The Effectiveness Of Colonoscopies On Cancer And IBD

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In part one of this series, I illustrated just how common that injuries and death are from colonoscopies, which is far greater than the doctors and the media have led you to believe.  Yet, those in the medical industry and media often like to claim that colonoscopies have saved thousands of lives, so the benefits outweigh the risks.  Is this anymore accurate than their claim that injuries are rare?

The two most common uses of this procedure is for cancer screening and diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.  I will cover each separately starting with:

The Efficiency Of Colonoscopies for Cancer Screening

How effective is this procedure for early detection of cancer and is polyp removal (polypectomies) successful at arresting cancer?

  1. According to the American Cancer Society, up until 2009 “…there are no prospective randomized controlled trials of screening colonoscopy for the reduction in incidence of or mortality from colorectal cancer.”
Here we see that few studies have been done to back the ridiculous claims of thousands of lives being saved.  Let’s look at a few that I could find.
  1. The Minnesota Colon Cancer Study, which ran for 18 years and included 46,000 patients between the ages of 50 to 80, demonstrated only a 0.6% reduction in the incidence of colorectal cancer. This is a statistically insignificant amount.  (If you’ve heard greater risk reductions than 0.6%, you are not being lied to, but are receiving the relative risk as opposed to the absolute risk.  This is a notorious “slight of hand” used by researchers and pharmaceutical companies to make their findings appear more relevant.  An absolute difference is a subtraction; a relative difference is a ratio.  The difference of a 0.2% to 0.1% drop would translate to a 50% reduction in relative terms, but in reality is quite insignificant.  For more on relative vs. absolute statistics read here.  Once you understand that difference, you will realize just how ineffective many drugs and treatments actually are compared to what you have been led to believe.)
Here is the overall observation:
  1. Despite tens of millions of colonoscopies performed between the years 2000 and 2007, the annual incidence of colorectal cancer in the United States INCREASED by about 30,000 more cases.

Any other product, outside of the medical industry, would be abandoned and forgotten with such a dismal rate of proven success.  Yet, to hear Katie and others in the media tout this procedure as the greatest life-saver since the polio vaccine, makes my blood boil – especially being a victim in its profitable wake.

Certainly the removal of polyps have saved many from developing colorectal cancer?  Look at all of the millions of polyps that have been sliced out of colons since the advent of colonoscopies.  The claim is quite impressive, but how has it actually played out on the world’s stage?

From an article in the New York Times, dated 2006; “The patients in all the studies had at least one adenoma detected on colonoscopy but did not have cancer.  They developed cancer in the next few years, however, at the same rate as would be expected in the general population without screening.”

Another research study published in 2006 concluded that the screened patients in all of the studies developed colorectal cancer “at the same rate as would be expected in the general population without screening” in the next few years, even though all found polyps had been removed.

If polypectomies were as effective as advertised, and given the fact that about half of americans past age fifty get screened, we would have expected to see the incidence and mortality of colon cancer dive to a 45-50% reduction in mortality.  Instead, we have seen a 22% increase.  This increase could well be associated with the removal of the polyps themselves.  Removing a polyp releases cancer cells into the bloodstream, spreading the cancer at an accelerated rate to other organs.

The result of the Telemark Polyp Study 1 highly supports that theory. Although there was a 2% reduction in colorectal cancers in the screening group that had polyps removed, they had a 157% higher mortality from other causes than the control group. The “all cause” death rate was significantly higher in the group that was screened. So, you may die prematurely, but at least you will die knowing that you have no polyps in your colon while being embalmed. If being a polyp free corpse is all that’s important to you then, by all means, get the colonoscopy.

Most people will live their entire life with colon polyps and never develop colorectal cancer.  An estimated 95% of all polyps are benign.  They will never become cancers, so removing them and claiming victory over cancer is as fraudulent as cutting every mole off of everyone and boasting that you saved them from melanoma.  Removing a benign polyp creates and open wound within the dirtiest organ of the human body.  You might as well slice open your finger and stick it into a septic tank or gas station toilet.

The large polyps most commonly removed via colonoscopy are rarely a cancer threat.  By far, the largest portion of colon cancers start from flat lesions, which are usually never found or removed with colonoscopies, even though they are considered five times as cancerous as large polyps [source].

The National Cancer Institute’s report suggests it is closer to ten times higher: “In a study in which endoscopists used high-resolution white-light endoscopes, flat or nonpolypoid lesions were found to account for only 11% of all superficial colon lesions, but they were about 9.8 times as likely to contain cancer (in situ neoplasia or invasive cancer) compared with polypoid lesions.”

If colonoscopies are so ineffective at discovering cancer in early stages, why would this procedure be recommended as a proven prophylactic and diagnostic tool for cancer?  It can only be driven by the extreme income potential, not only to the doctors, but to the manufacturers of this device that costs in excess of $28,000.00.  This should be reason enough to hear a public outrage, but add in the fact that people are being killed or left disabled (as I am) and the outcry should be deafening and I believe it would be, if the american people were given the truth.

The erroneous claims of the success of polypectomies is as much of an illusion as a psychic surgery.  Doctors use this parlor trick to remove polyps commonly found in middle-aged to elderly patients and happily grabbed another $2,000.00 dollars and move to the next sucker patient.  It all looks so impressive when they can show the patient high-resolution images of the polyps they discovered and removed from inside of them and claim that they saved them from cancer.  When in reality, that polyp was little more threat to your life than that mole on their butt.

Even though I believe that Katie Couric has convinced herself that she is saving thousands of lives, her national endorsement of this service has most likely been responsible for the death of more people than she could possibly have saved.  Katie responded in a knee-jerk reaction to her husband’s untimely passing with the promotion of this money-making scandal of the medical supply companies.  I feel that Katie owes it to her viewers to broadcast stories like mine, showing the potentially deadly and life crushing effects of this service she endorses to healthy people and the rare transplant I received, which would, in fact, have been the only thing that could have saved her husband.  I will not hold my breath waiting for her call.

There is a rare group of individuals who suffer from a congenital defect known as Gardener’s Syndrome.  These people know who they are, because the cancer runs in their family.  For them, screening at the age of 50 would be far too late, because they often develop colon cancer in their 30s.  The benefits of colonoscopies does outweigh the risks in their case.  But, if you are over 45 and have not developed colorectal cancer yet, you are not one of these people and the risks associated with a colonoscopy far outweigh any potential gain.

Katie’s husband was only 42 when he succumb to colon cancer, leading me to believe he may have suffered from this rare gene mutation (average age of colon cancer is 71, so his case is rare).  A simple polyp removal would not have saved his life.  Only a full multi-visceral transplant could have.  I know this because the woman assigned as my mentor had Gardener’s Syndrome and required a six organ transplant at the age of 33 to rescue her.  Katie’s endorsement of colonoscopies is misplaced and she should instead be endorsing intestinal and multi-visceral transplants.  But how would that profit GE and her investments in their products?   Starting colon screening at the age of 50 would have been little consolation to her late husband, given the fact that he died at the age of 42.  Unfortunately, this leads me to believe that Katie is only endorsing what is profitable to her, not what would have truly saved her husband’s life.  She is not on a crusade to save lives, but to boost her career.

The Use Of Colonoscopies For Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Besides its use for cancer screening, colonoscopies are also used by Gatroenterologist’s to diagnose Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s disease and other Inflammatory Bowels Diseases (IBD).  This is a deadly combination.  The risks of perforation are much greater in these patients.  To use a device, which exerts so much pneumatic pressure within a human organ on patients who have weakened areas (ulcers and fistulas) and inflammation is irresponsible to say the least.  This procedure should be completely forbidden for use on patients with severe IBD, yet doctors are using it as the tool of choice.

A sigmoidoscopy would be far less invasive and just as effective at diagnosing IBD diseases (by cellular biopsies).  Sigmoidoscopy does not require the use of general anesthetics and has less than half the incidence of perforation [source].

A case study reported by the Journal Of the National Cancer Institute stated:

Overall, we found a perforation incidence of nearly two per 1000 colonoscopies, slightly more than twice the perforation incidence from sigmoidoscopy.

But, a sigmoidoscopy charges out at a fraction of the cost of a colonoscopy and takes about the same amount of time to perform.  So doctors naturally opt for the colonoscopy.  I was never offered the option of, nor given the information about the safety differences between the two or I would most likely still have my native small bowels.  I have no idea how many Crohn’s or UC patients have been killed or damaged by these machines as I was, but I would reason to believe that the number is staggering – and of course, unreported.

I would like to give you an idea of the air pressure that can be exerted by this device.  After my transplant, the technician operating the ileoscope was a Fellow, who was inexperienced at it.  I began to complain of the tremendous pressure, but he ignored my discomfort and continued to pump away.  Suddenly, everything in my stomach ejected from my mouth.  I didn’t have nausea, nor did I wretch.  The air pressure was so great that it literally pushed upward through over 20 feet of bowels and blew open 2 one-way sphincters.  I was terrified of these machines after this and would only allow Attending Surgeons to perform any future ileoscopes.

Perforations are difficult to diagnose and often go undetected for several days.  Every hour counts after a perforation, because the leakage of colonic bacteria begin to spread infection and necrosis throughout the visceral organs. It can be difficult to diagnose and locate all perforations which has led to the levels of damage and death I have seen in several patients because of delay in treatment.  It is the x-ray and/or CT screening for the presence of “free air” in the abdomen that is the golden standard used to diagnose perforations.  “Free air” will not always be present nor easy to detect.  The level of confidence that doctors instilled in this diagnostic technique is what led them to dismiss the possibility of perforation and thereby ignore my failing vitals over the next four days.

Conclusion

Because of the savior status that this deadly procedure has received in recent years and the fact that celebrities like Katie Couric have made it a media darling, it is impossible to get anyone in the media to report anything that may suggest that there is a danger with this procedure.  Even though it has never been proven to be effective at diagnosing cancer, nor have we seen any decline in colorectal cancer since its implementation, these whores in the media continue to insist that it has saved thousands of lives.  Where are the studies to support their claims?

The words “cancer” and “terrorist” scare Americans more than any others in the English language.  What are your chances of developing colorectal cancer?  Even a person in a high-risk group is 12 times more likely to die from heart disease; 10 times from any other cancer, 6 times from a medical error, 3 times from stroke, and twice as likely to die from an accident.  Yet, Americans are so motivated by the word “cancer”, that they are willing to submit themselves to this ambulatory surgical procedure, even when they feel perfectly healthy.  Would you submit yourself to any other invasive surgical exploration as simply a screening technique for a disease you most likely don’t have?

