I’m dreading this. I need to do the mail in your shit prostate test in the next couple years if not now. I’ve got hemorrhoids so I am very scared of anything going up my ass. Got any tips from what you learned?
Don’t bother with the mail-in test if you know you have hemorrhoids. It tests for DNA fragments from tumors and for microscopic traces of blood. If it comes back positive, they don’t tell you if it was positive for the tumor DNA or for blood, and you’ll have to get a colonoscopy anyways.
Cologuards are only good for 3 years at most, and a colonoscopy is good for 10 years if it comes back clean. Just save your money and go straight to the colonoscopy because the hemorrhoids will likely pop a false positive on the mail-in test.
Edit: Also! If you have a positive cologuard, the ensuing colonoscopy has to get billed as “diagnostic” instead of as “screening” and insurance pays for it differently.
They have something like a 45% false positive rate because of the microscopic blood test and really are more of a scam than anything else in my opinion.
Can’t say I enjoy these conversations but I know what it means to have to do it.
If I had to do it again, I’d recommend doing your business in a large garbage bag that you place in a bucket or bowl (so that it doesn’t spill). The larger the garbage bag the better. Saving garbage bags doesn’t matter anyway because you won’t be doing this too often. Once everything is in the bag, then you can take out the bag and get in to more easily collect your sample. I know you only need a small bit but it is very hard to try to do stuff over a toilet bowl with plastic, containers or whatever and not contaminate things in the water, your hand or anything else. I tried four or five different ways and always made a mess. Better to just do it all in a garbage bag. Then once you are done, wrap up the whole bag, seal it and throw it in the dumpster outside your house.
I’m dreading this. I need to do the mail in your shit prostate test in the next couple years if not now. I’ve got hemorrhoids so I am very scared of anything going up my ass. Got any tips from what you learned?
Don’t bother with the mail-in test if you know you have hemorrhoids. It tests for DNA fragments from tumors and for microscopic traces of blood. If it comes back positive, they don’t tell you if it was positive for the tumor DNA or for blood, and you’ll have to get a colonoscopy anyways.
Cologuards are only good for 3 years at most, and a colonoscopy is good for 10 years if it comes back clean. Just save your money and go straight to the colonoscopy because the hemorrhoids will likely pop a false positive on the mail-in test.
Edit: Also! If you have a positive cologuard, the ensuing colonoscopy has to get billed as “diagnostic” instead of as “screening” and insurance pays for it differently.
Very very good advice, thank you.
They have something like a 45% false positive rate because of the microscopic blood test and really are more of a scam than anything else in my opinion.
Can’t say I enjoy these conversations but I know what it means to have to do it.
If I had to do it again, I’d recommend doing your business in a large garbage bag that you place in a bucket or bowl (so that it doesn’t spill). The larger the garbage bag the better. Saving garbage bags doesn’t matter anyway because you won’t be doing this too often. Once everything is in the bag, then you can take out the bag and get in to more easily collect your sample. I know you only need a small bit but it is very hard to try to do stuff over a toilet bowl with plastic, containers or whatever and not contaminate things in the water, your hand or anything else. I tried four or five different ways and always made a mess. Better to just do it all in a garbage bag. Then once you are done, wrap up the whole bag, seal it and throw it in the dumpster outside your house.
Thanks, good tips.