For their brithday some people fly off to Hawaii or to Paris. Me? I am going to have BOTH an endoscopy and a colonoscopy done.....its time for both.....very soon I will turn the page on another year of life here, and both my sister, younger than me, and my older brother have both had theirs....they recommend every one at age 50 at least have a colonoscopy done now, earlier if you have any cancer history in your family.

As many of you know I have been off the board for some time. Only recently I made the decision to rejoin, and come back. There were a couple of reasons why I haven't been around much. For the past 3 years I have been living next door to a serious drug addict where I live here. It wasn't until recently this past June, she passed away from a ( totally predictable) drug overdose. I used to know this woman, when I first moved in here, and considered her a friend. It didn't take long though, before I came to a conclusion she had some really serious issues going on, one of which was serious and heavy drug use, of just about every and any kind.....The past 3 years this woman put me and everybody else here through HELL. My days were filled with many, many phone calls I made to either my local police department, to various officers and departments, and then places called Cop Shops, where volunteers man the phones and offices for support to the Police, and then calls/messages to Managers both on site and offsite.....there were days thats all I did, in trying to get help in dealing with this ongoing problem....I was also involved in note taking and taking pictures of weird goings on, including people going through our garbage dumpster, and cable trucks making way to many visits to her apt. ( so they could take the wire and sell it for drug money).
The problem finally solved itself when she died of a drug overdose this past June....but the stress I was put through has pretty much manifested itself through my body.....I don't think most of you can imagine what its like to live on "alert" for 24/7. Not knowing what would happen next, or what to expect. It wasn't alot of fun I can assure you. And I thought about moving many times, but it would have been financially very hard for me to do so, esp. to find another place here close to what I was paying...rent in Spokane like everywhere else is going in one direction..up!

Bottom line, the stress manifested itself in my stomach area, so far it seems. I was recently diagnosed with gastritis, which has been coming and going of late. I have finally decided through the help of my nurse to go ahead and have both the endoscopy done, and the colonoscopy done at the same time, which they can now do, to rule out. I would by lying if I didn't say I was a bit scared here. With luck its nothing more than bad gastritis, or maybe an ulcer at most. My Mother passed away a few years back as many of you know, from a rare form of cancer, stomach lining cancer, so I have that in the back of my mind as well...

In short, if anyone else is thinking about having one or both of these done, I would encourage it, just to be sure and safe. Fortunately it appears my insurance will cover me for both completely......
I expect to find out when these procedures will be done sometime next week. Cross your fingers for me.....

Oh, its good to be back too.....there are quite a few of you who have been missed....

Tom,
I'm sure you know that I'm wishing you all the best!That's terrible that you've been living under such stressful conditions.I'd tell you to move to Detroit but I don't think that would help much! You definitely have to pay attention to your body as you have.Keep us informed,Tom! (( ))

hey hockey, good luck on your tests.

and eddie, stop with the flirting already!!!!

I am not flirting,I am merely concerned about my friend. I'd flirt with you but I don't think I can compete with a 19 year old Italian.Anyway,Tom is a great guy and it's good to see him back on the board.He is a true gentleman.

Hey Tom. Are you having both procedures done simultaneously? I had that done around 10 years ago the first time I was diagnosed with cancer. I've had a colonscopy done every year since. While it's an inconvenience, it's soooo much better and easier than years ago. Now at least they give you great drugs to knock you out! The very first one I had I was wide awake for! Ugh!!! Good luck!

George, yep two at once, and I hear they knock you out very well for these. The worst part I continue to hear is the prep for the colonoscopy. Yuck, but the time is right, and need to know so I can move on and away from these things...and thanks Eddie..a big hug to you from way out west this morning.

Yeah the stuff they make you drink is, well let's just say it ain't Yoo-Hoo. But even that stuff, the last couple of times I had it done, is waaaayyyyy better than the stuff I had to drink the first time I had it done.

Hockey Tom, good luck with the test! Stress can cause some serious health issues and I can't imagine living with it 24/7. Keep positive and I hope everything turns out good for you.

Thank you Todd. NICE avatar there buddy.

The "fun" begins today as the prep. I go in tomorrow morning at 7:00am most anxious to have this behind me, pun intended. :-)

Good luck - and thanks for pointing out the importance of this kind of screening. I am about a decade away from having to do routine colonoscopy, but I will head for the radiologist when the time is here. As far as the endoscopy, I have a feeling that will be the easier of the two procedures. I have pretty bad acid reflux, so have had a couple of endoscopies to check on damage to my esophogus. I have also had to have upper GI series of x-rays, which requires you to drink stuff that's apparently very similar to the colonoscopy stuff (without the "back-end" effects). I would have 20 endoscopies before another upper GI series. They give you a wonderful version of Valium on speed called Versed, which produces nearly total amnesia, not to mention a good buzz the rest of the day. You'll probably find that procedure almost pleasurable.

Its done. Went pretty well. Tummy was normal, no issues discovered. Only found one larger ployp, which was biopsied, and minor hemorrhoid problem to boot. Workable! I am sooo glad this is overwith...now I can eat!

I'm glad everything is okay Tom!!

Would some please tell my father, who's own father died from colon cancer, to get at least SOME kind of checkup? I kid you not when I say this, but he hasn't been to the doctor once during his entire 44 years of marriage! Not once. Dentist? Heck, he runs there for anything. Filling, root canal--no problem! But a medical doctor? No way!

Then idiot even turned down Medicare's free physical when he turned 65. What's worse is that he thinks this is all funny. He laughs it off to the rest of the family. Idiot.