What happens if I refuse a colonsocopy?
chrischem
Seriously? Do you believe in astrology as well? If you end up with colorectal cancer which affects well over 100,000 people per year, you will wish you had the screening. Stop being such a wimp and get the procedure done.
Amaretta
You have the right to refuse any medical procedures that you don't want. But a colonoscopy is minor compared to dying of colon cancer or living with a colostomy bag.
Ronald 7
Catch me if you can HA HA Seriously I got one done and it was by a pretty brunette Doctor I thought, well hello !! My friend got one done and it saved his life He had the start of Colonic Cancer Don't take chances, get it done, it is not so bad Getting a tooth out is worse
Mark IX
No, you don't know people who have died from colonoscopies, don't lie. It's a perfectly safe procedure and not generally done under anaesthetic. Your sleep apnea is not an issue.
Vinegar Taster
Probably nothing . Mine was a waste of time . You have to "prepare " for it a day a head of time . You have a drink a gallon of this stuff that makes you poo your brains out the day before you go . You'll be going to the rest room every 15 minutes for hours .... The process itself is painless . You won't feel a thing and it will be over before you know it . You'll need to have someone take you home . Youtube has many videos on the subject . Chances of dying ? Near zero . All they do is stick a small tube up your butt that has a camera at the tip .
e9601:
You can. But why? You're asleep when it's done and it doesn't hurt. So put on your big girl/boy pants and do it.
MARK
There is nothing to be scared of. If you are worried about dying from a medical procedure you clearly have not looked into things properly with an objective, open mind. Of course, people die as the result of even the most mundane medical procedures, but such occurrences are rare. The worst part of a colonoscopy is not the procedure. It is the preparation for it. You have to stop eating and drinking various things as the day and time of the procedure approach so you are quite hungry when it is done. To show how hungry: after mine I went to the canteen in the hospital and had a meal and thought it was wonderful. Hospital food is never nice so to have enjoyed that meal I must have been really hungry. The day before you have to drink a solution that empties your bowels so they are clean and the colonoscopist will be able to see your bowel wall. You need to be at home and have access to a toilet. The procedure itself is a little uncomfortable rather than painful. Indeed, it is more embarrassing than anything else. The worst pain is afterwards because the colonoscopist puts gas into the bowel and this can leave you in pain but no worse than say when you may need to go to the toilet urgently. The nursing staff afterwards encourage to forget any usual manners and pass the wind - which you will. To be worried about a medical procedure which is carried out everyday on huge numbers of people with no problems whatsoever is ridiculous. To be worried about a procedure you do not need but may just happen to need in the future is absolutely ridiculous.
poldi2
There is no law that says you have to have a colonoscopy if you don't want it.
Anonymous
I think you'd just have to be brave and do it.
ChicaChica
Nothing. It's your health you can refuse whatever you want. Sometimes the risks outweigh the benefits.
roberto
lamestream medicine is hell on people who react in ways their technology does not pickup,complex aromatic hydrocarbons & petrochems symptoms like yours,,you cannot tell them,they do not listen similar things happened to gulfwar vets after exposure to iraqi oil wellfires,depleted uranium,the 30 vaccines they were forced to get predeployment.actions of the VA with consult jerk american psychological assoc egghead braindead 'experts' were treasonous in declaring 100k guys as 'neurotic',,clusters of cancers ,skin lesions,neuromotor disease,stomach brain disorders,,they were left sick as dogs& told to get ****** by the lousy democrat populated VA,because VAs priority was paying their asses bonuses youuuuu louuuusy ******* damn the bushes too,same category as the VA. what they might do in your case is give you a slow drip soporific,leaves you a bit buzzy sleepy but awake if you do not want to drift off into lala land. the procedure is necessary,,polyps can turn into mighty bad news for the lower plumbing pipes,it ought to be done,you might try stomping your foot down on having a cpap machine at the ready in the Or,tellem you;ll sue everyone in the OR the hospital the doctor his nail parlor,the gardener the exwife the everything
Anonymous
You're a being a silly drama queen. Go ahead and get colon cancer though. I really don't care.
HookKicker
I have sleep apnea. I have also had two colonoscopies. Your fears are unfounded and frankly, more than a little ridiculous. The worst part of the procedure is the 24 hours prior when you are drinking a laxative that will empty out everything but your kneecaps.
Eugene Lynch
Look at what happened to ``Price Is Right'' announcer Rod Roddy. He had colon cancer and said,``I wish I could have prevented all of this if I had gotten a colonoscopy.''
