Reader Question: The Dreaded Colonoscopy
Dear Doctor Steve: My brother had colon cancer at age 45.My doctor wants me to have a colonoscopy (I’m 47), but the thought of it just creeps me out. Is there any way I can get out of it? — Goatweed
Dear Goatweed, if indeed that is your real name:
Colonoscopy is a relatively simple procedure, actually. Taking a four-foot fiber optic tube, the colonoscopist looks at every inch of your large intestine, starting from the rectum and finishing in the first part of the colon, called the cecum. (By the way, do you know the definition of a colonoscope? It’s a …
