Josh Duggar part 12 - Everyone has unclean hands...Go wash!

[Jucifer]

When I think of Josh being set free from Jesus jail it makes me think of Punxatawny Phil emerging from his lair in the spring. 

Will Josh see his shadow?  If he does, what would it mean?

[SilverBeach]

2 hours ago, JabberJabber said:

It depends what it is for - routine screening or investigating a problem. I had my first colonoscopy at 21 and was subsequently diagnosed with Crohn's disease after 6 awful months of problems.

 

Oh yes, I didn't think about using that test for diagnosing digestive issues. I thought upper/lower gi's were done for that. I hope your Crohn's disease is being successfully treated and that you are feeling much better!

10 hours ago, medimus said:

25 even if you're sexually active here. You get a letter from the government on your 25th brithday telling you to go (to the family doctor, not the gynea).

 

From the government?

[TeaGrannie]

33 minutes ago, Jucifer said:

When I think of Josh being set free from Jesus jail it makes me think of Punxatawny Phil emerging from his lair in the spring. 

Will Josh see his shadow?  If he does, what would it mean?

6 more weeks of rehab, lol. 

 

[Jucifer]

6 minutes ago, TeaGrannie said:

6 more weeks of rehab, lol. 

 

... aaand rimshot!  

Thank you, TeaGrannie

(I meant the drum thing- I didn't know there were other meanings- ew!)

[Flyinthesoup]

On 2/19/2016 at 10:34 AM, Whoosh said:

Very sincere thank you for the info.  My situation is that my dad had minor issues and there is no other family history, so HIS doctor recommended my sis and I both have a colonoscopy at 40.  I just figured my Dr would let me know when to do it again, but your post made me realize that the circumstances surrounding it all (new to dr, she never got specific info about my dad, etc) means it might have fallen through the crack so to speak.  Ba dum bum...

I have an appointment with my GP in March and will ask about it.  It is quite possible that after seeing my very clean colon on film they decided I didn't need another test until the standard testing starts at 50.  Hey - a girl can dream.  

Anyhoo - I am one who does go in for the recommended screenings, etc. but enough about my colon!  

Hopefully they will allow you to use the FIT for a few years, since you came back clean, the first time.   I would take that test over a colonoscopy, any day.

[RabbitKM]

11 hours ago, SilverBeach said:

22 seems awfully young for a colonoscopy. I'm sure YMMV, but I just couldn't even finish the prep. FIT was a godsend for me.

I had my first gyne visit in my teens because of irregular periods, turns out I had polycystic ovaries.

I was having really bad stomach issues. Luckily the test turned out fine, the problem is in my stomach and not my colon, so I won't be needing another one any time soon. 

[Trynn]

I have a family history of colon cancer. I'm only 27, but I hope they start screening for it early. Ever since I almost died of appendicitis, I'm suddenly a huge fan of preventative health care. (Of course the proper preventative care is to not to wait 24 hours to go in, because "I'm. It in enough pain.")

[InThePrayerCloset]

3 hours ago, RabbitKM said:

I was having really bad stomach issues. Luckily the test turned out fine, the problem is in my stomach and not my colon, so I won't be needing another one any time soon. 

I had my first colonoscopy at 14, and have had then roughly every 5 years since. I keep getting peptic ulcers and GI bleeding, and given my dads bowel cancer, they do end/colonoscopies whenever i start having severe gi problems. its such a normal part of life now... i just get on with it! now, at 31, i've been lucky to avoid colonoscopies and just had an endoscopy last time i started vomitting blood. thank god for "socialised" medicine in Australia

[medimus]

12 hours ago, SilverBeach said:

Oh yes, I didn't think about using that test for diagnosing digestive issues. I thought upper/lower gi's were done for that. I hope your Crohn's disease is being successfully treated and that you are feeling much better!

From the government?

Prevention is cheaper than cure and if you're paying for it, it's worth the hassle of sending out a letter to every 25 year old woman. (they also send out fun things, like a train pass for 10 trips of your choice anywhere in the country on your 16th birthday and informational things like letters to parents of two year olds telling them to sign up for school now). Just last week I got a discount card for all things cultural sent to me from the city council, because I am a young person, I had no idea it even existed.

There is a fair amount spent on people not falling through the cracks, especially in preventetive medicine. Screening programmes have to be worth the cost and the nuisance, and they're generally more worthwhile if everyone takes part, rather than just those who actively educate themselves and ask for things, especially as the people who do that are generally better off socio economically and therefore more likely to be healthy anyway.If you're not reaching your entire target audience, it can skew the numbers so much that the screening programme is no longer worthwhile. 

