Colonoscopy experiences - normal practice?

Hi. It seems everyone has a slightly different experience of the procedure. Mine too was painful, and like you I had flashbacks - so much so that I didn't sleep at all for four nights after, and had to start taking herbal sleeping tablets for the first time in my life. It is an invasive procedure and I don't think enough is done to warn patients about the possible mental aftereffects. So no your experience wasn't unusual, although i couldn't comment on the hand ramming!

Perhaps, if it FELT 'odd', it WAS odd. We warn children of inappropriate approaches like this, don't we?

A carefully worded and detailed letter, enquiring about your dubious experience could lead to any neccessary investigation in the hospital department. And clear the air for you, as you obviously have doubts...

My experience was also very painful and the procedure was aborted half way through. I have had 3 different procedures and do not recall having the doctors hand anywhere near my anus. Where there other medical staff in the room?

 I am sorry if my suggestions made matters worse for you--of course I didn't intend that to happen.

 I feel so sad for you, knowing you have to encounter this guy at work. Please don't feel you are in any way to blame for what happened--you were in a vulnerable position, lying anxiously on an op. bed. And possibly what occurred may have been absolutely innocent--but how will you ever know without getting some support to confront the issue? 

I admire your courage in writing in about this. Whistle-blowing is easier to advocate than to carry out.

Ok so I dug deep into my memory, chatted to housemate who reminded me of my original perspective post procedure that had somehow been superceded by a darker one post youtube videos and forum queries, and I read a bit more into teh difficulties that can be encountered in colonoscopies. My memory was actually only of 1 minute of this full-on contact towads the mid to latter part of the procedure, but I somehow drew an assumption that because i was distracted by the pain that this level of contact must have been going on without my noticing up until then. Thinking now, that is an assumption based on nothing but fear and dark thoughts. Further, the minute that things were "full-on" was around the same time that he was trying to get up into the small intestine - my housemate pointed out to me that this could potentially be quite difficult, especially if the tube isn't long enough; I read about this further online and sure enough up to 30% of colonoscopies don't go to completion because the doc could not reach the end of the colon - never mind the small intestine! Also women are far harder to do a successful procedure on because their intestines loop more. And if a person is small of frame then it is even more difficult. Basically he was trying really hard at that particular juncture to do a good job and achieve the goal of reaching the small intestine, while not causing me any more pain, that was his focus, probably oblivious to the question of whether I might interpret the level of contact in one way or another. Because as the patient with no experience of these procedures everything is a sensitive personal issue. For the docs we are borderline inanimate objects / lumps of anatomy to be worked on. As I said it was a very dramtic procedure re the level of pain i was in and he was trying to make it go as painlessly as possible. I somehow between looking at Youtube and talking in Forums talked myself out of my original intuitive conlcusion that there was nothing untoward, and went all dark-side with my thoughts. I guess this stems from my own issues about being vulnerable and not trusting men. But we need to be careful not to transpose our own issues onto another person who is just trying to help us. I think he or a nurse could have communicated a bit on the potential for an expectation of "contact" but i guess in the moment you can't think of everything. I think if anything there should be greater care taken to talk to patients - whether its a designated nurse or whoever - about any potential issues they might have about their body to address any fears,inform of the patient of what to expect in relation to their fears and perhaps raise an awareness with the doc so that if there is an escalation of bodily contact that the patient does not misinterpret. They need to recognise that while they are very used to these things, we are no at all. And the degree of sensitivity between people is wide ranging. But I am glad to say I no longer think there was anything untoward and almost feel bad now for thinking that about someone who was trying to help me :-/  I don't think it was unreasonable of me to question it however and had I not I may have continued to think the wrong thing. Questioning things is good but we have to be careful abou the conclusions we jump to also as we are all human, doctors included apparently.

Sorry to hear anout your bad experoence.

I've had 3 colonoscopies, all of them done without sedation by different colonoscopists at the same hospital, and none of them painful, just a lirttle uncomfortable at times. I don't believe the colonoscopist's hand should have entered your anus and it was irregular if that was the case. That certainly did not happen with me.If you feel the coloscopist was not doing his job properly I would make a complaint because it can only be a matter of time before that person makes a nig mistake.