Here it is.
"Rosemarie,
I’m sorry but I think the necessity of screening colonoscopies for the general public is overblown. (emphasis mine) I understand Katie Couric’s concern but her husband died of colon cancer when he was still in his 40s, so more than likely he was at a higher than normal risk for developing the disease. They recommend EVERYONE get this test at age 50. I still think it would make more sense and probably save people a lot of anxiety if they took a more conservative approach. I read just the other day about a new DNA stool test that is highly accurate at predicting pre cancerous lesions (even smaller than most polyps) and that test if approved would cost only $300.00. Wouldn’t it make more sense to use something like that to identify only those truly needing the more expensive colonoscopy. Sometimes, sorry to say, I feel like it is all a big money making industry. I will be interested to see if the gastro industry embraces this new test or if they continue to recommend colonoscopy since, in their words, it is the “gold standard” in testing. Also, as evidenced here, so many people have negative experiences with it all. There just seems to be such a disparate way these exams are done from one doctor and facility to the next. You just never know what you are going to get unless you ask a million questions. And why, as patients/consumers should we have to ask? It all makes me a little angry, especially in my case when my doctor’s records show that she had a thorough discussion of the procedure and options with me during my office visit. I know I would have remembered that! It just didn’t happen. Only some vague statements as to the safety and importance of the exam; nothing specific. Not even a mention of what meds I would be given for sedation. (emphasis mine)I still get upset thinking about it and blame myself a little for not going in more informed, but it is a lesson hard learned. Never again! They will probably want to kick me out of the next doctor’s office for asking too many questions. Jean"
So here we have "Jean" who feels the same way I do about the necessity of getting a colonoscopy. If you are having problems, sure, but in the absence of a clinical diagnosis, this test is surely too dangerous (1 in 2000 will have an exam related problem) to just get for no apparent reason.
"Jean" also was subjected to the lying doctor claiming that there was a "thorough discussion of the procedure and options" during an office visit! Deja Vu! My doctor also claimed that we had "significant discussion" about my surgery! There was no real "discussion" of any kind about it, let alone anything that could even remotely be construed as "significant." Not only did my surgeon not respond to my demands for a nerve block and pain medication ONLY, he didn't even bother to tell me where the incision would be, what the TRUE rate of complication was, the common problem of needing yet more surgery, how much nerve damage I was likely to have, the months of rehab, etc. Nothing. He made the whole thing sound like there was nothing to it!
He also never told me that he would pawn me off on his PA, whom I assume did the surgery! Had I known that a PA was going to play doctor with me for real, I would NEVER have allowed it. What's the point of having a surgeon, if his PA is going to be my new doctor? I didn't choose to have a PA do my surgery. What kind of sick joke is it when your surgeon substitutes somebody without a doctor degree of any kind to do your surgery? I guess they just depend on Versed so that they can do this sort of thing without detection. Then they lie and say that you had all of this "discussion" about it. Amazing, especially in light of the fact that I hadn't had any Versed during this "significant discussion" in his office. I'll bet that Jean wasn't given Versed at HER doctors office either... So why can't either of us remember all this "discussion?" hint; Because it never happened.
What's the point of paying a surgeon, when he can't speak precisely about the ramifications of embarking on his own choice of remedy? My choice was NOT TO HAVE SEDATION AND G/A. If I had been told the true nature of the surgery, including the alternatives, and with a true recounting of the severe side effects, I wouldn't have had it! That's the real reason we aren't given anything like what the laws require for "informed" consent! So the doctor just PRETENDS that we had this all inclusive conversation, so that they can do the procedure and YOU won't say no!
I'll bet that Jean also paid this doctor for the (non existent) discussion at the "consultation" rate! This is also a rip off and a lie. "Consultation" my a$$! It's a quick office visit so that the doctor can con you into something...
