Anyone had a colonoscopy?????

hubblebubble

Anyone had a colonoscopy done privately? My mum needs one and is on the NHS waiting list, but I'd like to know how much it would cost to have it done privately.

marshallka

Just had my letter and the bowel prep through.(yuck) They are using sedation, it says in the letter. Can't wait really now to get this over and done with this year. It all started around Jan of this and went last week for the councelling and a week on monday is the procedure. Its a bit scary but very worth it or so i am told in the end. Has anyone got the FAP or HNPCC gene on here or know of anyone.

marshallka

hubblebubble wrote: »

Anyone had a colonoscopy done privately? My mum needs one and is on the NHS waiting list, but I'd like to know how much it would cost to have it done privately.

I don't think the waiting list is that long. Why not try calling the hospital and asking to book your appointment. If she is on the list already thats what our hospital do or at least they let me do that. Ijust rang to find out how long its likely to be and they did it there and then.

shelovestobuystuff

hubblebubble wrote: »

Anyone had a colonoscopy done privately? My mum needs one and is on the NHS waiting list, but I'd like to know how much it would cost to have it done privately.

If theres a history of bowel cancer in the family they are supposed to have you seen by a specialist within 2 weeks and have had a prodedure within 6.NHS own guidelines.Pester them for a quicker appointment.

shelovestobuystuff

marshallka wrote: »

I am due to have a colonoscopy soon and wondered if anyone had one recently. I went for one about near on 20 years ago and have things changed.

Dont know what they were like 20 years ago but when I had one last month it was bearable.I wouldn't be worried about having one again.There was a very nice waiting then prep area kinda like a meditation room and lots of friendly staff in the op room.They were a bit freaked out that I refused sedation,aparantly they hadn,t done one without it before, but the procedure itself wasn't painful.The worst thing was the amount of air they pump into you to,they say its like bad wind but I would say it felt worse than labour pains.If you take sedation you probably wont notice that so much.
It took a week for the air to disperse although apparantly it usually only takes a day or two.I would suggest eating lots of peppermints or drinking peppermint tea afterwards to help things along.

marshallka

shelovestobuystuff wrote: »

Dont know what they were like 20 years ago but when I had one last month it was bearable.I wouldn't be worried about having one again.There was a very nice waiting then prep area kinda like a meditation room and lots of friendly staff in the op room.They were a bit freaked out that I refused sedation,aparantly they hadn,t done one without it before, but the procedure itself wasn't painful.The worst thing was the amount of air they pump into you to,they say its like bad wind but I would say it felt worse than labour pains.If you take sedation you probably wont notice that so much.
It took a week for the air to disperse although apparantly it usually only takes a day or two.I would suggest eating lots of peppermints or drinking peppermint tea afterwards to help things along.

Had lots of the gas stuff during laparoscopies and other procedures so i know what thats like. I drank peppermint as well and then lay on my stomach as much as poss to disperse it (my poor family) although its not supposed to act like that.

Nicki

hubblebubble wrote: »

Anyone had a colonoscopy done privately? My mum needs one and is on the NHS waiting list, but I'd like to know how much it would cost to have it done privately.

Yes. I had one done privately a few months ago (OH has private medical insurance through his job). As far as I remember it cost around £2,500 just for the procedure, but then you need to factor in the cost of any further treatment if the colonoscopy shows there is a problem. Don't think you can any longer hop from private to NHS sector mid-treatment (though obviously you can hop the other way at any time you want).

piglet6

Hi

I had a colonoscopy done privately last summer. Afraid I can't remember how much it cost because it was covered by work's health insurance so I didn't get the bill.

I did have sedation - they assure me that I was "awake" but I don't remember a thing - I walked down to theatre, they popped the tube into the back of my hand and it felt like going under for a general anaesthetic - I woke up in the recovery area and was able to leave a couple of hours later. I was warned that I probably shouldn't make any major decisions for the next 24hrs as I probably wouldn't remember much later, even though I would appear perfectly OK to people I spoke to, but I didn't find this a problem - I actually went out to the theatre that evening (already booked and expensive tickets for our wedding anniversary so didn't want to lose them! :rolleyes:) and enjoyed the performance immensely! I didn't suffer any bleeding or "control" problems afterwards.

As others have already said, the most uncomfortable bit was the preparation. I was given Picolax which is a very, very strong laxative. 2 drinks (orange-flavoured if I remember rightly - not unpleasant!) taken a couple of hours apart - the paperwork said that I should be prepared for "movement" any time from a couple of hours later onwards.:eek: 5 hours later and I was beginning to panic as nothing had happened. Then suddenly, I really needed to be "in the bathroom" and stayed there for the next 90 minutes!!! Lets just say, I wasn't worried about there being anything left in there afterwards!

Hope it goes OK for you. My colonoscopy led to major bowel surgery, and then an x-ray style enema (not the official name) to check the healing process afterwards, which was done without sedation, so over the past 12 months I have had a lot of "unusual action" going on in that area!:rotfl: I would say that the best advice would be to try and relax (I know its not easy when "strange" things are happening which are not the norm for you, but in my experience, it was a lot easier when I managed to detach myself from the proceedings and relax! ). No, its not pleasant, but if this treatment catches nasty stuff early, its much better than the alternative treatment to deal with the nasty stuff later...:D

Piglet

SuziQ

quote

Hi SuziQ, why do you have one every year? My consultant said i'd only need it done once every 4 or 5 years..



I have Ulcerative Colitis,which makes your bowel cancer risk soar after you have had it 10 years. Plus I have had 2 lots of polyps removed which they thought were malignant. Luckily they weren't,but they keep a very close eye on me now.

SuziQ

marshallka wrote: »

Just had my letter and the bowel prep through.(yuck) They are using sedation, it says in the letter. Can't wait really now to get this over and done with this year. It all started around Jan of this and went last week for the councelling and a week on monday is the procedure. Its a bit scary but very worth it or so i am told in the end. Has anyone got the FAP or HNPCC gene on here or know of anyone.

You'll be fine. I am soooo grateful for the screening I have been having for 20 years now-treatment is there when probs are caught early enough and the procedure itslef is over quickly. Must say I am never 'out' during mine-I sit and watch the progress around my gut with interest,rolling over when told!