Of the seven intestinal and multivisceral transplant recipients I met, only two had lost their organs to a disease.  Nurses told me that better than 80% of the organ recipients were the result of bariatric surgeries, liposuction and colonoscopies (in that order).  I met two women who lost their organs to faulty gastric by-pass surgeries and two were the result of colonoscopies.  Disease is not your worst enemy, medical procedures are.  And every one of these are elective procedures undertaken by otherwise healthy people who were assured of their safety.  Healthy people whose lives have now been destroyed and shortened by medical practitioners hawking unnecessary procedures for monetary gain.

I will continue to fight the battle of awareness until a much safer and more effective diagnostic tool for cancer, Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis is invented.  Because everyone seems happy with the status quo, nothing will be done to improve this diagnostic technique or better yet, come up with a far less invasive one, unless the dangers and the ineffectiveness of its use as a cancer screening device are made common knowledge.

Modern medicine needs to start looking in new, less invasive, directions – not to simply dump more money into promoting their existing products that do not work effectively – and even worse, are making people sicker or outright killing them.  If half as much money went into research as is spent on the advertising and celebrity endorsement for the promotion of this outdated, crude and invasive torture device, we would have cured the damned disease by now.  Curing a disease is never as profitable as treating one.

They have been quite efficient at sweeping my story under the carpet and my tiny place in cyberspace will never get this information the attention that it needs to save lives.  I will continue to do whatever I can.  If I can save just one person from having to live through the nightmares that I have, it will be worth the effort.   But people, you to need to wake up and demand more truth about these modern “snake oil” practices.

If you wish to learn more about the dangers of this procedure, please read part 1; “The Dangers Of Colonoscopies” and the “Wolverine Story“.

There is also a lot of good information and videos at Konstantin Monastyrsky’s website; here

I still have many more articles in this series upcoming, so please check back or subscribe to receive email notifications of when new articles are posted.

I am not a doctor nor attempting to give medical advice.  I believe that every american has the right to the truth concerning the real, absolute risks and benefits in modern medicine – something you will not get from the mainstream media.  Always remember that their broadcasts or publications are paid for by the manufacturers of these medical devices and pharmaceuticals.  The entities in the media will not bite the hand that feeds.  I am selling no products and am a victim of this profitable industry and will always give an unbiased opinion of my research and experiences, so you can have better information with which to make decision concerning your health.  Stay healthy, please.

 


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91 Responses to The Effectiveness Of Colonoscopies On Cancer And IBD
  1. Zakariah Lafreniere
    April 4, 2012 | 12:52 am

    Powerful and well written!
    1) Contact Andreas Moritz for natural healing
    2) Contact the Kevin Trudeau radio network ASAP!!
    3) Steve Jobs is the latest victim to fall at the hand of the diabolical allopath and palliative care… Please see only a doctor of naturopathy!

    • Jean Bush
      February 28, 2014 | 5:19 pm

      Zak, Trudeau and Moritz have been proven as dangerous frauds. They have never had any medical or scientific research creditials.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Trudeau

      http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/02/18/andreas-moritz-is-a-cancer-qua/

      Please do some serious research before you go spewing alternative nonsense.

      Just becuase it’s touted as “natural” doesn’t mean it’s good or safe.

  2. Rachel Lynn H.
    April 26, 2012 | 4:59 pm

    Thank you for this information. I am scared about colonoscopies now, but it’s good to have truthful information. I’m glad I have this information.

    • Wolverine
      April 27, 2012 | 12:29 pm

      Thanks you Rachel. Unless you have some really bad health issues, like rectal bleeding or have a long history of colorectal cancer in your family, I really don’t believe that their is any advantage to get a colonoscopy. Doctors and insurance companies apply a lot of pressure to have everyone, no matter how healthy they are, to submit themselves to this procedure as a precaution, but it is more motivated by profits. It is my mission to let people know the real dangers of this procedure and that you have a much higher chance of ending up like me than you do of ever developing colorectal cancer. I really don’t see how cancer could be any worse than what I have lived through.

      This procedure has not yet proven itself as an effective device for early detection of cancer and colorectal cancer has not declined since its implementation, but has actually risen. But, the procedure has certainly proven itself as effective tool for injury and death to healthy people.

  3. Laura
    July 31, 2012 | 10:05 pm

    I have been pressured into having a colonoscopy, even though I am a “health nut” who eats well, exercises and gets plenty of sleep and sunshine. Dr. Mercola does not personally get ANY cancer screenings, and I go to thinking, maybe there were risks I wasn’t aware of. So, I came upon your blog, and not a moment too late. I was scheduled for a colonoscopy in a few days, but my gut feeling was that I should wait. Now, I will be waiting forever. THANK YOU for this informative and well written article. If your goal was to save “just one person”, I assure you, you just did.

    • Wolverine
      July 31, 2012 | 11:29 pm

      Laura, Thank you for your comment. If there was one thing in my life I’d give anything to change, it would be the day I allowed them to perform that colonoscopy. No one should have to live through the hell I did and there is no way that a colonoscopy could protect you from anything remotely worse than the damage that it caused to me. By all means, I shouldn’t even be alive. Not one doctor thought I would survive. But it was one long hard and painful road.

      I am glad that you have decided that it is not worth the risk. Statistically speaking, there is a much higher chance that you will be injured, disabled or outright killed by that procedure, than any chance that you will develop colorectal cancer before you are eighty years old. I was only 48 when they nearly took my life. Thanks again for your thoughts.

      BTW, if you ever decide to get the procedure, just read the paper that they make you sign – it lists all the horrible risks associated with this procedure. including death. Everyone has to sign this paper, but the doctor will always assure you that those risks are very rare. They’re lying. According to my research, they are quite common. One in every thousand people are perforated by a colonoscopy. When you figure that thousands of colonoscopies are performed per day, your odds are quite high – four times higher than the odds of you getting cancer – even if you are in a high risk group for colon cancer. And perforations are just one way of being injured or killed. You could die instantly from a deep vein thrombosis, which are caused by the mechanical bowel prep or infected by the scope itself, because it is impossible to sterilize them (HIV, Hep-C and many more). Take that paper serious before signing. My advice is to drop the paper and haul ass out of there.

    • Anthony
      April 22, 2013 | 11:41 pm

      Dude. You cleared things up with time to spare. I appreciate your blog. I have always had my personal reservations about colonoscopy dangers. One person I know went into the doctor’s office to get a hernia repaired and died during surgery. Was it her age? Was it malpractice? I don’t really have the answer. But I read your blog and it has made me determined to set this colonoscopy thing out and I will make it to my 90th birthday and when I get there I will be thanking you for a long life without fear.
      You are truly a blessing.

      • Wolverine
        April 23, 2013 | 12:25 pm

        Thanks, Anthony. Until someone actually publishes just one clinical study proving that a colonoscopy can actually prevent cancer, maybe we could consider it. To this date, none have been done, except the Telemark Polyp 1 Study, which didn’t show any benefit to the colonoscopy group over the control group and had a 150% increase in morality for all cause deaths in the colonoscopy group. Not a very good endorsement for the procedure.

        Everything we get from doctors is strictly based on their gut feeling – no controlled studies. Either studies were done and kept secret, beacuse they were not favorable in proving the effectiveness of colonoscopies or none have been attempted. But the potential damage from the procedure is well documented. Seems there is really nothing to gain and much to lose from this very profitable procedure of the medical industry.

  4. Jan B
    August 1, 2012 | 3:56 pm

    Scary. I’m 47 and I’m afraid that they revoke my drivers license if I don’t get scoped at fifty! All joking aside, I have had IBS since an idiot surgeon messed up a gallbladder surgery on me back in 2008. I know they would see raw areas and I don’t want them “fixing” anything and making me sicker.

    As it is, I deal with my issues, which affect me every moment of very day, on my own. I treat my problems of never being able to digest animal fats without “dumping syndrome” by avoiding these fats and by drinking a banana smoothie made with Metamucil coarse unsweetened fiber every morning.

    Thanks for pointing this out. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette recently has been running stories about 215 patients who were scoped with dirty scopes at UPMC because the staff did not know that there was a small channel that was new, which needed to be cleaned.

    Even though the staff found “sterilized” scopes which were hanging on the OR walls, dripping fecal matter onto the floor, they continued to use the scopes on patients!

    Torture. Too bad the lawsuits will not help the victims, who have been exposed to a myriad of diseases. Money does not fix a life destroyed by “medicine.”

    • Wolverine
      August 2, 2012 | 12:30 am

      Jan, Thanks for writing. Your difficulty digesting animal fats makes sense, in light of the gall bladder damage you sustained at the hands of the doctors. An adequate amount of bile is necessary to emulsify heavy fats into solution, because the contents of your digestive system are water based and oil and water won’t mix without an emulsifier. Without bile, you will be unable to digest heavier fats, like found in animal products.

      Though my gall bladder was perfectly healthy, the transplant surgeons removed it – they explained that it was necessary to perform an intestinal transplant, but I have no problem digesting meat. Bile is manufactured by the liver and simply stored in the gall bladder. People without gall bladders typically can digest animal fat if they eat their meals at the same time each day. Because there is no reserve for the bile, they must eat at the time the liver is secreting it. I eat at all different times and have had no issues, but I’m kind of a medical freak that makes no sense to the doctors.

      The doctors might have damaged your bile ducts from the liver. Something is wrong, because the bile is not making it into your duodenum (the chamber right below the stomach). The soluble fiber (inulin) from the bananas is gentle on the intestinal walls, but I am not a fan of psyllium fiber (an insoluble fiber from wheat), which is what Metamucil is made from. This could be the reason why you feel you may have some raw areas in the bowels. Psyllium is quite harsh on the intestinal mucosa.

      Metamucil is made from the by-product from animal feed. Livestock animals refuse to eat the husk of the wheat, probably because they know it causes bloating and gas, because it is indigestible – even to ruminant animals! So the feed and cereal manufacturers sell the leftover husks to manufacturers who make Metamucil and other fiber supplements. Basically, something that all livestock animals refuse to eat (and get sick when they do) is packaged and sold to humans as a supplement that can help their digestion – when in fact, indigestible fiber causes constipation, bloating and diarrhea – it does not solve the problem. It takes on water, swells and stretches the intestinal walls.

