Jimmy Kimmel turned 50 last November and because it is recommended at that age, he got his first colonoscopy. However, he did something most don’t, he brought along Katie Couric as his date. Katie’s husband, Jay Monahan, died 20 years ago from colon cancer. Since then, Katie has been a champion of colon cancer awareness, televising her own colonoscopy in 2000, which led to a 12% increase in screening. So, in honor of March being Colon Cancer Awareness month, Katie asked Jimmy if she could tag along. Making it entertaining will ensure more people hear the information. It was a smart move.
Katie appeared on Jimmy’s show Tuesday night. This first clip is the pre-taped bit that shows the colonoscopy (it’s not gross, I promise):
It’s cute. I thought Jimmy in the evening gown was funny. I loved the doctor (Dr. Ha) owning the Operation game. But it more importantly, it makes the whole thing seem less scary.
Later Katie joined Jimmy on his couch as a guest and they discussed it further:
Jimmy was so relaxed discussing the procedure. I really believed him when he said it was no big deal, enough to start thinking about scheduling mine. I also had no idea how much Katie’s charity, Stand Up To Cancer, had accomplished in ten years.
I know colonoscopies are not what my mother would call, “polite dinner conversation,” but maybe they should be. Katie said that colon cancer is the second largest killer among the cancers in both men and women. So I’m glad that Katie and now Jimmy are removing the stigma around colonoscopies, especially since that screening could easily save a life. Plus, the jokes write themselves.
Photo Credit: WENN Photos and Getty Images
I remember when her husband passed. It was really sad, and their daughters were so young. He was too, only 42.
The husband of one of our best couple friends was diagnosed and we have had a couple of war councils to date. He’s 45, same age as my hubby, and we’re bound and determined to fight as a block (we live in a culdesac together). It’s just… awful.
The worst part was not having anything to eat for almost two days since mine was scheduled for later in the day. On the way to the hospital, we drove behind a couple of burger joints and the smell of the meat and onions wafting in the breeze made me drool with desire. Other than that, the worst part was drinking the concoction, a bit of a struggle to keep it down.
Yep! The prep is by far the worst part.
My mom died at age 49 from metastasized colon cancer. She had a colonoscopy, had a pre-cancerous polyp removed, then 18 mos. later she had a re-check and they found a cancerous one, and it’d already spread to her liver. She was way too young to die.
I was 25 when she died; I’ve had colonoscopies every 3 yrs. in the 25 yrs. since, and now, the doctor says every 5 yrs. is good. I’m calling right now to schedule my next one. The prep used now, Movie Prep (yeah, very apropos lol) is a lot less than the jug you had to drink in the past. And while you and your bathroom will become fast friends for a day, it’s SO worth it for years of peace of mind.
Do it for yourself, do it for your families, but PLEASE DO IT! It is truly an important test!
If you’re 50 or over and haven’t done it, do it! The ACA mandates that insurance cover it but make sure you’ve got your referrals in place. The prep is the unpleasant part but basically even that just consists of drinking a jug of salty liquid and going to the bathroom, a lot. And we’ve all gone to the bathroom. If you want to be pretty much unaware of the procedure while it’s happening, tell the doctor. You can usually sleep through the whole thing although if they find something, they’ll wake you up to show you , which is pretty surreal.
My cousin had colon cancer at 30. He’s fine because they caught it and treated it early. My mom’s friend wasn’t so lucky. She didn’t follow screening guidelines and refused to get one at 50 or 55. If she had, they probably would have caught it before it reached stage 4 and spread to her brain, bones and liver.
This. The prep sucks but the procedure is nothing. Had my first one when I was 40 because of family history. Had my second one last year, just do it. Anything is better than dying of something that you shouldn’t have.
Colon cancer rates are going up among adults ages 20-39, and no one knows why. I’m 33 and just had my first colonoscopy at the end of February. I don’t have cancer, but I did have a precancerous polyp removed, and I’ll have to be screened every three years for the rest of my life. And I work out, eat a high fiber vegetarian diet, avoid processed foods for the most part, only drink alcohol in moderation, and have never smoked. Cancer doesn’t discriminate.
I have to watch (it’s early) but I hope they talked about the prep. The prep is off-putting for many and if that could be in any way eased -not easy- it would help.
