5 comments

  • Spacecosmonaut 5 hours ago
    I'm 35. I had a preventative colonoscopy done (I had to insist). I payed out of pocket since these checkups normally start at 50.

    Adenoma found and removed.

    This is a type of cancer that is almost entirely preventable with screening. Get your tubes checked.

    • jml78 3 hours ago
      I did the same at 42 due to my mom consistently having polyps. Insurance refused to cover. I was told I would have had cancer by 45 most likely.

      Had no symptoms, now I get one every 5 years.

      • gonzalohm 1 hour ago
        Did your insurance pay after finding out that you actually needed one?
        • hawk_ 5 hours ago
          Did you suspect you had a higher chance than general population? If so why?
          • Spacecosmonaut 4 hours ago
            Not really. I try to live a pretty healthy lifestyle. I work as a cancer researcher, so I have more contact with these data.
            • hawk_ 4 hours ago
              That's crazy. And you don't deal with wet lab I imagine, so just a freak occurrence.
          • solids 3 hours ago
            Wow, did you have any kind of symptoms?
            • thin_carapace 5 hours ago
              I don't intend to disagree, merely to suggest that while doing the right thing one would be best off considering the potential aspects inflicted to themselves, in this case colonoscopy deaths are one in ten thousand from memory
            • BrtByte 3 hours ago
              [dead]
              • sevenzero 5 hours ago
                I'd rather die over having a tube up my ass, and I've seen my father die to this exact type of cancer.
                • zfree 3 hours ago
                  To anyone wondering about this, I did it last year. You don't remember the procedure at all, you're just left with the blissful afterglow of the drugs they use to make you sleep. That stays with you for a couple of days. The uncomfortable part is the day before when you have to do a cleanse. Worth it.
                  • Tade0 59 minutes ago
                    I've been reading about this and my sources said the preparation phase takes a week. Does it not have to be a week then?
                    • blue_sauce_bean 25 minutes ago
                      I’m literally having a colonoscopy today (Wednesday), so I’ll say what my prep has been.

                      Starting on Friday, I followed a “low residue diet”. This primarily meant no fibrous fruits/veg or whole nuts/seeds. It was inconvenient but not hard.

                      Yesterday I started a “clear liquid diet”, which meant that I did not eat anything and only drank apple juice, gatorade, and the prescription prep solution. Starting at 5pm and going until about 6:45p, I drank half of the prep solution, which was like 64oz of stuff that tasted like flat Sprite. Right about the time I finished drinking, the draining out the other end began. It wasn’t a problem, and didn’t hurt, but I did visit the bathroom about 10 times over the next 2 hours with another few throughout the night.

                      I slept great overnight, and now I’m getting ready to start the second half of the prep solution. I’ll drink it over a 90 minute span, beginning four hours before I am scheduled to arrive at the endoscopy clinic.

                      (I’m also planning to have my colonoscopy without sedation. I have a very high pain tolerance, and was told that I’ll be able to watch the realtime video feed!)

                      • fnordlord 15 minutes ago
                        It might depend on the doctor also. I had one last year and, from what I remember, there was no prep besides the 24 hour fast/liquid diet before the procedure. I was long overdue to the first one but I won't be from here on out. The entire thing was easy.
                        • jdsleppy 46 minutes ago
                          Never a week, I can't imagine how you would find a source that says so. Source for 1-2 days: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/colonoscopy/abou...
                        • DoingIsLearning 3 hours ago
                          > You don't remember the procedure at all, you're just left with the blissful afterglow of the drugs they use to make you sleep.

                          Technically this will vary depending on the protocol. I have friends in this field and in some countries they effectively knock you out with sedation. Others you might get some anxiety medication and only sedate elderly or uncollaborative patients.

                          Regardless of that everyone should absolutely get checked but just wanted to make sure we don't set unrealistic expectations.