      There are some good videos with information on studies concerning the effectiveness of fiber at this link here. Check them out – good stuff!

      Since my transplant, my transplanted bowels are extremely sensitive and I absolutely cannot handle psyllium. I reasonably suspect that it was wheat fiber that damaged my colon in the first place. I still have over 20 inches of native intestines, which is still susceptible to UC, but I have had no problems since I dropped wheat entirely from my diet.

      • Jean Bush
        February 28, 2014 | 5:39 pm

        I’m glad to read your comment on fiber. It is the most dangerous additive to the human diet since grains.

        You’ll find this site interesting reading.

        www.fibermenace.com

        If I had found this just 3 months before my colon collapsed, I could have saved myself. I will briefly tell you my story over the weekend.

        Jean

        • Wolverine
          February 28, 2014 | 10:22 pm

          Jean, thank you for the link. I am very familiar with the work of Konstantin Monastyrsky. He and I have had several delightful email conversations over the years. He was quite floored by my ordeal and what I had survived. There is little doubt in my mind that the original damage that cause me to have Ulcerative Colitis was cause by wheat and the heavy psyllium fiber that is added to whole wheat.

          I still have about 2 feet of my native colon which was starting to give me trouble after the transplant. That’s when I removed all wheat from my diet and I have had no more problem. Had I never ate whole wheat products to begin with, I would still have my native intestines. The unexpected result came when the arthritis which I had been suffering in my shoulders and hips for years also cleared up after wheat cessation. That’s when I decided that wheat was not a food and should be removed from the human diet. So many diseases stem from wheat consumption and not just in today’s time of the hybrid semi-dwarf wheat, but we also see massive arterial damage within Egyptian mummies, who mostly existed on wheat and other grains.

          I came to the conclusion that humans are/and have never been a grain eating animal and niether are any other mammals. We do not see obesity in wild animals? it is only when we domesticate pets and livestock that we see them become morbidly obese and that is due to the heavy usage of grains in their diets (most brands of dog and cat foods are predominantly grain-based, with meat flavoring -dogs and cats are carnivores!) these pets and livestock become ill when grain fed and require drugs and antibiotics to live. Grains are for the birds, not humans.

  5. Lindsay
    August 23, 2012 | 12:08 pm

    Thank you for telling your story. I am 60, and under a lot of pressure from my GP to have a colonoscopy. I have resisted for years because my gut feeling (pardon the pun) is that this is a barbaric invasive procedure. Also I do not have any respect for the capitalist medical system in the US. My 85 year old parents live in New Zealand and were horrified when I told them that every American is asked to undergo this. I have always felt this is a risky procedure for small return, and I will now wait until I am 65 before I even think about this again.
    Hopefully a better diagnostic method will be found soon.

    • Wolverine
      August 25, 2012 | 2:07 pm

      Your gut feeling (pun intended) is a spot on. I can understand why your parents are horrified. Colonoscopies are the only invasive procedure that I know of that is recommended to healthy people. I mean, people with absolutely no symptoms of gastric distress and no family history of colorectal cancer are still pressured to undergo an ambulatory surgical procedure. It’s quite insane.

      I guess it’s no more insane than the fact that 22 people have died in Texas as a result of West Nile Virus, so the government is spraying toxic chemicals on the entire population, whether they like it or not. Let’s put everyone else at risk, because a small percentage of people have died. Very few people die of colorectal cancer, but the doctors recommend that we put everyone at risk with a surgical procedure just to find that small percent that may have a tumor. I’d like to think that people would wake up and see what’s happening here, but I fear that they do not have it in them.

      • Jean Bush
        February 28, 2014 | 5:44 pm

        I just found your site yesterday and am horrified at your suffering.

        My MD found occult blood in my sample and tried several times to schedule me for a colonoscopy but I told them I had no one to accompany me so that I could get home safely.

        Since finding you, I will never have one done and I am 65.

        Thank you for your insight, blog and professional exposure of these problems.

        Follow the money, yes?

        • Lesley
          December 7, 2016 | 5:17 pm

          I am almost 65 and never had a colonscopy. I had a postive occult and so they are pushing hard but the prep looks downright dangerous, not to mention the actual procedure. My “gut” feeling also tells me not to engage in this. Hope I am making the right decision.

          • Wolverine
            December 8, 2016 | 7:19 am

            Hi Lesley. Having such a strong gut feeling tells you something. I have wished more than a million times I had followed my gut. I refused the procedure multiple times over a three day period I was in the hospital. I was badgered several times a day by the gastroenterologist that work in that hospital. Many times he came into the room, family members were there visiting and his scare tactics worked better on them than it did me. The diobolical thing about his plan was it then caused my family members to begin pressuring me which became harder to resist.

            You are doing the right thing, especially since there has not been one scientific, or clinical study which has proven the accuracy nor effectiveness of the colonoscopy. Not in the US, for sure. There is an ongoing study being done in Europe called the Telemark Polyp Study 1, which has been conducted for more than ten years and has thus far shown no advantage to colonoscopies.

            The amount of colorectal cancer developed in the group who had regular colonoscopies were equal to the control group who had no colonoscopies. Unfortunately, the most curious finding in the study, so far has been that the group who had colonoscopies and all found polyps removed also had a 150% higher mortality rate when “all cause” deaths were considers, compared to than those who had none. I say “unfortunately” because this is a very significant number, but study was not funded to investigate which ailments caused these deaths because it was a completely unexpected result.

            My guess would be most died from secondary cancers because that’s the only thing that makes sense. Some may have died from heart disease or some other non related problem, but you would expect that number to be in balance with the control group also. Given the extraordinary mortality rate, it would seem to somehow be related to the colonoscopy, since that was the only difference between the groups.

            Secondary cancers would make more sense for the ridiculously wide difference. It is reasonable to theorize that all that cutting away on polyps would break lose cancer cells in those polyps which are malignant. Since colonoscopies are never followed up by chemotherapy, like all other cancer surgeries are (this is done to kill those cancer cells which break free and travel in the blood where they can matastisize to other organs). Most colorectal cancers are very treatable today and have a high success rate. These cells can then metastasize to other organs such as liver, pancreas, lungs, brain or lymph nodes, which have a much higher mortality rate and typically kill much faster.

            These people could be trading their very treatable colon cancer for a far deadlier cancer. When I spent seven months in the hospital recovering from the transplant, all recipient were given ileoscopes once a week for the first two months. With this high rate of endoscopic procedures we saw a very high rate of injuries, but more interesting was the high rate of misdiagnosis from the surgeons (an ileoscopy uses the same tools as a colonoscopy, the only difference is the scope is inserted into the patients stoma, rather than the anus, this makes it painless, so the patient is not sedated into a coma and can watch the procedure.).

            It almost seemed like the doctors were wrong far more than they were right. They were typically proven wrong by the biopsies on the tissues they removed from the small bowel, usually a piece of villi. First, they would make a visual diagnosis. Given the fact that these procedures were being done by some of the best intestinal surgeon in the world, it makes me wonder how much worse the guessing game is with a typical gastroenterologist who has far less skill, training and education. All of these guys PhDs along with their MD and had performed countless bowel surgeries, not to mention transplants, which only a handful of surgeons have ever done.

            It always sound good at first; “hey, if the doctor can look around in there, he might spot something we would otherwise not know about; remove it and save lives”, but many things sound good on the surface, but were ultimately proven ineffective, or worse, dangerous throughout medical history.

            Tha problem here, is that this assumes the doctor knows what a normal healthy bowel should look like. Which anomalies are harmless and which are a possible problem. These transplant doctors missed huge problems far worse than a cancer. They once gave a clean bill of health to a transplant recipient who had more than 20 feet of bowel that had gone necrotic. The problem wasn’t found until she completely crashed and was taken into surgery to see what was wrong. All of the bowels had to be removed and she underwent a second bowel transplant, whochnshe survived, by the way. Two previous colonoscopies ad completely missed the fact that her bowels were dying and necrosis had set in — Wow, what en effective tool that is.

            The real kicker was that it was a routine colonoscopy that they had given her earlier which perforated the bowel, causing her to go into organ rejection. The transplant doctors reccomend that all recipients get a routine colonoscopy once a year. I am 6 years out from the transplant and still refuse to have one. I am not going to lose these bowels over a stupid colonoscopy when I look and feel fine.

            I had to accept the ileoscopies while I was hospitalized, because it was part of the agreement I had to sign to get the transplant. Once again, the doctors had the diagnisis wrong and on two occasion said I was in rejection, which the bioposies ultimately proved to be negative.

            Unfortunately, I was treated with a powerful immunosuppressant drug called Campath in the 48 hours it took to get back th eresults of the biopsy. The Campath killed about 10 – 15% of my bone marrow. This nearly killed me right away, as I ended up with a spontaneous blood infection which went system and put me in a coma and on a respirator for two weeks.

            I was lucky to survive, but the wrong diagnosis was not done killing me yet. The Multiple Myeloma cancer that I developed following the transplant is a cancer of the bone marrow. I am quite sure it was caused by the Campath, which is a notorious drug for causing cancer. Given the fact mine is in the marrow, the very organ Campath is design to cripple, it is obvious that the new marrow grew back mutated and therefore cancerous.

            Don’t beat yourself up. Go with your gut. I wish I did and you do not want to end up like me, wishing you had listen to your gut every day for the rest of your life.

            Colonoscopies create more problems than they solve. We have seen no drop in colorectal cancer rates since they started bullying people into getting them after age 50. This was nearly 20 years ago back in 2000, when Katie Couric began whoring herself out to NBC, who is owned General Electric, who is the largest manufacturer of endoscopes (the tool used in colonoscopies).

            We should have seen some significant drop in the rate of colorectal cancer and don’t let anyone tell you that the colonoscopy is responsible for the higher survival rate. That is due to better treatments, not endoscopes. If it were colonoscopies, we would see a lower rate in the development, because it claims to find cancer earlier and we have seen no statistic which would support that.