I think researchers are working on imaging but you need a clean intestine to view and if they see polyps or worse they are still going in.
Have had two and the procedure itself seemed relative to the skill of the doctor and nurse. Also, people vary in sensitivity in the colon…it’s not a test of courage, you can get something to take the edge off.
Ontario is screening with a newer version of the fecal occult blood test but if there’s anything you get the colonoscopy. I thought the FOBT test had some issues with reliability but doctor said it’s improved….does anybody know?
Nothing makes people happier than the phrase, “You’re good for 10 years.”
I had my first one at 25 because I had a ton of GI issues, it really isn’t a big deal. The prep is the worst part, and I’ve heard it’s gotten better in the 12 years since I had mine, I counted how many times I went to the bathroom that night….28😄 It was great having nothing in my bowels, I felt so fresh and light, like a reset on my colon and eating habits. They ended up not being to get the camera far because my colon is funny shaped and sits so low, and I had to get a barium enema immediately after waking up, but I was out of it during the colonoscopy, don’t remember it at all! Don’t be scared to have this done, the benefits far outweigh the risks of not having one out of fear, promise!
You counted! That’s next level. Going to do this next time. Glad you are okay.
Ha! Yes it became a fun game, I thought surely after 5 or 6 blowouts it would stop, but nope. There’s still lots of mucus and fluids in there😄 the next morning while I was checking in the nurse asked if I drank the whole jug and I proudly told her yes, she said “WOW nobody ever does that, good for you”, I was like wtf you told me I had to!? 😂😂
Oh lordy!
Did they give you an anestethic? I also have lots of GI issues, but I’m too scared of the pain to do it and where I live, doctors do not believe in giving anestethics/painkillers during procedures like that. My mother says it doesn’t hurt but all the other people I asked said it hurt like crazy.
I just had one recently and I had zero pain. I had anesthesia and was out for the whole thing. But I had one years ago where I was awake for the whole thing and it was also painless. It was weird to watch the procedure on a monitor as it happened. Being asleep this time was fine with me!
As others have said, the prep is by far the worst part. By the time I got to the hospital for the procedure, I was so weak and exhausted from being up all night in the bathroom I had to take a wheelchair. But by that evening I was back to normal again.
And it was good that I had my colonoscopy. My doc said there are two types of polyps, one that tends to develop into cancer and one that doesn’t. He said he removed one of the type that can become cancerous and recommended that I come back in 5 years instead of 10.
What?! That’s wild, I never heard of doing it while awake other than Katie Couric, I thought she just did that to show people how easy it is. IThey gave me happy medicine and I was out. I take my dad to his every few years and they always put him out too. Twilight sleep is what they call it but I don’t know the actual name of the drug, I’ve seen patients on it and they look awake and follow commands during procedures but don’t remember anything. I vaguely recall waking up and feeling pressure when they were trying to get the tube around my wonky colon, but only for a second and I was back out. You could always insist they knock you out, or find a doctor that will. Don’t let fear stop you, promise it’s not bad. Like others have said it’s the limited foods and prep that kinda suck, but I truly felt “cleaner” down there and less weighed down, if that makes sense. I can see why people do colonics, lol.
The sigmoidoscopy procedure is typically performed in the dr office w/o any drugs – its the scope examination of some bowel. It is pretty uncomfortable because they don’t offer drugs. NO FUN AT ALL. But the colonoscopy is different because they examine more & further. They DO give you drugs for the colonoscopy, and I’ve always had to go to a hospital facility for that test. I cant for the life of me understand why the processes are different like this, but ive had 2 sigmoid & 3 colon endeavors (in addition to the barium xray stuff). Its all a freakin drag.
They can do a range of things, most times I’ve seen/had something that was a relaxant so if I felt anything, I wouldn’t care. : ) My husband was given the Versed, which wiped out his short-term memory of the event. That made him uncomfortable psychologically, so he said no to that the next time. But they can make you relaxed and better able to
tolerate the procedure but also move around and help them on the table. There’s a lot of snaking through to do!
@Jess
I believe it profocol. It makes you forget what happened. I also believe it’s one of the drugs that contributed to Michael Jackson’s death. Powerful stuff.
found in Michael Jackson
I had my First colonscopy at the age of 25 (Right after the death of my grandma due to colon cancer). I‘m 48 now and since then I check in for my colonscopy every 3 years. My youngest is 3 years old. I owe her a healthy momma. It doesn‘t hurt. DO
IT!