The_Doc_Man
I've had three so far. The stick for the I.V. solution was the worst part. When they inject the anesthetic into the line, you just feel a little coldness in your arm and then you wake up and realize you've been out for a while. No pain at all. You just need to be sure you have someone to drive you home because for a little while you might be less that 100% reactive. Maybe a little sluggish, certainly enough to suggest not driving. Colon cancer will resolve your issues in a hurry because the treatment for THAT will be to put you out colder than a Canadian mackerel. If you have a reputable physician present, the risk of death from your sleep apnea will be nil because that doctor will know that you have issues. You will be either masked for CPAP or you will be intubated for bypassing the uvula, either of which will prevent or at least minimize the danger. The secret is to talk to the doctor about your worries including the apnea issue. Trust me, they've seen it before and know how to handle it. And if you are lucky enough that they use propofol as the anesthetic, you won't even have a headache from it.
Zheia
Nothing will happen if you refuse to have a colonoscopy, but it is worthwhile having because it is used to detect polyps and bowel cancer. The worst part is if the nurse pumps gas into your colon to make it expand and that can be a bit painful but a local anaesthetic is used. For preparation you may be asked to take a laxative and avoid certain foods. You will be sent a leaflet explaining it all.
NiJo
The procedure doesn't intimidate me. The prep DOES!
Who
nothing happens- you just get thrown out of hospital after signing a release if you later get colon cancer its likely your insurance will refuse to pay for treatment cos you refused to allow a checkup that could have prevented it becoming more serious
Doc Diddles
You don't undergo general anesthesia for a colonoscopy. There's no need for that. But aside from that, there's other options for screening if you absolutely won't do a colonoscopy. For example yearly fecal occult blood testing, CT colonography or rectosigmoidoscopy every 5 years. Colonoscopy is by far the most accurate screening method. In fact, if they find nothing, you only need screening every 10 years. Talk to your primary care provider, a gastroenterologist, or a colorectal surgeon to find the right timing and type of screening for you.
Tiger Lily
In places that aren't the US, fecal occult blood tests are used FIRST, and only if occult blood shows up in stool samples that you collect at home is a colonoscopy necessary. This is deemed safe, effective and less expensive that doing colonoscopies on everybody. You can look up comparative rates of cancer/cure in the US vs. the UK and Japan and decide if you want to ask for that instead. Countries with National Health wouldn't do this, however, if it resulted in greater costs treating MORE people with colon cancer caught at LATER stages. There is also a new kind of fecal occult blood test developed in Japan that is seriously good at catching bad things early. Ask about THAT.
Citlalic Quiroz
Just do it it will save your life. I know it can be scary. My friend just got hers removed. She got diagnosed a year ago with cancer and now she is cancer free ! It was a process but glad her journey has came to the last hurdle which is recovering!
kristopher
u get 25 to life
Country Boy
I also have Sleep Apnea and have been on a C-Pap machine for 24 years. Do to my dads colon cancer at age 49 and again at 86. I'm required to have a colonoscopy every five years do the preponderance of colon cancer in my family. You would benefit by talking to as many people you can concerning the procedure. Personally I prefer to watch the procedure on the computer monitor to see the same thing as the Dr. is seeing. If it is necessary to have a polyp removed from the interior wall of the large intestine you will not feel one thing! Our community stood by while an otherwise healthy 22 year old local sports star pass away do to colon cancer.
Nick
It s a choice, to tell a doctor is just to say you wish to not get one because it goes against your beliefs and your general idea of health care. Now I will tell you, im 30 years old and had a colonoscopy under heavy sedation and its literally nothing. You can actually choose rather you are under heavy sedation (which is basically general anesthesia) or to have it with no sedation at all so you are awake during the procedure, it is your choice. Your concern with your sleep apnea is legitamite as a lot of colonoscopy s are done in a specialized and out patient clinic. They are designed to provide services for low cost but less liability and safety. In most of these clinics there is a nurse anesthesia or CRNA. Their whole job is to maintain sedation and monitor your vitals to make sure that not only the sedation is working but to make sure to alert to any type of adverse reactions or events that could cause complications during the pocedure. In these specialized clinic s the problem is they don t have the resources to address any and all complications that could arise. I would say 9 times out of 10 it is safe, but to be ultra sure is to have the procedure done at a hospital, it is more expensive but a hospital has the staff and resources to manage a lot more emergency circumstances than any specialized out patient clinics. To me i think it is worth it, if your worried your sleep apnea could cause complications, have it done in a hospital. You say you don t care if you have colon cancer but it is still something that could kill you and if caught early and treated can extend your life. Everything has a risk, for you either you take a risk and get the procedure which will tell you definitively that you have cancer or not, or not do the procedure and risk that if you do have cancer it will either kill you or get bad enough that nothing can save you. If your worried about sedation you can have it done without it, it might be uncomfortable but possible, talk to your doctor about it.
Tj
I also refused. I told the Dr to f off. I took the cologuard test instead.
Ackiller J
My parents, 51 & 61, have never had this procedure done. Their colons are healthy.
az_lender
Just tell them you refuse. They can't "make" you do it. I personally have never had that test, and I'm 73. You might want to consider whether any close family members developed colon cancer...