            If doctor’s were so good at spotting cancers, why are so many melanomas misssed, when they are right out on the open skin, which requires no special scope to see and it is also not coated in two inches of mucus, thus hiding any small lesion? The colon prep they give the patient does not and can not clear away the mucus. That mucus is what protects the gut, all the way from the mouth to the anus, but the colon has a mucus which creates an environment for bacteria be planted and thrive. Without this bacteria, the gut would become ulcerated quickly. That two inches of mucus will be present when they scope the bowel. The long dangling polyps are rarely malignant. It is the larger flat lesions which have more than a ten times higher rate of being malignant and they rarely stick up more than two inches. Easily covered by the mucosa, they are often missed during colonoscopies.

            Thank you for writing. I hope all goes well for you.

  6. Lee
    March 1, 2013 | 6:03 pm

    Hey Man. Love your blog, good for you keep fighting the good fight. Hey I have a quick question for you since you seem extremely knowledgable on all matters gut to bum. So basically I’m 27 year old male, eat healthy, no gluten, no processed foods or very little, plenty of fruits and veggies. I was diagnosed with IBS about 2 years ago… I was in a really stressful situation in life with a bad diet and not nearly enough sleep, along with over training. So I cleaned up to get my bowel movements back to a normal schedule and consistency. The problem now has been blood in my stool, for almost a year now. I am almost 100% sure it is from hemorrhoids… and I have starting using this Ma Yin Long hemorrhoids treatment along with much extra fiber in the diet to bulken and soften stool about 3 weeks ago, and the blood went away, FINALLY. I was like OK GREAT PROBLEM SOLVED. But Now I have gotten sick (just a flu), got really dehydrated and my stool hardened up again and the bleeding and pain passing stool has returned (it is a very sharp pain right at my rectum, hard to get the stool past that point). I am back on the Ma Yin Long and Fiber and plenty of water, but I kind of want to have this “locked down” so to speak. Blood in stool is a scary thing as I’m sure you of all people understand and I want to make sure it is nothing more serious than a Hemorrhoid and to stop coming back. So I have 2 questions: 1) Can you completely heal an internal hemmorrhoid/anal fissure and never have it come back? Does it take a really long time? OR should one just expact to have to deal with this issue repeatedly over time? and 2) Do you think I should get extra check-ups done on my health like a Sigmoidoscopy? I was thinking of getting a colonscopy but now do not want to (thank you, thank you, thank you!!) but I am a young gun and feel that blood in stool for over a year is far too long.

    • Wolverine
      March 3, 2013 | 1:06 am

      Hi Lee, and thanks for the comment. I really cannot give medical advice, but what is happening to you is similar to what happened to me.

      If the problem is hemorrhoids or fissures, then it’s not very serious and they can go away, once the source of irritation is removed. I had developed some hemorrhoids after losing my intestines, because the colon was disconnected and cause diversion colitis. They have went away, but any bouts of diarrhea will bring them back, so they sort of go in remission, but never completely go away.

      If you have sharp pains from the bowel whenever there is movement through them, it could be inflammation inside the colon, which can bleed and ultimately cause ulcers. Ulcerative colitis and other IBDs are a form of autoimmune disease, which means that your immune system is attacking your body tissues. This can be cause by allergies to certain foods. In my case, I found that it was caused by wheat.

      If you have UC or another IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) then you have a lot of inflammation within and it can become serious if not cleared up. You may want to try eliminating certain foods, especially ones that are known for causing autoimmune diseases in many people – those would be certain grains, like wheat, barley and oats or dairy, especially highly processed dairy.

      Doctors used to recommend fiber for IBD patients, but recent research, and the patients themselves, have proven that fiber is far worse on these patients and create far too much gas and bloating – which results in pain. Insoluble fiber is the harshest, yet it is the fiber most people turn too, especially psyllium fiber from wheat. You may want to try more soluble fiber instead. This can be found in most fruits and vegetables (avoid fiber from grains). I eat bananas (contain inulin, a soluble fiber) and it works well for me.

      If you find that you have to be scoped, I’d opt for the sygmoidoscopy. The doctor will push for a colonoscopy (because they take the same amount of time to perform, but the colonoscopy charges out at ten times the cost), but if you are bleeding and have inflammation inside, you would be at a far higher risk for a perforation than the average person. A colonoscopy is far more invasive that the sygmoidoscopy. A sigmoidoscopy should be just as effective at diagnosing UC or Crohn’s Disease.

      Otherwise, it sounds like you eat well, so I can’t imagine what else could be causing this. It seems like your problem may well be the hemorrhoid, because the pain would be up in the abdomen if it were an ulcerated colon. So, try dropping all that insoluble fiber (insoluble fiber takes on water and swells to many times its original size, which could make it hard to pass and cause fissures.

      Try using more soluble fiber from fruits and you may also want to try some fermented vegetables, like sauerkraut, but make sure it is actually fermented with live cultures. I ferment my own, but there is a major brand that can usually be found in the refrigerated section of most grocery stores called “Bubbies”. This should help things move along, without all that fiber. You ought to check out a book entitled “Fiber Menace”, written by Konstantine Monastyrsky or visit his site here.

      Thanks again. I hope things get better for you.

      • Lee
        March 18, 2013 | 11:44 pm

        Wow, excellent response my man thank you. I will investigate further… I did have one quick follow up question though- you mention there the abdominal pain… I do have some issues that come up time to time with that and wanted to see what you think. I have this often at night, and after eating. I would not call it pain, and I am only aware of it when I lie down and relax and not do anything, because anything too active and I miss the subtle sensations. But basically what happens is I can feel my pulse in my stomach,on the left side of my abdomen about an inch or two below the biggest rib bone the sticks out on my left side. sometimes it can be a strong sensation, a pulsing throbbing coming from that area (and sometimes it migrates a bit and moves around) other times it is very subtle. It seems to happen very randomly. Does this affect the advise you gave me earlier or cause concern in your mind? Any thoughts as to what this could be? PS I have been hydrating well and avoiding excess fiber and painful bowel movements and blood have been gone, thank you thank you thank you! Peace and love man. Lee

        • Wolverine
          March 19, 2013 | 3:42 am

          It’s really hard to explain a pain or sensation to someone else – I know, because I had to try to explain pains to doctors and nurses a thousand times. I used to hate when the nurses would ask; “on a scale of 1 to 10, where is your pain – 10 being your worst pain ever?”, because different people have a different scale based on the worst pain they’ve ever had.

          Beings I once lived three days with more than twenty feet of necrotic bowels, I would tell the nurses that my ten is far beyond anything they could imagine and that my four or five was probably more than they would tolerate. Anyway, it’s hard for me to understand what this feeling is that you are describing, because I never had anything like it. It sounds more like possibly a muscle or circulatory issue, because organs rarely feel anything and when they finally do, it is really intense.

          Cancer can be difficult, because it rarely creates any pain at all, which is why it can go undetected for a long time. Have you had any x-rays or other imaging done to see what it may be? Have you tried to do some research on the web for these symptoms? I can sometimes feel my pulse in other areas in the body, but not all the time and not to a degree that has ever concerned me. Sounds like it could be due to some inflammation, which can often pulse with your heart beat. If it really concerns you, you may want to consult a doctor about it, but you sound like a young man in pretty good health and conscious about your health, so I doubt it is anything too serious – but only you can be the judge. If your instincts feel that something serious could be going on, I’d get it checked out – at least an x-ray. Stay healthy man.

      • Lee
        March 18, 2013 | 11:46 pm

        Ahh one more quick question: so I know sauerkraut has beneficial bacteria in it for your gut… but does cooking sauerkraut destroy that bacteria? Is it necessary to eat your kraut cold or room temperature? If so, do you have any recipe tricks to make it more palatable? Or do you cook it? thanks man!

        • Wolverine
          March 19, 2013 | 3:26 am

          I have always assumed that the same rules apply for sauerkraut as when making yogurt, so whenever I heat my sauerkraut, I only warm it to between 100 to 110 degrees F. As a matter of fact, the bacterium become more active and begin to reproduce faster as they warm up, but they are destroyed and denatured beyond 110 degrees.

          Many people also use it as a condiment with other foods – that makes it easier to eat it – sort of like using it instead of mustard or salad dressing. I’ve done that. My wife often puts it in her salads. Of course, the sauerkraut we make at home is not as salty as commercial sauerkraut, because we use half the amount of salt and make up the difference with whey from raw milk.

          This introduces a lot more culture to the mix and it come out more tart and less salty. I should probably publish my sauerkraut recipe for people here, because it is really awesome. We add about 3 carrots per head of cabbage. The higher carbohydrate content of the carrots gives the bacteria more sugar to convert to lactic acid – my wife and I like it pretty sour.

          You can heat it, just keep it under 110 degrees F.

          • Lee
            March 20, 2013 | 10:02 pm

            I am blown away by your knowledge and quickness to give advise and support. Many thanks and blessings your way. I feel more at ease now and believe that I’m OK… everything has been getting much better the past 2 months thank god, but it has been a long arduous past 3 years of going through these battles and figuring things out. Here is to everyone hanging in there and finding the healthier you in the future!

          • Lee
            April 22, 2013 | 12:55 pm

            Powerful wolverine! I’m back seeking your wonderful expertise and kindness to share.
            First of all I have incorporated more fermented food into my diet including kombucha and Bubbies brand sauerkraut – great recommendation btw that stuff is delicious. and for people here reading a good way to try eating it is just scramble some eggs and throw bubbies on top- surprisingly tasty little (gut friendly) meal!
            But anyways, I am feeling really good right now, but the last thing I am working on is speeding up my intestinal transit time. My stool builds up too much sometimes, becomes hardened, and this is problematic to pass. My general strategy has been more insoluble fiber and more water… is this a good plan do you think? Do you have any secret tips to increase bowel transit time or to make hard stools softer? I probably pass stool roughly once every 1.25 days or so I would say, which is in your “normal” range I know, but I think i need more to keep the stool from becoming hard… your thoughts?

          • Wolverine
            April 23, 2013 | 1:09 pm

            Thanks, lee. If that works for you, then I say stay with it. I find that too much insoluble fiber from grains, and when especially mixed with high volumes of water, can cause the fiber to swell up by taking on more and more water, creating a very hard stool. I prefer to get soluble fibers from fruits and vegetables.