Let’s share prep tips.
Mine: stay warm. Have absorbing and portable light reading and a lot of it. Clear your calendar no exceptions. Schedule the procedure for early as possible because you will be empty and hungry.
After, let the gas out as much as possible. Get in position and let ‘er rip.
And no matter what fluid they give you to drink, and no matter what they say, you can & should add lots of fresh lemon juice to the concoction… it really masks that smoky/salty flavor.
Thanks for the tip.
Pile on the Desitin (or Vaseline or SOMETHING) straight from the get go. Nobody warned me and things were pretty raw down there for the first day or so.
Start early. My doctor had me do it in two chunks, 8 hours apart. The first was at 8:30pm, the second at 3:00am. My appointment was at 6:30am the following morning and I barely slept at all. I wished I’d done my first prep earlier so I could get it out of my system and sleep a little bit.
Don’t have houseguests if there is any possible way you can possibly avoid it. I, alas, could not and it was a pure hell of self-conscious embarrassment as I spent the entirety of the evening hogging up the bathroom.
In case this option is still offered, about 15 years ago the phosphate prep was reported to have the risk of kidney damage. Do the jug, even tho it’s a lot more to drink it’s kinder on the body.
I had my first colonoscopy in my late 20s, and my mom came with me. When the doctor told me what he’d be doing, I asked what made him choose that job
what did he say? lol It is an odd field to land in.
General gastro-enterologists are also licensed as surgeons in this specialty, so they are doing more than colonoscopies. They do regular clinical evaluations of patients for the wide variety of gastrointestinal disorders. They may put aside one day a week for doing endoscopy (upper and lower). And it’s a challenging, underestimated field: As one specialist explained to me, a lot of the symptoms can be the same, but it’s hard to figure out exactly what the cause is — differential diagnosis is challenging. Also, the intestines have the 2nd largest concentration of serotonin in the body. Fun fact!
I’m a GI nurse and sooo many people cancel their colonoscopy and never reschedule. The prep is hard but it’s an important procedure to have.
I’ve been having them since my 30 year old cousin was diagnosed with colon cancer while I was going through breast cancer treatment in my 20s. As far as the prep, it’s just basically a day of fasting followed by an evening that’s a bit unpleasant but not horrifying. It’s not painful. It’s just going to the bathroom a lot. And I’ve found that if I follow the rules closely, (I’m surprised by how many don’t follow the rules closely), you’re pretty much done with that by about 9:30- 10 PM and can sleep undisturbed. I always ask to be out during the procedure although they did wake me the time they found polyps but then let me go back to sleep after he doctor explained what he was going to do.
Be sure to have someone else drive you.
I turned 50 in December and I’m worried about it. Not because of the procedure itself, but I don’t have a regular doctor. I lost my doctor of 15 years (he went to jail, stupid reason) and all of his patients were sent to a mall medicine place (urgent care center).
I’ve only been there a few times and i have never seen the same doctor. I have looked for a doctor with their own practice but most aren’t taking new patients. I don’t want to put off the colonoscopy but I don’t want to get it through some clinic.
Specialists usually perform them.
Yes, I don’t think anyone at a clinic would do a colonoscopy, I thought they were only done in hospitals.
Neelyo, if you have a good hospital maybe you can ask them what the process might be to schedule one. I needed a referral from my primary care doc to get one. Hopefully finding a new doc, ideally affiliated with a reputable hospital, will happen sooner rather than later for you. Someone has to be taking new patients, I hope!
@Neelyo
A gastroenterologist – a specialist – would be the person to do a colonoscopy. However, as above, you may need a referral from a primary care doctor. My previous insurance plan required this; my current one did not. But I’d think any of the doctors at the clinic should be able to do a referral for you.
First though, I’d recommend calling your insurance company to find out the details, including: what your coverage is for the procedure; if you need a referral; if it matters where it’s performed (e.g., hospital vs. surgery center); if you need to find a gastro who’s in a particular insurance network. Then start researching what gastros are available to you.
