The DU Lounge

When was retiring from the AF, I had an exit physical and being over 50 years old they did a colonoscopy on me. It was late in the day and I had prepped the night before so I basically had nothing to eat for nearly a day. I went in and the doctor explained the procedure to me. He performed the colonoscopy without anesthesia and I was able to watch what the insides of my intestines looked like. Surprisingly, other than the initial insertion, it wasn't painful. A number of celebrities have had a colonoscopy on camera and were awake and talking during the procedures as part of a campaign for colon cancer awareness. Since then, I've had two more colonoscopies at civilian facilities and both times under sedation. I'm 74 and my doctor says I don't need them anymore because the benefit at my age is small. I can use a test, like Cologuard , in lieu of a colonoscopy.

I was in the medical materiel career field while in the AF and part of our job was ordering medical supplies and equipment. The surgical department had an approved and funded request for an endoscopic system and one of my fellow NOS in the shop ordered it. After it came in and was thoroughly checked out, it was ready for use. The first patient it was used on was the NCO in my shop who ordered the endoscopic system. He was suffering from recurring ulcers and the doctor wanted to see what the possible cause of them was. It turned out it was a nerve problem and they snipped the nerve which solved his problem.