Doing My Father-in-law’s Colonoscopy 

It's so important that you're normalizing this procedure. My mom almost died of colon cancer because my family was afraid of colonoscopies. She pulled through and i had my first colonoscopy this year at age 35. It is so important that people get screened.

Why is this so wholesome.... Him being so proud of you and you are clearly fond of him too.

Wow. Most men would not be comfortable having anyone in the family seeing them like that. Probably helps that he's a doctor himself. A relative of mine is an anesthetist and says he's seen so many naked people, he doesn't care who sees him naked, and he's had several surgeries done at the hospital where he works.

I'm going in for my 7th colonoscopy next week (have them annually to remove polyps and had my first at 19). While the prep isn't the nicest, it's so worth it for cancer prevention. Get screened people!

This is great! I’ve had numerous colonoscopies thanks to polyps and IBD, so I’m not at all nervous about the procedure… anymore. I’m really glad you made this video and hopefully it is reassuring for anyone out there who hasn’t gone through this procedure. Your father-in-law is right, the procedure itself is super easy and often you don’t realize it happened because the sedation kicks in so fast (that was my experience the first time). The prep really is the worst part, so have a lot of fluids on hand and if you like apple juice or Jell-O now is the time to fill up on it!

All of this is true, the prep is the hardest part and even that has gotten better over the years. We treat each other to a special take out meal and then nap the rest of the day.

Doc the background music is too loud it's hard to hear him. Great

The best part of a colonoscopy is getting to eat after it! (Aside from the cancer detection, that is.)

I had to start them in my 40s because my mother had rectal cancer. I've had 5 now. The prep is awful but the test is a breeze.

This is really wholesome❤️

Another awesome video! Love you were able to do this with your father-in-law. I'm 65 and have routinely had my coloniscopies when I needed them. Luckily I've only had a few polyps each time to be removed and never precancerous. I am dreading the prep next time though. The older I get the harder it is to do.

"yo wheres the tv remote" doc, glancing at his father in law:

What a fun family!! Such a wonderful family. This are people born to be doctors.

This is really cool man. There needs to be more awareness about how important colonoscopies are.

This is so lovely and wholesome! Glad to see your FIL so proud of you! 💕 I had a colonoscopy in my thirties to check for celiac (I didn’t end up having it, my mom does) and had to prep with golytely which was terrible. I just turned 45 so I figured I would get my screening one. I don’t have a family history, but my college friend’s husband died at 43 from colon cancer. He had not reached screening age and had no symptoms until it was stage 4 and he didn’t even last a year with treatment. We also have a very good friend who is only 40 and didn’t have symptoms of anything until he developed a cough. They ended up doing tests on his lungs and finding masses throughout them. They did other scans and found colon and liver cancers. They believe it started in his colon. He therefore has a terminal case. He is doing chemo and they hope he can get a couple years doing chemo but it has made him very sick. So knowing those two cases I knew I had to get screened. I heard a report that young people are being diagnosed at a higher rate than ever before with some people in their 20s being diagnosed! So I think even if you don’t have a family history (I don’t and mine came back fine) you should still get it at 45 because insurance will pay then and because it’s just good to get it checked. This time around the prep was much better as I took dulcolax tablets and then the miralax mixed into Gatorade. So it wasn’t bad. Both times I never fell asleep completely, but this time I did more than the last. But I had some cramping so that kept me awake a bit. But I must have dozed off because when they said they were done I felt like it had only been 5 minutes since it started! Haha! Anyways, my husband is also 45 and having his first in March. Told him I still have some dulcolax for him 😂 but he needs to buy more miralax- that stuff is expensive!!

Father died of colon cancer at age 95. His primary care doc did not ever do any cancer screens. Years earlier I did have a screening colonoscopy initially in my 50's. However, I could not get heath insurance after a move to a different state. 20 years elapsed; father had died and I was way overdue for a colonoscopy. Finally in 2021 I was able to get it done. Six polyps were removed; one was definitely pre-cancerous. My next one was due in 5 years now since I am high risk. Very fortunate I escaped CA. That 2021 procedure saved my life.

