h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

There is no way on earth i would undergo this. I have been invited to do so, it's part of the preventive (free) medical screening system here in France, along with invitations for mammograms, cervical smears for women, prostrate stuff for men.All automatic from computer database, you get called at certain ages. Which is very good but personally, having had umpteen hospital experiences, i certainly am not volunteering for any more & *definitely* not this one after reading the reality of the procedure! In practical terms, it just wouldn't be on, i have nobody to act as "escort"; my loo is upstairs, which is difficult to access at the best of times with dodgy legs & if i go without food for too long i tend to pass out.

Thankfully, i am a lifelong vegetarian, which means it's highly unlikely i would suffer from colon cancer. There's certainly something to be said for this type of diet, i "go" (number twos!)at least 4 times a day, i can time it to how long after i ate & obviously eat lots of fibre, so transit time in tum is minimal.

Very interesting to hear "real" accounts of the procedure, thanks GB!

zdt

I'm thrilled that you have no bowel problems (mine are still ongoing)

I invite you to read my journal, so you can read what *really* happened to me (it was botched) but I didn't put it in the entry because I don't want to put people off looking after themselves.



I have now had a barium enema, and I intend writing that up too...but I may wait until the results.

All the bestand thanks for the compliment, I appreciate feedback

Hmm; yes, probably very wise not to put in the botched job; poor you! I speak from experience of far too many "botch-jobs" at the front end; i nearly killed the guy who cheerfully informed me "the cervix has no nerve endings dear" whilst doing a...bah, forgotten, the one where they shove radioactive dye into you under pressure to see if they can make it squirt out of the end of your fallopian tubes.(He refused me any form of anaesthesia; or even sedation)

Erm, if the cervix has no nerve endings, does this mean period pains & labour pains are a figleaf of female imagination?

I'll go & your Journal; is it OK if i add you to my fiends list? (Obviously, feel free to do likewise!)

zdt

Sorry to hear all that

Yes do go read, it's all on public display but don't look at the link to the photo of my bruised arm if you're squeamish

That's OK, I'll add you to mine

I have already seen the arm; i totally sympathise; i get this every time i have "just" a blood test; they once brought in a gang of med students "Look, this persons veins are microscopic!"

Just as well i didn't decide to be a junkie eh!

Read the Journal *sigh* what can i say? maybe only that the barium enema seems less invasive than the colonoscopy; if the results from that are OK, maybe the big yukky one won't be necessary.

Not being nosy or preachy, but out of interest, what has your diet been like generally? It really does seem that a vegetarian diet does help, though certainly not as an overnight change from a carnivore type one. I'm just lucky in that i've always had an aversion to meat since i was a baby but loved veg (though i eat very little fruit, don't have a sweet tooth at all!)

zdt

It's sometimes amazing the lack of understanding doctors or assistants can have. I have to have a sort of x-ray of my thyroid glandine every now and again. Where I used to go, they start by having you wait for up to two!! hours (and they don't have any emergencies, it's a pure radiogonostic praxis), then the doctor will tell you rubbish afterwards - obviously he assumes that every patient is stupid.
I have eventually found a place where staff is friendly, and you don't have to wait for more than ten minutes - although I have to admit that the mammography was so painful that it made me cry - but that couldn't be helped, it's the process as such that is so painful. I would refuse to have another one any time soon, though.

I've refused my invitation to have my squeezed, compressed & xrayed also. there's mounting evidence to suggest mammograms, in most cases, are both unnecessary & not in fact terribly reliable in diagnosing early cancer. Even more worrying is a theory that possibly the trauma to this sensitive area can in fact do actual damage in some cases.

"Know thine own boobs" still seems to be the best advice, followed by "Don't ignore it if you find a lump"!

zdt

I found a mammography incredibly painful too. I had one two years ago and at Christmas I got a recall letter, for another No way would I have put myself through that at that time, so I cancelled the appointment and haven't made another yet. I don't know if I will. I check myself regularly, that's a good saying zdt

Terri, I so much sympathise with your gyn procedure...

I had some papilloma removed from cervix when I was 20 something, with no anasthesia, not even local.

It hurt so much, I cried, the assisting nurse held my hand and looked so sad, but the blasted doctor was a she-monster and refused even a break to let me breathe.

She used infrared light to burn the warts off. I still almost cry at the indignity. Just some lidocaine in a syringe 20 minutes before might had helped.

But when you're young and vulnerable, it's hard to shout STOP! Give me Drugs!, when the doctor says no.

Anyway. I hope all women would be strong enough to demand painkilling.