Worthless Colonoscopy

I recently had one, but the doctor told me he 'couldn't see very much.' Evidently the bowel was not clean enough.

I followed the day-before liquid diet as prescribed, took the Osmoprep tablets as prescribed. My discharge was not clear before going to bed. In the morning it was not clear either.. but I have to admit I didn't check it carefully, every time - I didn't think I had to.

At check-in a nurse asked me if it was clear. I replied, somewhat hesitatingly, "no, it is not clear." She rephrased the question several times, appearing annoyed that I wasn't sure. We finally agreed on "it was definitely liquid and not chunky." Another nurse asked me the same question and I gave the same answer and she replied "the doctor likes to do them anyway."

The prep instructions included nothing about making sure your discharge was clear. Seems like if it's that important it would be there.

I don't know what to do about this. Any reputable business will try to make things right if they are paid for and are not right.  This is one of those times, but I don't know what to do.  My insurance is good, but not 100%, and this is expensive.

[Shebah]

Isn't there somwhere you can write a complaint to? Pasients must have some kind of rights?

[yoshi]

Go higher up and talk to someone who may be able to work something out .

[Hudson]

You say you followed the instructions completely and you still weren't clear? Wow. I felt like my prep was too thorough. I was beyond clear. I was dehydrated and had to go in for IV fluids prior to the procedure.

Your doctor should have told you that you needed to be seeing clear liquid. Mine was pretty specific about that. Sorry you had a bad experience.

Hudson

[2oldman]

I called the hospital today.  "They" said they'd review my records and see if the charges will be dropped.  

We'll see..

[Mel B]

I had a colonoscopy done last month and I too followed the diet/medication/enemas protocol (did that twice, and drinking that gallon of crappy tasting stuff every ten minutes for hours was NOT fun) but it was never clear for me either and the Dr. told me the same thing as yours.  I kept telling everyone that would listen, (which was NO ONE) that it would never be clear because there was stool stuck in there.  It took almost 4 months of not eating anything but broth and juice, a couple visits to the ER and several Dr.s before I found a Dr. that would listen AND fix me.  I

[2oldman]

This saga gets even more head-scratching.

My gastro, whom I saw today, who insisted on this Colon job before treating me for Hep C, now acts disinterested that it was a failure.  If I have to have it redone ( I will) my insurance doesn't care, nor do they care it was a failure.

He's gung-ho on treating the Hep C ( had it 37 years, viral load of 3M down from 25M just 4 years ago) but I cannot understand why he insisted on the C job, then when it fails, doesn't seem to care.

I don't get this guy.  Maybe it's typical for Las Vegas.

[Ms_Makita]

I would have it repeated, did they give you enema before procedure to make sure you were cleaned out? I had colonoscopy in april (im 28) and mine didnt run clear,just yellowish/orange which I was not certain would put halt to procedure but the nurse told me that was normal and it isnt typically always "clear"
       3 days before procedure I was instructed to take 1 ducolax laxative tablet at bedtime for 3 days,then drink that nasty liquid laxative in evening day before procedure,did your dr have you follow those ?? instructions also said I might be given an enema prior to exam (they didnt do it) whew..didnt know how much more I could take!
   There is also a laxative pill out for those who cant tolerate drinking the solution,I'm up for another colonscopy and going to ask gi dr about it...its something to look into and might do the trick to clean the colon out better.Good luck to ya!