            Because the insoluble fiber increases in size when wet, it can slow down transplant time and there have even been links with diverticulitis. Continue eating the fermented food,mother contain both soluble fiber and beneficial bacteria, which will aid in digestion. A good colonic flora will help pass things along, by reducing the inflammation at the colonic walls.

            So,e people swear by high doses of insoluble fiber and claim it works, and I do not doubt that – at least in the short run. But over time, the larger and larger stools will stretch out the colon, making them depended on more and more fiber to get the job done. The larger stools will also lead to hemorrhoids or anal fissures.

            I find the gentler fibers from fruits and vegetable (soluble) to a much better way to achieve transit time – along with the fermented foods. The water can certainly help, many people are constipated because of a lack of water. A dehydrated person will have constipation. Hope this helps.

          • Lee
            April 23, 2013 | 7:55 pm

            Oh actually sorry that was a typo I meant to say I’m taking more soluble fiber! I’m actually taking a soluble fiber supplement as well – acacia senegal… any strong feelings on that particular form of fiber?

          • Wolverine
            April 23, 2013 | 9:15 pm

            No, soluble fiber is the preferred and most natural fiber that our ancestors would have consumed. I really can’t see where Paleolithic men would have found psyllium fiber (insoluble) in any kind of quantity. The soluble fiber should help to soften stools, rather than the hard, impassible stools cause by grain fibers (basically wood pulp).

            Keep up the good work and stay healthy. Remember, if our paleo ancestors didn’t have access to it, we probably didn’t adapt a mechanism to handle it.

      • Jean Bush
        February 28, 2014 | 5:46 pm

        Bingo! You beat me to it!

  7. Anthony
    April 22, 2013 | 11:47 pm

    More power to you wolverine. I look forward to future blogs and want to be on your e-mail list.
    Thanks again. God bless.

    • Wolverine
      April 23, 2013 | 12:14 pm

      Thanks, Anthony.

  8. Miss Gowens
    June 23, 2013 | 5:23 pm

    My daddy went for a colonoscopy on February 18, 2010 and died on February 21, 2010 after they removed 9 polyps.

    • Wolverine
      July 5, 2013 | 12:07 pm

      I apologize for taking so long to answer this heart wrenching post. I have been under the weather recently, since I found out I have multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer. I am so sorry to hear about your father. He died at about the time I was receiving my transplant.

      It is a shame that this device claimed another life needlessly. I wish I could have a higher impact on getting out the word on the dangers that the doctors hide from patients concerning this procedure, but there are very mighty entities with very deep pockets defending this procedure for it’s great revenue generating powers – there is little I can do, especially in sight of the fact that I am dying.

      I had wished the transplant that I fought so hard to survive would bring me new life, instead it gave me cancer. I guess I really died when that quack ruptured my bowel walls – my body just didn’t know it yet. My death certificate will say I died from multiple myeloma, but I was truly killed by a colonoscopy. If there is any legal way I can force that document to say that – I will.

      Sorry again for your great loss and grief. I will keep your father in my thoughts always and any other who have written me of there loved ones lost by this procedure, which are far too many. Thanks for writing.

  9. Mike Agsteribbe
    June 26, 2013 | 9:02 am

    Thank you for your article, i have been keeping off this procedure since the first horrible one that i had years ago. Doctors always try to push me into it, and since i have Crohn’s i always tell them its a very bad idea indeed. From now on i will point them to your article and that will hopefully shut them up.

    As for cancer risks, for anyone reading with or without IBD : Make sure you are on healthy foods, eat vegetables, fruit, avoid added sugar, fat, and processed foods as much as possible, don’t smoke, drink, and do regular exercise. If then you still get cancer you do not have to blame yourself.

    For the writer of this article, all the best you have amazing stamina!

    • Wolverine
      July 5, 2013 | 12:26 pm

      Thank you Mike for your comment and courage to resist these doctors – it may have saved your life, ten times over. There is nothing that a colonoscopy can do to help Crohn’s Disease anyway, except injure you, badly.

      I agree that diet is the only way to improve the symptoms. I agree with your dietary recommendations, except that I would personally add refraining from grains. I have found that grains are terrible for the bowels, especially the grain fibers, psyllium, which are far too harsh for the human, or any mammal’s, intestines. Even cattle refuse to eat it.

      I have even removed beans, especially soy (if you will read my post entitled “The Truth About Soy” and see what I experienced you will see why I avoid soy at all costs), from my diet. Beans are very hard to digest, henceforth all of the bloating and gas they create. In their raw state, the high lectin content makes them poisons for any mammal to eat, which means our most ancient ancestors could not have eaten them (only heating and processing can destroy the lectins – something a paleo man could not have known), so we have not had enough evolution to adapt to them. I have no need for them, as they are not as nutritionally high as other foods anyway and offer us nothing if we eat the type diet that you prescribed.

      Beans and grains were the food of poor people and eaten in desperation, rather then face starvation. There is no reason to eat them if you have access to better food choices. After all, poor people have rarely been known for their robust health. Why eat them?

      Thanks again for you knowledgeable and intelligent comment. I hope that your Crohn’s Disease improves. I have know two women who suffered with it, it is a terrible disease. You will be in my thoughts. Thanks.

      • lee
        July 18, 2013 | 10:25 am

        Powerful wolverine…. So sorry to hear of your recent diagnosis… Life is a funny thing some of us really have to battle through so much more than others. All I can say is god bless you and what you have started here. Your work will continue on with all of the people you have helped and this idea will only continue to gain momentum in the future as more and more people are awakening to the evils of modern medicine. I’m happy to have run across your site and to know that good people like yourself are out there doing things like this, a midst all the chaos, thoughts like those keep me sane. Go with peace my friend!

        • Wolverine
          July 31, 2013 | 3:25 am

          Thank you so much for these words of encouragement, Lee. You will never know just how much comments like this help me do deal with everything.

          I have had a few attacks from people who work in the medical industry, so it helps to keep me going when I see that there still are some intelligent people out there.

          The odd thing is that people do not realize that chances are greatest that they will die of heart disease, diabetes or even lung cancer (even if they never smoked) than colon cancer, yet they risk their lives screening for a disease that statistically kills few people in comparison to other diseases.

          Of course, the greatest chances of dying are from pharmaceutical drugs, which kill more people in the U.S. than any thing else. Medical errors are third, only behind heart disease and it could actually kill more people than heart disease given the fact that so many errors go unreported.

          Thanks again for your words of encouragement. I hope you stay healthy and happy.

          • Lee
            August 12, 2013 | 1:47 pm

            Hey just a thought for everyone. I just found something that is REALLY good for instantly curing hemorrhoids, at least it was for me. Funny how simple the things that truly work are… (I am in no way shape or form affiliated with these guys, just a dude who had blood in his stool for way too long and is happy to share what worked) http://www.squattypotty.com/

          • Wolverine
            August 12, 2013 | 4:44 pm

            Thanks Lee. The problem with the modern American toilet is that it was invented by a cabinet maker, not a doctor or scientist. Prior to that invention, no human being EVER sat down to move their bowels. In the same way that women do not sit down to deliver a baby. This is not a proper or strong position for evacuating anything from within.

            I don’t know how well the Squatty Potty works, but it has to be better than the modern American toilet design. I know that many European countries have low profile toilets with stirrups for the feet on either side. But, Americans get set in their ways and will continue to push out hemorrhoids rather than break tradition.

  10. Joan
    August 11, 2013 | 7:56 pm

    I’m so glad I read your story. I just cancelled my second colonoscopy/endoscopy appt. because I get to within a few days of the procedures and I panic. All of the available preps sound horrid. I have had IBS and diverticulosis for years and for years I have refused to have a colonoscopy (I am 63). I had a bowel cleansing in the 80’s for a barium/air contrast test which put me off any further testing of this sort. But, I am pressured by friends and family to have this test, and some speak of their tests in very cavalier ways, not understanding my apprehension. Today, after I cancelled my last-ever scheduled test, I felt like a coward. After reading your story, I feel that it was definitely the right decision, and that my long-held fears held more merit than I ever imagined. I have also had sigmoidoscopies through the years and think I will go that route (pardon the pun) in lieu of the far worse option.

    • Wolverine
      August 12, 2013 | 4:03 pm

      Thanks Joan. A colonoscopy gone bad can certainly ruin your life in short order, so it is always something to be concerned about. Most people are verbally put at ease about the procedure by their doctors, but if they paid attention to the legal waiver they must sign prior to the procedure, they would see that the risks are very real and even life threatening.

      When your friends crank up the heat, ask them about that waiver. Trust me, if those things were actually as rare as the doctors will claim, they would not demand patients sign it (they will not perform the procedure if you refuse to sign). That paper protects the doctors from any legal action if and when patients are injured or killed. Statistically speaking, the risks listed on that paper are much higher than the risk of anyone actually getting colorectal cancer – even those in a high risk category.

      Businesses only make people sign waivers when the activity carries very high risks of injury or death, like sky diving or bungee jumping – not simply riding roller coaster, where the risks are very low, but do occasionally happen. That’s because it’s not worth frightening potential customers for something that does not cost the business very many lawsuits in the long run. Only when the lawsuits would be frequent and sizable do you scare customers with a legal document.

      A colonoscopy may be worth the risk in some cases, but the idea of perfectly healthy, asymptomatic and young people (starting at age 50) seems unwarranted and pushed simply for profit. Would someone expose themselves to the high levels of radiation from a CT when they are feeling fine?

      A sigmoisoscopy would not be as effective at finding cancer, if you had reason to believe you could have colon cancer. It is just as effective for Crohn’s, UC or other IBDs as a colonoscopy. A colonoscopy would be the proper tool if you thought you may have cancer, but submitting to one just as a prophylactic is as insane as having exploratory surgery just to look around inside a healthy person. Mammograms are as stupid a colonoscopies and the two probably injure more people than they ever helped.

      The odd thing is that people are not only convinced that the procedure is safe, but they are also convinced it is 100% effective, something that has yet to be established. People are just paying for a false sense of security. There is no guarantee that a clean colonoscopy reading means you don’t have colorectal cancer. We have seen no significant drop in colon cancer rates since colonoscopies have become the norm. If it actually worked, we should have seen a significant drop.