The best part of the procedure is you get a great nap!!!

Doc knows his father in law inside out!

such a whol;esome video! thanks you two :D

Sweet!

For my prep I was prescribed a series of pills. They were horse pills and you still have to drink gobs and gobs of water, but so much easier then the nasty liquid.

I've never had sedation here in the UK. I love watching it on the screens lol 😆

Four regular scopes here (plus one signmoidoscopy). The prep is the hard part, but it's easier if your doc goes the gatorade and miralax route like mine (just two quarts of liquid with a long break between them).

Hey Doctor Schmidt! Question regarding psyllium husk powders that my gastro has had me on since my colonoscopy a few years ago (twice a day, 1 tsp each). My diet's terrible, so I finally saw a registered dietitian a few weeks ago, and she didn't say anything bad about the psyllium (kept telling me to take it and recommended a few other fiber things like NuGo and stuff to help things along), but she really emphasizes organic products. Didn't mention going organic with psyllium. I do see that's a thing, and the only resources I can find on the differences between organic and non are from the businesses that sell the organic stuff or are behind paywalls, scarily saying that there's some psyllium that has high lead counts. The price differences are ranging from 43 cent an ounce to $2 an ounce, and with things like "lead" and "pesticides" being thrown around in digestion, I want to be making the right choice. TL;DR version: are there specific brands of psyllium that should be avoided and does organic make any sort of difference? Love your content! Thanks for being your Doctorial self!

Well done Dr.👏 In my university hospital we use co2 istead of air like you do. It leaves patients feeling much less bloated and more comfortable post-procedure. Apparently it is absorbed quicker and better by the colon. Can you tell me a little more about this please?

Apparently american medical schools haven’t yet established a correlation between treating family and friends, and the subpair clinical outcomes

My dad hated the prep so much that he refuses to get another colonoscopy. If only they could make the prep easier then he’d be better about getting them every 10 years. It’s why my mom only does the stool sample screening.

That is quite a title

That's so awesome! I had a colososcopy my first thing after I coded. Totally was easy as pie. Even the prep was easy the nurse just marked three giant cups, I'm someone who love to drink fluid and I got it done in like 1.5 hours.... I'm always thirsty....but I'm not a diabetic.

Gosh ya all are so sweet. That said, come on! Peds and gastro just go together. Poop and fart humour IS the stuff that peds jokes are made of .. figuratively speaking XD The secret weapon to make ppl of any age giggle.

Is it ethical to work on your father in law?

What wig did you wear?

I had a horrible case of chills after the prep. I don’t know if it’s the result of totally cleaning out the system or a side effect of the nasty grape flavored liquid. Is this a common thing? I was huddled under blankets all night and in the waiting room.

I have been on a PPI for years and never new why. It stopped the reflux, but then i just continued on it. Should i get an endoscopy ? No ulcer history or heavy nsaid use or other stomach things. I do have IBS through i think

I wake up in middle and it killllls

So serious, uf, of

Did you find the family inheritance up there? 😂

How come no one calls it a poop pocket?

There are doctors on both sides of the family?? There's no way that baby doesn't grow up to be a doctor too. It's one of the most heritable medical conditions according to the literature

Do they not use go lightly anymore for prep?

For people with a phobia of general anesthesia, how viable is a fully lucid colonoscopy?

I feel like if cops get tased and pepper sprayed then gastroenterologists should have to get colonoscopies before they start ordering them

It would be great if a brilliant doctor came up with a prep that doesn't make a person gag. It would make a colonoscopy a breeze.

Isn’t this an ethics violation since you know the patient personally?

Why put music, hearing a normal non-professional conversation without music sounds better don’t you think?

doctor schmit u remind me of spongebob

You slept? Lucky you.

Ok doctor, tell us honestly how p’od you were when he had breakfast! Whyyyy?