                        • Spacecosmonaut 4 hours ago
                          I think its okay when you tell the doctor no homo.
                          • ackbar03 4 hours ago
                            I think you need to get the doctor to say it, not the other way round
                            • sevenzero 4 hours ago
                              Surely
                            • esikich 3 hours ago
                              I know it's difficult, but you should truly engage these thoughts now and then. You're pretty safe coming out in 2026, but it's understandable if you're worried about what your friends, family, and coworkers might think. Best thing you can do is just get real with yourself and admit to yourself that you are gay. The sooner you can end that internal struggle, the better.
                              • sevenzero 2 hours ago
                                If anything I am asexual, but idk why that matters here.
                                • david-gpu 1 hour ago
                                  The meme that homophobic people are in the closet is, in itself, not only factually wrong but also deeply homophobic.

                                  It is factually wrong because, objectively, there are far more homophobes in conservative areas than there are gay people even in the most tolerant places.

                                  And it is homophobic because it puts the blame of homophobia on the victims themselves. Yes, there are closeted gay and bisexual people who display performative homophobia to separate themselves from the LGBT community, but they are a tiny fraction of the homophobes.

                                  I understand you mean well, but you are not helping the community.

                                  • brador 27 minutes ago
                                    We know around 8% of males in general population are gay. Any less than that where you live and the rest are hiding it no matter what they tell you.
                                  • gurumeditations 3 hours ago
                                    What is this homophobic garbage? Stop. You are disgusting. Gay is not your insult. Shame on you romancist.
                                  • david-gpu 1 hour ago
                                    Everyone who goes through the procedure says the same thing: it really is no big deal and the procedure itself is less of a problem than the laxatives you need to take the day before.

                                    You are not going to catch the gay for having a colonoscopy, if that is your fear.

                                    • sevenzero 20 minutes ago
                                      My fear is mostly shame to be honest. Never had an issue with gay stuff as I kissed my homies on the cheek before
                                    • taskforcegemini 4 hours ago
                                      not sure if that makes it better for you, but usually you are knocked out and don't know what is happening during the procedure. Much worse is the preparation starting days before with disgustingly tasting things that intentionally give you diarrhea (and maybe make you puke) to clear the path, and no food at all
                                      • Findecanor 4 hours ago
                                        People get a safe but vile-tasting laxative by default. If you don't have any known problems with your colon then you could ask for a faster-acting laxative that is easier to get down.

                                        I have a condition so I have a colonoscopy every year. Once I had found out about there being a fast-acting option, I've always chosen that.

                                        I've never done it sedated. I prefer to watch the screen and and ask questions. I've found the view quite fascinating, actually. The doctors and nurses have always been professional, focused on the colon: not the butt. There is absolutely nothing sexual about it. I've never felt pain: only some tension, and that's been because of gas (needed to get a clear view). It is perfectly safe unless your colon has some illness of some sort. The worst part has always been the prep.

                                        • sevenzero 3 hours ago
                                          Yea I know, my life just isn't worth living and I'd prefer not to have something shoved up my ass to prevent something that could end it early cuz I am too foolish to do it myself.
                                    • andai 5 hours ago
                                      Does this track differences between generations (i.e. environmental changes), or the age-related differences within a single cohort, or somehow both at once?
                                    • cobaltpath 8 hours ago
                                      I wonder if the higher proportion of stromal cells in young tumors is a direct result of specific dietary components or gut microbiome variations rather than just inherent biology. The study mentions looking at how cell programs interact with diet and microbes, but it seems early onset cases often present with distinct inflammatory profiles in the colon itself before tumor formation.

                                      It would be interesting to see if these long non-coding RNAs show up consistently in pre cancerous polyps in younger patients or only after malignant transformation. If they are elevated early on, that could actually help solve the diagnosis problem where many late stage cancers are found, assuming we can target them specifically.

                                      • yread 5 hours ago
                                        The lncRNA is common in all CRCs but the stroma content in healthy tissue usually increases with age
                                      • BrtByte 3 hours ago
                                        [dead]
                                        • 484849955 3 hours ago
                                          Its anal, sorry this is haram to publish T. Postdoc