In case it might not have been clear, I'm a total preventative health care/epidemiology nerd, I love that stuff.

[SilverBeach]

2 hours ago, medimus said:

Prevention is cheaper than cure and if you're paying for it, it's worth the hassle of sending out a letter to every 25 year old woman. (they also send out fun things, like a train pass for 10 trips of your choice anywhere in the country on your 16th birthday and informational things like letters to parents of two year olds telling them to sign up for school now). Just last week I got a discount card for all things cultural sent to me from the city council, because I am a young person, I had no idea it even existed.

There is a fair amount spent on people not falling through the cracks, especially in preventetive medicine. Screening programmes have to be worth the cost and the nuisance, and they're generally more worthwhile if everyone takes part, rather than just those who actively educate themselves and ask for things, especially as the people who do that are generally better off socio economically and therefore more likely to be healthy anyway.If you're not reaching your entire target audience, it can skew the numbers so much that the screening programme is no longer worthwhile. 

In case it might not have been clear, I'm a total preventative health care/epidemiology nerd, I love that stuff.

What country are you in? Here In the USA, we get no such letters, not even at the state level. Thus my question. 

ITA about preventative care, my insurance plan has no deductible or copay for preventative care and I use it. The problem is that more expensive and invasive procedures such as colonoscopies become the norm for screening instead of less expensive and less invasive procedures that are just as effective for low risk populations. Out of control medical costs are a big problem here in the US.

[Flyinthesoup]

5 hours ago, Trynn said:

I have a family history of colon cancer. I'm only 27, but I hope they start screening for it early. Ever since I almost died of appendicitis, I'm suddenly a huge fan of preventative health care. (Of course the proper preventative care is to not to wait 24 hours to go in, because "I'm. It in enough pain.")

Make sure your family doctor knows your family history.  They start testing those with a family history of colon cancer at 40, and possibly earlier, depending on the situation.  If you have no signs or symptoms, they will start with the FIT test, at least that's what they do here.

[OnceUponATime]

@SilverBeach

I think the government send the letters because they are the only ones(?) who have the data for everyone's birthdays.

Where I grew up I got a letter from my GP informing me of needing a pap smear. I remember thinking that was weird because not everyone would have a GP and if they are only informing you via the GP then they're missing a lot of their targeted group.

I've never found it weird (living in countries with highly subsidized national healthcare systems) that the government* sends out information about the guidelines/screening options. Out of curiosity - how does the CDC share their infographics/information booklets?(because I think that's the equivalent of the government sending reminders)

*Ministry of Health and affiliated organisations

[SilverBeach]

3 minutes ago, OnceUponATime said:

@SilverBeach

I think the government send the letters because they are the only ones(?) who have the data for everyone's birthdays.

Where I grew up I got a letter from my GP informing me of needing a pap smear. I remember thinking that was weird because not everyone would have a GP and if they are only informing you via the GP then they're missing a lot of their targeted group.

I've never found it weird (living in countries with highly subsidized national healthcare systems) that the government* sends out information about the guidelines/screening options. Out of curiosity - how does the CDC share their infographics/information booklets?(because I think that's the equivalent of the government sending reminders)

*Ministry of Health and affiliated organisations

I am in the USA, and unfamiliar with the practices of other nations.

[OnceUponATime]

@SilverBeach I know, sorry if I came off sounding a bit rude/weird.

The CDC is your public health authority there right? "Out of curiosity - how does the CDC share their infographics/information booklets?" <- was me wanting to familiarize myself with how screening/preventative care was approached in the US (other than not always being paid for).

[SilverBeach]

We have a US Department of Health and Human Services at the Federal level, with smaller agencies underneath. The Centers for Disease Control is more focused on epidemiology, tracking disease outbreaks, and controlling deadly diseases. Because of the Federal system, the national government mostly supports efforts by the individual States. My doctors always have free educational materials in their offices, and there are educational materials free for the asking at both the state and federal level. There is no organized system for communicating with individual citizens that I am aware of , unless there is a zombie outbreak or other such cataclysmic event.

