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Colonoscopy brings peace of mind for many patients

There are many reasons for a person to have routine health screenings, such as a colonoscopy: for peace of mind, because of family history of a specific diagnosis, or to ensure that preventative measures can be taken if problems are discovered.

John Zimmerman and his grand-nephew, Jordan Blank, love to spend time with each other. For Jordan, other family members and his own peace of mind, John overcame his fear of having a routine colonoscopy performed and is grateful to have found nothing to fear. He now says the process is “a piece of cake” and encourages friends to have the screening done.

For John Zimmerman, his reasons were all of the above. Yet, it took the courage to overcome his fear of the procedure itself, as well as what the screening might reveal for him to finally have a colonoscopy at the age of 61. Guidelines recommend that men and women receive their first routine colonoscopy at age 50 and once every ten years.

“Now, I have the opposite attitude – I would just as soon have one done every five years because of my family history,” Zimmerman said. He has good reason to worry – both his father and his uncle died of colon cancer.

“Once you find out you’re okay, it’s such a blessing,” Zimmerman said. “If they do find something then hopefully it’s early enough to be able to do something about it.”

The most difficult part of the procedure, Zimmerman said, was the bowel preparation, because it requires the patient to take a powerful laxative to clean out one’s system. General Surgeon Karl Papierniak, MD, said that is what he and his staff hear from most patients.

“However, the bowel prep is a very important part of the procedure,” Papierniak said. “We want to make sure that patients understand that and we walk them through all the information prior to the date of the procedure.”

John had the advantage of a helpful tip from his wife, Ella, too. Ella had previously had a routine colonoscopy and warned John that the laxative he was expected to use for the bowel prep tasted “pretty bad.”

“But, she told me to add just a teaspoon of orange juice and just that little bit of flavoring made the whole thing bearable,” Zimmerman said. Dr. Papierniak agreed that adding a tiny amount of juice may make the laxative easier to swallow but cautions that patients cannot use more than a teaspoon or they risk a less-than-effective bowel prep.

Now that Zimmerman can attest to how easy a colonoscopy can be and the tremendous peace of mind that the results can bring, he has become a spokesperson of sorts – encouraging all his friends to have the screening done per the recommended guidelines.

“I tell them it’s a piece of cake,” he said, and added, laughing “and a lot of people know I like cake.”

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