simple way in front of patients, trade-offs won’t be for patient benefit and the system will continue to frustrate those its meant to serve.