[Whoosh]

This conversation is interesting and I have learned a lot.  Some of the stuff is confusing in terms of newer tests or new research that seems to indicate that other screening measure are effective enough that colonoscopies aren't necessarily the gold standard of screening colons any longer.  When talking about screening measures, the point is to reduce overall costs and suffering by catching problems early.  There is a cost/benefit ratio that needs to be examined in terms of how accurate the screening measure is, how invasive it is, how much it costs, how frequently it needs to be done, how likely people are to actually follow through with the recommended screenings, etc.  Anyway - blah blah blah - after reading along here the past few days, I did a bit of reading and found this explanation which I think seems pretty interesting.  Medical professionals, etc. will have a better idea how accurate it is.

http://www.healthline.com/health-news/dreading-colonoscopy-other-effective-tests-for-colon-cancer-032015#8

[HarryPotterFan]

2 hours ago, SilverBeach said:

We have a US Department of Health and Human Services at the Federal level, with smaller agencies underneath. The Centers for Disease Control is more focused on epidemiology, tracking disease outbreaks, and controlling deadly diseases. Because of the Federal system, the national government mostly supports efforts by the individual States. My doctors always have free educational materials in their offices, and there are educational materials free for the asking at both the state and federal level. There is no organized system for communicating with individual citizens that I am aware of , unless there is a zombie outbreak or other such cataclysmic event.

At least the CDC really does prepare us for zombies: http://emergency.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies.asp

[violynn]

1 hour ago, HarryPotterFan said:

At least the CDC really does prepare us for zombies: http://emergency.cdc.gov/socialmedia/zombies.asp

CDC: Saving lives.  Protecting people.

I seriously expected to see "The family business" as the next sentence.

[meowmeow19]

11 hours ago, Trynn said:

I have a family history of colon cancer. I'm only 27, but I hope they start screening for it early. Ever since I almost died of appendicitis, I'm suddenly a huge fan of preventative health care. (Of course the proper preventative care is to not to wait 24 hours to go in, because "I'm. It in enough pain.")

I know someone who had an uncle who had colon cancer I think in 20s or early 30s and a grandfather that had colon cancer late in life. They had him do a colonoscopy at 25. The doctor said that it's not so much of family members getting colon cancer in their late years as family members that got it early that pushed them to test early. 

[refugee]

On 2/19/2016 at 7:51 AM, Flyinthesoup said:

You know what?  I just remembered, they have improved the 'fecal testing', in the past few years.  They have started to rely on this testing more, now that they are seeing a high success rate, it was in the 90+%, but I don't remember exactly what it was.  I think they have been changing the time, between colonoscopies, based on this information.  Are you saying you have to ask for the test?  Your doctor doesn't 'suggest' it to you?  Hmm, that's a little different....wouldn't work for me.  

@Whoosh here is a link to the FIT information, this is the current testing being used here, it's basically an improvement to the Fecal test, with far more accurate results.

Thanks for this info. I'm overdue. At my first (and last, so far) colonoscopy, pain woke me up, I protested to the doctor that it hurt, and stupid doctor told me it didn't.

[HarryPotterFan]

44 minutes ago, refugee said:

Thanks for this info. I'm overdue. At my first (and last, so far) colonoscopy, pain woke me up, I protested to the doctor that it hurt, and stupid doctor told me it didn't.

Don't you love it when health care practitioners try to tell you whether or not you're in pain?

[EmCatlyn]

1 hour ago, HarryPotterFan said:

Don't you love it when health care practitioners try to tell you whether or not you're in pain?

When I was ill some years back,  the MD made me furious by telling me that I was not in pain, "maybe a little discomfort, that's all."

A friend told me that "discomfort" is best translated as "pain the doctors can do nothing about."  

[Jucifer]

4 minutes ago, EmCatlyn said:

When I was ill some years back,  the MD made me furious by telling me that I was not in pain, "maybe a little discomfort, that's all."

A friend told me that "discomfort" is best translated as "pain the doctors can do nothing about."  

Ugh, I've been there and done that. You have my deepest sympathy!

[choralcrusader8613]

6 minutes ago, EmCatlyn said:

When I was ill some years back,  the MD made me furious by telling me that I was not in pain, "maybe a little discomfort, that's all."

My smart-aleck self would have said, "Oh, when does med school teach mind-reading? Oh wait, it doesn't!"

[Flyinthesoup]

2 hours ago, refugee said:

Thanks for this info. I'm overdue. At my first (and last, so far) colonoscopy, pain woke me up, I protested to the doctor that it hurt, and stupid doctor told me it didn't.

I hope you don't have to have another one and can have the FIT.   I woke up during mine as well, only they told me I was in pain and they were giving me more medication.  I guess my groaning and the fact they were having difficulty getting around a bend, tipped them off and knew something was wrong. ;P