      • Joan
        August 12, 2013 | 7:19 pm

        Thank you, again. I took the anticipated heat today from my friends who wanted to see how I fared with the tests, not knowing I had cancelled. As the day wore on, I got more elated, actually, that I had cancelled the procedure. The bottom line is that a maternal uncle did die of colon cancer and I will weigh a colonoscopy in the future but, right now, it is not in the cards for me. I am more interested in getting help for the diverticulitis and colitis issues and will do what I have to in that regard. I am also forwarding your website to some of my friends in hopes that they will hesitate before their next procedures are scheduled. What really astounded me was the fact that the US is beyond Europe in many medical advances and that the insurance lobby in this country balks at even having a method in place (protective coverings for repeatedly-used endoscopes). This is truly unconscionable.

        Also, I know that there are various preps on the market, some more kidney-friendly than others, but I wonder how accurate studies could have been, to date, as to the potential for future kidney damage from repeated colonoscopies, no matter what the mode of prep utilized. It often takes years for ramifications to set in and this colonoscopy craze is somewhat in its infancy, medically speaking.

        • Joan
          August 12, 2013 | 7:21 pm

          sorry…meant to say that the US is BEHIND Europe….

  11. Andrea
    September 19, 2013 | 12:26 am

    Wolverine – I am so sorry for all that you have had to go through. It just isn’t fair. I want to thank you so much for sharing your story though, and for all the great information you have posted. I have always said that I’ll never get a colonoscopy. I have bookmarked your site and will share this information with everyone I know who plans to get a colonoscopy, because you have put exactly how I feel into words much better than I could. I’m sure you have saved lives and prevented needless suffering, and that you will continue to do so in the future. Thanks again.

    • Wolverine
      September 20, 2013 | 12:59 pm

      Thank you, Andrea for your thoughts. I do wish they would come up with a safer alternative to colonoscopies, because they are far more dangerous than people are led to believe they are. As long as people are convinced that this is a safe screening procedure, there will be no motivation to improve on it. Only if people refuse to subject themselves to this tortuous procedure will they be forced to come up with a safer way. If someone is really sick, they may well be worth the risks, but to attempt this procedure on a perfectly healthy person is just insane.

      It’s sad how profit-driven the medical industry has become. There is a major cover-up on just how dangerous this procedure truly is. I guess it’s easy to hide the results because most people injured in the way I was never survive to tell the tale. Given the rare incident of my survival, I figured I could at least spread the word and let people know how deadly they can be when they go wrong. Since publishing this site, I have had a multitude of people write to tell me of someone they knew who died horribly from one of these procedures, confirming my suspicions and the data I have found in my research.

      I was told that what happened to me was very rare, but I have discovered that these type injuries are not that rare, it is just a person actually surviving such and injury that is rare – which makes the procedure even more frightening.

      I’m not trying to talk everyone out of ever getting a colonoscopy, I just wanted people to know the dark side of the story so they can make a more informed decision as to whether their condition warrants the very high risks of injury and death. The media leads everyone to believe there are little to no risks, which is far from the truth and injuries and death are more common than most people believe.

  12. Ken
    October 10, 2013 | 8:24 pm

    Thxs for your blog. I am to have one done in 13 days till now, that will not happen thxs to you. I am so sorry that you had to go through such an ordeal that affects you for the rest of your life. May God bless you richly now and in the future with Jesus in your life.

    • Wolverine
      October 11, 2013 | 3:38 am

      Thanks, Ken. If you were having the procedure because you are having any serious health problems (bleeding or severe diarrhea), you still may want to consider it or a sigmoidoscopy, which is far less invasive. If you are feeling fine and were just doing it as a prophylactic cancer screening, then the risks are far greater than any possible benefit.

      I am not convinced that colonoscopies are very effective at screening for cancer since most clinical studies have shown that people who get screened develop colon cancer at the same rate as those who don’t.

      In my case, a sigmoidoscopy should have been the choice, but that option was not offered to me. I was suffering from ulcerative colitis, which a sigmoid scope can be just as effective at diagnosing.

      I have learned that the only reason the doctor did not tell me of that option is because it takes the same amount of time to perform, but charges out at tens times the cost. It’s sad to know that I was nearly killed and my life wrecked so a doctor could make $1,500.00 rather than $300.00.

      Thank you for the blessing, I need all the help I can get.

      • Marilyn Harris
        October 22, 2013 | 2:20 am

        I’m so glad to have found your website, Wolverine – I was subjected to a colonoscopy 7 years ago when I had insurance coverage and my husband has been pressured to schedule one for the past several years but I’ve had a bad feeling about it, plus no more health insurance, so he waited. He will definitely NOT have one after reading your terrific blog! You make so many valid points that no one else is making about the risks involved – you just make SENSE! I came to the same conclusion about breast cancer screening after WAY too many iffy-false-positive-come-back-for-another-look reports – I just KNOW that those radioactive rays were not doing me any good. And I lost whatever faith I had in doctors after they removed my gallbladder and then told me to “keep doing what you’re doing” re. diet… what? So you can keep removing MORE of my innards? No, thanks!!

        I’ll continue to read thru your other posts and readers’ responses since there’s a wealth of information here. THANK YOU for sharing your story and THANK YOU for the passion you bring to telling the truth! I sincerely hope that your myeloma goes into complete remission and you get to see as more and more people benefit from your writings.

        • Wolverine
          October 23, 2013 | 2:16 am

          Thank you Marilyn for your story. The great news I recently received was that after all the myeloma blood work and PET scan, there was no trace of the multiple myeloma and it is now in complete remission. The doctors claim it is an incurable disease and say that it could come back in a few months to years. Of course, I don’t accept all they say as fact, because I was also told that no one survives intestinal transplants and here I am four years later.

          After the transplant, I suffered a systemic infection of a very nasty gram negative rod called pseudomonas – it was a multi drug resistant strain, obviously borne in a hospital. My wife was told I would not survine the night, because no patient at the University of Miami campus had ever survived that strain after going systemic, then given the fact that I was extremely immunocompromised from aggressive infusions of Campath (a powerful anti-rejection drug given after transplants, which had killed back some of my bone marrow and knocked down my white blood cells to .07%) the chances of survival were none. It was further complicated by the fact that the medics had perforated my right lung while intubating me, because I was not able to breathe on my own by the time I reach the ER. I had a massive pneumothorax, which have a very high mortality rate in itself. Furthermore, the lungs both had pneumonia.

          I was in a coma for weeks, but did eventually come out of it to an ICU room full of doctors, who seemed to be taking turns examining me and reading my chart. I could not talk, because I was still intubated, but wrote a note to my wife asking who all these people were? They just kept coming all hours of the day. She told me they were doctors, interns, professors and students from all over the UM campus who just wanted to see the man who survived what no other had before – they were calling me the Rock star of the hospital. It was only then I realized what I had survived.

          Given all that, I will not accept the fact that multiple myeloma can’t be cured or at least held in remission for the rest of my life. It was suggested that I acquired it shortly after the transplant when the Campath killed back most the bone marrow. Still being exposed to massive amounts of radiation from CT and x-rays, the new bone marrow growth must have been mutated, then having to be on immunosuppressant agents for the rests of my life would give the cancer free run to take over. The strange part is that it didn’t. It was only caught because of one rouge tumor in my skull over my right ear (could be because that’s where I hold my cell phone). Other than that, there were no signs of it in my blood work. Being transplant, I have to get monthly blood work up, including metabolic and CBC panels.

          MM usually shows up first as high calcium (from the breakdown of bones) or low red blood cells (anemia), my calcium was normal for the last three years and the RBC were actually higher than the average persons. Had it not been for the one odd tumor, we still would not know I had it. The doctors can’t explain it and said that even the bone marrow biopsy showed less than 5% M protein after four years. It should have been more advanced. I figure I must be doing something right to keep that in check for so many years. I eat a low carb diet, which could contribute, because sugar does feed cancer and increase the growth rate of tumor. I also believe that the consumption of raw milk has helped also. I will continue both and increase the amount of vitamin D I get and see if I can wipe this thing out.

          If your husband has any life threatening colonic issues (bleeding from deep inside or loss of mucosa, it well may be worth the risk. My biggest complaint is the use of colonoscopies on perfectly healthy people as a profylactic screening – the risks of death are far too great for that. I Believe that mammograms are similar in that they probably cause more trouble than they solve. And in many cases, a sigmoidoscopy can be just as effective as a colonoscopy, but they take the same amount of time and personnel, yet the colonoscopy charges out at tens times the cost to insurance companies, so most docs opt for the better revenue generator, putting the patient at far greater risk.

          Doctors love to yank out gall bladders, a quick way to make some cash. The only reason most Americans get gall stones is because doctors have told them to cut the fat in their diet. Emulsifying fat is what bile does, so in the absence of fat, the bile remains in the bladder for long periods, hardening into stones. When people ate more fat, there were less gall bladder issues.

          I get your frustration with the dietary advice after surgery. Every other transplant patient I met went straight back to the standard American diet of junky processed food after their transplants and the doctors had no issue with that and even suggested it (hell, they served it in the hospital). I am the only one I know who actually began to change my diet.

          I have also had no strictures, the others have been plagued with them, nor any other transplant or digestive issues I have been hospitalized for (other than the cancer which is totally unrelated). The biggest difference is the amount of medicines required. I have been able to drop all but two (which none of us can drop or lose the organs). The other patients take ten to twelve more meds, mostly related to dietary problems, like reflux, diarrhea, constipation, antibiotics for line infections, sodium bicarbonate to prevent acidosis and a whole host of other drugs that are unnecessary if they ate the right foods.

          A doctor is the worst source of dietary information. It is not a required study to become a doctor and they typically parrot what they hear through advertising, you know, “HeartHealthyWholeGrains”, lots of abrasive insoluble fiber and replace healthy animal fats with highly industrialized processed seed oils and let us not forget, low fat milk. I won’t eat any of that crap anymore and have done much better without it.

          I applaud your research and want to take control of your own health decisions, rather than trust everything a doctor says without first researching it. Bravo. Keep up the good work and stay healthy.

          • athena
            June 9, 2015 | 1:31 am

            I also have MM and I am changing my oncologist, I Don’t Know What To Eat, what’s the best treatment I couldn’t get any answers from him at all, can you tell me the things you did to also help yourself with your MM

          • Wolverine
            June 27, 2015 | 7:32 pm

            Hi Athena. I want to apologize for the delay in responding. I have had a lot of test done recently and my father has had multiple strokes since January and has been degrading since. He finally passed away last Wednesday.