My insurance company (a state BC/BS) will fully cover a colonoscopy every 5 years for people age 50 and over. I don’t remember if I was told there would have been any cost for me if something like polyps were discovered and needed to be removed – you should check this. For me, I don’t think so, but I had a routine procedure, fortunately had no issues, so honestly don’t remember.
My recent one was done in a surgery center, which was fine. It looked like a hospital OR but had a more relaxed atmosphere, and the care was excellent.
Agree that the prep is kind of a drag but it’s better than it used to be, and it’s to your benefit to follow the recommendations so the doctor gets the best view of what’s going on.
Good luck!
Believe me when i say GET IT DONE on whatever timeline matches your family history. Look up prep comfort tips on the internet, buy what you need, and then don’t worry about it ahead of time. It’ll be over and done before you know it.
As someone who still suffers today with the devastating loss of my beloved Father due to this horrible cancer, I urge every single one of you to get tested when you can. The “discomfort” of the procedure is minimal compared to the hole in my heart and that of my Mom, siblings and everyone that loved this most amazing man. My Dad was diagnosed with Stage 3 that morphed into 4 and it was an uphill battle he fought until there was no fight left.
Thanks Jimmy and Katie for this.
I’m so sorry for your loss Tania ~
i work in manufacturing with a bunch late middle aged men. i’ve heard more about colonoscopies than any person who is not a GI specialist should hear.
but seriously – get them. they can save your life. i have a friend who is 40 who has a family history of colon cancer had his first one and sure enough they found an extremely slow moving form of cancer that doctors can now monitor so it never spreads or gets out of control. he might never have to have chemo or radiation, just a series of small, outpatient surgical procedures over the rest of his life. if he had waiting until 50 – it might have been inoperable or have spread to other organs.
Yes, this is the thing, colon cancer can be slow growing so these tests allow them to catch it early. They snip any pre-cancerous polyps – and you’re done.
I don’t watch Jimmy… but I really appreciate how he tries to use his celebrity for good. I wish more celebrities would do stuff like this.. things that could really help break stigmas and ease fears.. things that could really help people.
bonus! i lost about 7 pounds with each of my 3 colonoscopys! dosen’t last, but you feel really flat for a couple of hours!
Good for Jimmy, so glad he’s healthy. This celebrity testing is a good thing. Robin Roberts (of GMA) had to talk Amy Robach into having a mammogram, she didn’t want to do it. As it turns out, she had breast cancer. She said she owes her life to Robin for that insistence upon the test, or she may not be alive today. I never did understand how a woman could not dare miss her hair appointment, but put off her mammograms and pap tests. Fear can turn into a killer. *Katie Couric is not my favorite journalist, but the woman has never let her husband’s death be in vain.* She has never stopped her crusade to end colon cancer, sadly even twenty years after the death of Jay.* Will cancer ever be cured, or is it already??
I’ve had to get a colonoscopy annually for the last 3 years, even tho I’m only 48, due to UC/IBD.
My husband calls it the annual cleansing.
I am so glad Katie dropped the knowledge about African Americans starting at 45.
Not everyone’s screening start is one size fits all.
Yes. And death rates are higher for many cancers for African Americans due to worse screening/health insurance and then finding things later. Black women dying needlessly of breast cancer – is a scandal.
My mother and her brother died within 2 years of each other from colon cancer, so you better believe I (literally) got my ass in there for my screening (at age 51). The colon cleanse the preceding 24 hours isn’t much fun, but otherwise, not bad at all.
For those who want the prep to be a bit easier –> Ginger tea, i.e. buy some fresh ginger root, grate an inch or two into a big pot of water, bring it to a boil, then let it cool and strain it through cheese cloth so there are no particles. You can store it in the fridge until you’re ready for it.
After you’re done drinking the prep-drink, have a mug or two of your ginger tea. It makes the, ahem, flushing process last a bit longer, but your stomach will feel much more settled.
In general, this recipe for ginger tea is a very good anti-nauseant. Usually, you can just strain it through a sieve, but to make it compatible with your doctor’s orders for the colonoscopy prep, do strain it through cheese cloth (or a clean dish towel).
I did this for my prep, and the nurses complimented on having done a very good prep after the colonoscopy was finished. (Maybe they say that to all the dopey, half-sedated people who didn’t manage to screw it up, though — I don’t know!) 😀