[Nathans_Dad]

Originally Posted by jyl

I was overdue to have my first colonoscopy. Just never found a week when it was convenient to drink bowel prep, scour my bowels clean all night, go into the hospital, go under general anesthetic, and recover. Silly, but there it is.

So when I went to the doctor this week and they offered me the option of an outpatient screening test, I took it. This is a FIT (fecal immunochemical test). You are sent home with a vial, a plastic stick, and an envelope. Poop, push the end of the stick in the poop, drop it in the vial and seal said vial, put in envelope and mail.

My understanding it, the FIT test does a good job of finding colon cancer, but doesn't find polyps, so the test has to be repeated annually, unlike a colonoscopy which is done every several years. But - I'm not a medical person, so I'd like to hear others' views on this and other alternatives to colonoscopy.

I will chime in with the other docs on the forum and say there is no substitute for colonoscopy. The point is not just to detect bleeding (which the fecal test does) but to find and remove the colon polyps that can turn into cancer.

Just get it done.