            Getting dietary advice from a doctor is never a good idea. Nutrition is not a required study to become a doctor in the U.S., so most doctors simply repeat the exact same dietary advice and promote foods based on the information endlessly repeated in product advertising. It is always safer for a doctor to stick with the USDA recommendations for diets, even if they know it is wrong advice, because any doctor giving advice contrary to the USDA recommendations can be held liable if someone claims they followed the diet and it failed. If the USDA diet fails (which fails all the time because it is based on agribusiness profits, not our health) the doctor carries no responsibility because it is what the government recommends.

            I alway recommend pretty much the exact opposite as to what the USDA recommends, especially for anyone with cancer. I would recommend a low-carbohydrate diet, one completely without grains if possible. As far as supplements go, vitamin D3 is the only supplement which has repeatedly proven to have cancer fighting capabilities. If fact, just weeks before I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, my recent blood tests had shown a noticeable drop in my vitamin D3 levels. I didn’t know I had cancer at the time, but it made sense once I did find out I had cancer. An extremely low carb diet is a no-brainer and I will explain why I believe this…

            Have you had a PET scan for your Multiple Myeloma yet? If so, you were first injected with a contrast dye. They would have made everyone else leave the room while you received the shot and stay out for about an hour after the shot is given. This is because the dye is a radioactive isotope. The key to your diet is right there. The radioactive isotope they use is radioactive glucose. This helps them find the tumors during the scan because cancer cells are far more aggressive than any other cell in your body (which is why cancer grows so fast). Cancer cells prefer glucose as its source of calories and will quickly drink up all the radioactive glucose and glow brighter on the scan than any other cells in your body.

            I kind of wondered how doctors could know this and still recommend cancer patients to eat lots of “heartheathywholegrains” when modern grains have been bred for thousands of years to increase their sugar content, which is mostly glucose. The more fuel you give the cancer cells, the faster they grow, and the faster cells grow, the quicker they divide into new cells. Cancer cells have never been proven to be able to utilize fats as fuel, only carbohydrates. Eating a high carb diet is literally feeding the cancer and helping it to proliferate. Many European doctors tell patients that “sugar feeds cancer”, but you will hear few doctors in the US repeat that slogan, because such diets would eliminate “hearthealthywholegrains” and that cannot be tolerated in a nation that wants every citizen to pack down as much grain sugars as possible to keep the grain markets high.

            We can tell which foods the government wants us to eat by which foods they subsidize and nearly everyone of those foods are not healthy and many of them are downright damaging to our bodies (wheat, soy, corn, etc.). We did not evolve as a grain eating species, in fact, no mammal on earth do well on grains. Grains are fed to livestock to fatten them, yet we’re told grains will make humans slimmer! Even history shows that civilizations with the highest dependency on agriculture (grain eating societies) show the greatest signs of the same disease in their remains as we see today (cancer, heart disease, obesity, Alzheimer’s Disease, etc..).

            My case of Multiple Myeloma was extremely unique. Because of my transplant, I am required to have a full blood lab workup each month for life. These labs include the CBC and electrolytes (including calcium). Typically, most doctors will first diagnose Multiple Myeloma when the patient shows signs of anemia or high levels of calcium in the blood. Since I have monthly tests, it seems this would have been the way the cancer would have been discovered. It wasn’t. One large tumor appeared on the top right side of my skull, just above the right ear, but a PET scan showed all other tumors to be nearly microscopic. The oncologist called the stage that all the other tumors were at “smoldering”, which is a cancer stage that normally calls for no treatment and only to be watched. Throughout all of the treatments, my hemoglobin levels remained higher than the average americans and my blood calcium levels stayed perfectly normal.

            The biopsy of the one large tumor showed that the Multiple Myeloma had been growing for more than 4 years, since shortly after the transplant. This makes sense, because of a very potent immunosuppressant medication called Campath, which is known for its cancer risks. I was given 2 unnecessary treatments based on erroneous endoscopic diagnosis. The doctor began treatment before waiting for the biopsies to come back, which both times came back negative for organ rejection, so I was given the Campath for no good reason. This Campath killed back a portion of my bone marrow, which took over a year to grow back and it obviously grew back mutated.

            The mystery for the doctors was why all of the other tumors did not grow at the same rate, which is typically how Multiple Myeloma behaves. This is still unexplained, but I believe that it may have been caused from the radiation from my cell phone. I am not claiming cell phones cause cancer, but I do believe that the heat from this radiation could accelerate cancer cell growth, if a tumor is already present. The single rogue tumor was located just above my right ear, where I hold my cell phone. My oncologist even admits she is only calling my cancer Multiple Myeloma, because she has to call it something. Otherwise, she claims it does not behave like textbook Multiple Myeloma. Instead of being anemic, I am borderline hemochromatosis and my calcium levels never waiver near the outside of normal range.

            The biggest mystery of all is why I was not completely eaten up with tumors and suffered irreparable bone damage. In fact, I have no bone damage except the 4 cm hole left in my skull from the one rogue tumor which ate all the way through. All of the doctors, both oncologists and transplant surgeons, couldn’t understand what suppressed the disease for so many years. With me having to take Prograf, a medication which suppresses the T-cells of the immune system for so many years, the cancer should have advanced and spread quickly, but it didn’t

            When the doctors expressed their confusion as to why all the other tumors stayed so small, I offered my diet as a possible answer. To my shock, they agreed that the low-carb diet did probably contribute to starving the cancer cells. With a crippled immune system, the doctors had no better answer as to what slowed the cancer. The doctors were willing to admit that the grains and sugar were bad for the cancer, once they knew that I had figured this out on my own and already practiced it with success, so there was no way it could come back on them that they suggested this diet.

            What shocked me more was when they sent in a nutritionist while I was in the hospital for the radiation treatments and I just knew that they would start pushing that “hearthealthywholegrain” crap. She first asked me what my diet was, so when I started listing out the low-carb diet which includes fermented foods and coconut oil, she agreed that was a good diet, but when I said I was grain free, she said to me: “How in the hell did you get cancer?”. Of course she was joking, because she knew I had the cancer because of the Campath (which is notorious for cancer risks) and the 4 years of immunosuppression.

            I have to give the backstory on this nutritionist. When my transplant surgeon showed up, I was underweight and he had been told I refused to eat most of the hospital food. He told me I was too skinny and treated to place an NG (nasal gastric) tube to force feed me if I didn’t eat at least 2,000 calories a day of their food. I told him I would refuse the NG tube and I requested a nutritionist be sent in, so he agreed. Even though I expected the nutritionist to start singing the healthy grain and healthy soy routine, I would rather argue with a nutritionist than a surgeon on dietary matters. I boldly stated my diet and complained that there was too many carbs on the plates; mountains of rice, pasta and everything is served on or with bread. I also told her I do not eat soy and most of what the hospital calls meat is more flavored soybean than meat. I saw other TPN patient lose their livers due to say, so I dont’ want to hear anything about soy being healthy (read my article “The Truth About Soy”). I was only stunned when she agreed without debate. Damn, I was all prepared for a huge argument.

            She was a firm believer in the low-carb/grain free/soy free diet, but she cannot recommend that diet to all other patients, because she could lose her license if someone complained. Once she found out I already practice that diet, she was able to explain why she agrees with it. It is really sad that these medical professionals have to keep the truth suppressed because our government is pushing a bad diet on the American people which is evident by the rate of obesity, diabetes and many other diseases associated with sugar and the government has more power in the medical industries tun do the doctors and other medical professionals.

            Other than radiation to kill the one rogue tumor in my skull, the only other treatment they wanted to offer at that time was a light treatment with Velcade, a very light chemotherapy drug which would hopeful kill all of the small tumors. Two years later and the protein numbers were still undetectable in my blood and urine. The oncologist admitted that he was shocked (I have 2 oncologists, one female, one male) that there were no signs so far out. He admitted that they did not expect me to respond to such a light treatment so well. They figured the cancer would be back within 6 months.

            When one of the Multiple Myeloma proteins barely came into range and that upset my wife, he told her that he had many Multiple Myeloma who also had the bone marrow transplant (which they did not want to do to me because of the other transplant) who wished they had my numbers. Many of these patients had their Multiple Myeloma proteins come well back pretty quickly even though they had the bone marrow transplant and a much heavier treatment of Velcade and some even had the Revlimid along with it. My guess would be that these unfortunate patients are following the “hearthealthywholegrain” advice being shoveled out by the government and medical system, thereby supplying plenty of glucose to feed these tumors and accelerate their growth.

            My Multiple Myeloma protein numbers are beginning to come back into range, so they will be staring another treatment soon with Revlimid and possibly Velcade. This could be my mistake because I stopped taking the prescription strength vitamin D3 when my blood levels got a bit high and started taking OTC vitamin D3, which is a fraction of the strength. The prescription D3 I was taking was 50,000 iu twice a week and the OTC was only 2,000 iu.

            I have begun taking the 50,000 iu strength again and I believe it should help to control the cancer again, along with the low carb diet. If you start taking high dose vitamin D3, you must have your blood levels tested monthly or so, because D3 is a fat soluble vitamin and can become toxic in high blood level, damaging the liver. Because it is fat soluble, it can be stored, so an overdose can take a long time to get rid of once the damage starts. Whenever my cancer is active, the cancer can bring the D3 level down quickly, making it impossible to overdose. Just monitor it closely, but D3 is worth it for its cancer fighting power. Google D3 and cancer you will find many articles about the many clinical tests which have riven its effectiveness.

            You should have your vitamin D3 levels tested now to see if they are low. You can also get a lot of vitamin D3 from the sun, unfortunately, I can’t spend too much time in the sun because some of the transplant anti- medications I take make me photosensitive, so I can burn very easily. If your D3 is low (which it may be if you have Multiple Myeloma active at this time. Cancer usually uses up your D3 very fast), you can supplement with OTC vitamin D3, but if it is very low, you need to get your doctor (even you primary doctor can write this script) for 50,000 iu vitamin D3 twice a week. It is the one supplement that will help. Otherwise, I would recommend that you eat as little sugar as you can and this includes starchy foods which are nothing but very long strings of glucose, the preferred food for tumors.

