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Are you 45 or older? Plan on getting that Colonoscopy!

A Colonoscopy, better known as a screening Colonoscopy, is a screening where a gastroenterologist (a doctor that specializes in diseases and disorders of the digestive system) uses a flexible and thin tube to check your colon to see if you have any polyps. Any polyps found are removed during the procedure and are sent to a pathologist for analysis.

I know, the preparation part for a Colonoscopy is the part that most people don't like. But Colonoscopies save lives!

But have no fear here, as I will take you through what a Colonoscopy is like.

Going through a typical Colonoscopy

Your screening Colonoscopy starts with your primary care physician who refers you to a gastroenterologist. You make an appointment and the doctor or the doctor's assistant will go over your existing medical conditions you may have and explain to you the procedure. After this is done the doctor will write you a prescription which you fill at your favorite pharmacy for preparation medication, then you are scheduled for the actual Colonoscopy.

A few days before your Colonoscopy, you will be instructed to stop taking certain medicines. The doctor will give you a handout listing what you need to stop taking a few days before the Colonoscopy. The day before your Colonoscopy, you will begin the preparation procedure using the preparation medication you were prescribed earlier. Believe me, you will want to be home when you start taking the preparation medication - you will be going to the bathroom a lot!

On the day of your Colonoscopy, you will want to have someone you know - a family member or a trusted friend - drive you home as you will be under anesthesia for the procedure. Hey, the anesthesia is nothing to be afraid of - there will be an anesthesiologist along with a trained nurse to administer the anesthesia before the procedure starts. You will check in either in the hospital that has an endoscopy unit or a free standing surgery center, depending on where your doctor is performing the procedure.

WARNING:

Do not perform any financial or legal obligations the day of your Colonoscopy! That includes any banking business or any other financial transactions. This applies not only for a colonoscopy but for any type of surgery where anesthesia is involved!

You must have a family member or a trusted friend drive you home after the colonoscopy procedure! This is due to the anesthesia involved as part of the colonoscopy procedure. You may not drive home by yourself or via taxi or rideshare such as Uber or Lyft or public transportation! If you show up the day of your colonoscopy without a family member or a trusted friend to get you home after the procedure, the staff will end up having to reschedule your colonoscopy procedure. This is for your safety!

Once checked in you will be directed to the unit where your Colonoscopy will be performed and to a waiting room. A nurse will call you and lead you to a pre-operation room where you will change out from your street clothes to a hospital gown, all done in private. I know, being in a hospital gown isn't too thrilling but it's part of the procedure. Next, the pre-op nurse will get you ready for the procedure including putting in an intravenous (IV) line for the anesthesia, as it is given to you IV. Your personal belongings are placed in a patient belongings bag underneath your bed.

When everything is ready you will be wheeled from the pre-op room to the actual procedure room. Here is where you will meet not only your doctor (who might also meet you in the pre-op room as well) but the procedure staff as well as the anesthesiologist who will be putting you to sleep while the procedure is performed. Believe me, you do not feel a thing.

Your doctor will insert a flexible and thin tube with a light on the end with a miniature camera on it. Using a video monitor, your doctor will examine your colon and if in the event polyps are found they will be removed and the removed area fixed. The process usually takes about 15 to 30 minutes on average.

When it's all over you will be wheeled from the procedure room to the recovery room. There a nurse will monitor you until you wake up from the anesthesia. Once you are completely awake you will be able to change out of the hospital gown and back into your street clothes. Your recovery nurse will go over what was done and if the doctor has prescribed you any medication as a result of the procedure that prescription will be sent to your favorite pharmacy for pick up. After all is said and done, you will sit in a wheelchair and be wheeled to the exit where your family member or trusted friend will drive you home.

And that's what a typical Colonoscopy procedure is all about!

Worried about the Costs of a Colonoscopy?

Your insurance has to cover the cost of a screening Colonoscopy, all thanks to the Affordable Care Act of 2010. This also includes Medicare.

Sometimes Colonoscopies are coded as diagnostic rather than a preventive screening. The preventive screening is fully covered thanks to federal law while a diagnostic screening is subject to your insurer's deductible and co-pay. When you schedule that Colonoscopy, be sure that your doctor codes your Colonoscopy as a screening Colonoscopy so that you do not have to pay anything out of pocket. There are also charges for the anesthesiologist but that will be covered as part of your screening Colonoscopy. Should you get a phone call or an email from the hospital or outpatient surgery center telling you that your colonoscopy is a diagnostic colonoscopy and that you will be charged your deductible (provided you have not met your deductible yet), give their billing department a call right away after you clear the situation with your insurer first.

The best way to check to see if your colonoscopy is a screening or a diagnostic colonoscopy is to call your health insurer. If your doctor gives you the CPT codes (CPT stands for Current Procedural Terminology) give them to your insurer and they will tell you if your colonocopy is screening or diagnostic.

If you do not have insurance - or if you have insurance but it turns out that you need a diagnostic colonoscopy and your insurance deductibles are high, especially in a high deductible insurance plan - and you do not have the funds, contact the hospital or surgery center that is performing your procedure. They should be able to point you to programs that should help cover the costs.

Meditation before your Colonoscopy Procedure

When I was in the pre-op room when I had my Colonoscopy, my yoga teacher taught me how to meditate to get through the Colonoscopy procedure, as it was my first time I had this done and, being in a hospital setting, I was a little fearful of what could happen. I would like to share it with you as you go in for your Colonoscopy.

Once you are situated in the pre-op room and laying down in bed, I would like to have you close your eyes and place both hands over your heart. Breathe into the nose and out through the mouth several times. Say to yourself: Body, I am listening to you. This Colonoscopy will be over in a few minutes. The doctors and nurses that are caring over me are taking good care of me through the procedure. After the Colonoscopy is all over, I am getting stronger and better every day. Repeat as needed, even when you are in the procedure room before the anesthesia is administered.

Once you are in the procedure room and the anesthesia is administered, close your eyes and count from 100 backwards until you fall asleep.

You will get through this procedure! I think of a Colonoscopy as a going away party for any polyps that may be found.

Links to More Information

What I should know about colon screening? From the Centers for Disease Control.

Insurance coverage for colorectal screening from the American Cancer Society.

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