            If you would like more detailed information on my diet, feel free to email me and we can exchange more detailed information. Please keep me appraised of your progress. There has been a lot of strides made in Multiple Myeloma in the last few years and the survival rates have improved a lot. You have a greater advantage than I do because you have a full immune system to help fight and the immune system is the best cancer fighter of all. If I can slow the progress of this disease as much as I have proven, then you should have no problems, if you can make the lifestyle changes. I have met many people who just refuse to give up on bread and other grain products, even if their life depends on it. Thanks again for writing.

  13. Tina
    October 29, 2013 | 4:57 pm

    You rock. A commenter on Karl Denninger’s site recommended you.

    • Donna
      October 30, 2013 | 9:05 pm

      That’s why I’m here also and I totally agree. My doctor wants me to get a colonoscopy and I kept putting it off. Now I’m glad I did. Another test besides mammograms I’ll never get.

  14. Will
    January 18, 2014 | 12:36 am

    Very impressed by your website, Wolverine! You’ve clearly been to hell and back multiple times. Your insights into colonoscopy, intestinal and dietary issues is enlightening. I opted out of a colonoscopy twice in two years, almost caving in to pressure from wife and brother. Other than hard stools a couple times a week, I’m doing well at 71. I was surprised to find you negative about psyllium,insoluble fiber, and sundry grains. Surely you eat breads and cereals of some sort??

    Finally, I note the latest comment from a reader of your web site is Oct. 30–and today is Jan. 18. That’s quite awhile. Do hope all is well with you.

    • Wolverine
      January 18, 2014 | 3:22 am

      Thanks for writing Will. There have been several comments which I have replied to recently. I have not publish any new articles in a long while, but the reasons for this have been many fold. I hope to publish some new stuff soon. I have been doing a lot of research for upcoming posts and have been contacted by a whistleblower, who works in the medical equipment industry and has provided me with a lot of inside information which I have been processing, along with much data from the time I spent hospitalized.

      The new articles will be well back by documentation and quite alarming and damining towards the colonoscopy industry. The oversight is far worse than I even expected and I wonder how much longer this information will be kept supressed.

      I eat no grains at all (breads, cereals, pasta, etc..). Humans, as a species, did not consume grains, including beans and legumes, for more than 99% of our existence. I believe that the fact that I have been able to thrive, even after the most traumatic organ transplant known, without the help of grains, proves that they are an unneccesary part of the human diet. If humans were a grain eating species, it would make us unique among all mammals, much less great apes.

      Livestock become ill from grain consumption and will in fact die if given full access to grains (causes bloat and acidosis in cattle). I have committed to a lot of research on this subject, but that is more for the benefit of my readers, because having transplanted bowels will quickly let you know what is hard and easy to digest, without any research. A transplanted bowel does not work with the efficiency of a native intestines, because all of the nerves cannot be re-established (peristalsis is not 100%).

      Out of all of the intestinal and multivisceral transplant recipients that I befrieinded and stayed in touch with, I believe I am the only one to adopt a grain-free diet – I am also the only one to have never suffered a bowel obstruction since the transplant – all the others have. Psyllium, an insoluble fiber, is quite harsh on the bowels. Insoluble fiber tends to absorb water and swell to many times it’s original size. I personally believe that it is responsible for the sudden rise in diverticulitis we have seen in recent years. The big push to eat Whole Grains has really only been a fad of the past decade or so.

      Because a transplanted bowel does not have the absorption efficiency of a native intestine, it is also important that I consume a very nutrient dense diet, something that grains do not provide. Other than lot of starch, grains are very low in nutrition (which is why it was mandated to enrich or fortify them, because so many impoverish people lived on grains and beans as a staple and suffered malnutrition as a result, so it was madated that B vitamins be added to grain flour in the 1930s). If I wanted man-made vitamins, I’d take a vitamin pill.

      For several years I had suffered from arthritis in my shoulders and fingers. It was a side benefit that this slowly cleared up after cessation of grains. Probably a gluten allergy. I am nearly the last survivor of the group of patients who underwent intestinal transplants at Jackson Memorial in 2010. There is one other young woman, but she is unfortunately sheduled for a second transplant because of a chronic rejection issue. The doctors believe that her rejection was caused by chronic small intestine obstructions, which prevented her from properly absorbing the anti-rejection medication, Prograf, that we all have to take.

      I do know that she eats a diet rich in grains. I believe it is the lack of grain (and especially psyllium fiber) in my diet which has proteted me from these obstructions. I do eat soluble fiber and whatever small amount of insoluble fiber I receive from fruits and vegetables. I used to eat plenty of grains and cereals years ago – I also developed Ulcerative Colitis, which is why I underwent a colonoscopy in the first place. I still have a couple of feet of native colon (I lost all of the small intestines), yet the native colon that remains has not suffered from ulcerations over the last four years – I again credit this to grain cessation.

      Your chances of developing colon cancer are actually far less than your chances of being severely injured by a colonoscopy, based on known statistics. This does not speak well of the procedure, since I know that there is no such thing as unreported colon cancer (so those numbers are very accurate), but there are many unreported injuries from colonoscpies each year, so I imagine that those statistics are quite conservative and possibly only a fraction of actual cases.

      Then there’s the fact that colonoscopies have never been proven to be effective at detecting cancer early. People who get regular colonoscopies develop colorectal cancer at the same rate as those who don’t. People are taking a lot of risk for no proven benefit.

      Thanks again for your comment and for your concern. I hope you will continue to stay safe and healthy.

  15. Mark
    March 2, 2014 | 6:47 am

    Thank you so much for these articles on colonoscopies. I was scheduled to ave one done (I am only 49) and the doctor sat in his office and told me how easy it would be, how I would go to sleep and wake up and be perfect. He said he has done 25,000 of these with no complications. A little too much buttering up I think. Nowhere do doctors tell you in your first appointment that you could even dream of problems. In fact he never even suggested there could be complications. All sunshine and lollipops. AND it was going to be almost 4 months before I could get in to have it done. It seems to me that if it were that important I could be seen much faster than 4 months down the road. I don’t think I will be following up with the scheduled colonscopy, and a major part of it is because of your work here to alert me to the dangers. Keep writing.

    • Wolverine
      March 13, 2014 | 11:47 pm

      I somehow missed this comment, so I am sorry it has taken me so long to reply, Mark. What your doctor told you was nearly word for word what the gastroenterologist who perforated my colon and then ignored my complaints of abdominal pains for three days said. It’s real easy for a doctor to honestly claim that they have done many procedures without a complication when they ignore any complaints following the procedure and let some other doctor deal with the disaster they created. This would seem more likely the case here because it would be statistically impossible to perform 25,000 procedures without an injury, when even the most conservative statistics show that 1 in 1,000 colonoscopies result in a perforation, which is a serious complication.

      The gastroenterologist who perforated my colon was unwilling to entertain the idea that I could have been injured by his endoscope, so other doctors had to clean up his mess and I am sure he still tells patients that he never had a complication, even though I nearly died and lost all of my intestines as a result of his safe procedure. how would he do any future business if he told patients about the nightmare he turned my life into? To him it was all lollipops and sunshine, as you have said, and he never injured anyone. He reminded me of Sergeant Shultz from Hogan’s Heroes. “I saw nothing!”.

      I think this is how many of these doctors handle these situations. Just ignore it and deny it. The patient will either die (burying your mistake) or be treated by the emergency staff at a hospital. Then there’s the fact that many complications show up many weeks or even months later, making it even easier for them to deny or ignore it. He has injured patients if he has performed 25,000 procedures, but I’m sure he told a lll the patients that the pain was all in their head, so they sought help elsewhere. The patient is not going to come back and sue them later, because they will quickly learn that no attorney will take the case because of the legal waiver they are required to sign before getting the procedures.

      The average rate of perforations were pretty regular on the transplant patients, because they were scope more often, but this would be offset by the greater skill go the “surgeons” who were performing the scopes. as opposed to just a gastroenterologist. Many of the patients were either infected or perforated by the endoscopes. Two of the patients died as a result of the injuries. One of the transplant patients was perforated last year during an endoscope and lost her transplanted bowels as a result. She is presently awaiting a second transplant, even though her first transplant was in 2008 and had never had any problems or complication in the five years following. Now she must have a second transplant because of an endoscope. I can’t imagine going through an intestinal transplant a second time, which is why I always refuse the recommended scopes.

      If the transplant surgeon can have such a high rate of perforations, then it would seem more likely with a doctor not trained in surgical techniques. It really irritates me that way these doctors can deceive patients. If you are injured during one of these procedures, don’t expect any help from the guys that perform the procedures, because first they would have to admit that it is a possibility for someone to be injured and they refuse to do that, so they would rather ignore and even insult the patient. Yes, this clown insulted me by saying I was just dramatizing the discomfort, when in reality, I had over 20 feet of necrotic bowels inside me!

      • Jean Bush
        March 14, 2014 | 12:32 pm

        Good God! My dr. tried 3 times to schedule me for one as they said they found occult blood my stool sample. Since I have no one to go with me and take me home, I refused.

        Now that I’ve found this site, I’ll never have one done. I’m not having any obvious problems anyway.

        • Wolverine
          March 14, 2014 | 6:32 pm

          I’ll never understand why doctors like to jump to a colonoscopy first when presented “occult blood”, when 99% of the time “occult blood” is caused by an internal hemorrhoid or anal fissure and a sigmoidoscopy would be perfectly capable of diagnosing either of those with far less risk of perforations?

          Well given the fact that a colonoscopy charges out to insurance companies at ten times the cost of the sigmoid and takes the same amount of time and tools to perform – the mystery goes away.

          The chance of “occult blood” being cancer-caused is very slim and on that slim chance that it is, it will require far more than a colonoscopy to diagnose and treat anyway. If the doctor was more concerned for their patient’s safety than their bank accounts, they would use the safer alternative first to rule out the more likely diagnosis. It is not worth putting your life in jeopardy for a hemorrhoid.

          It would actually require a PET Scan for the real diagnosis of cancer anyway, because even a colonoscopy does not show what may be going on outside and/or around the bowel and no doctor can visually determine whether a polyp is cancerous (they’ll snip it off anyway, leaving an open bleeding wound in the colon for no good reason). A colonoscopy is just a visual examination of the colon (unless biopsies are sent off)

          Since the snipping off of polyps is never followed by sessions of chemotherapy, if it was a malignant tumor, they just sent millions of malignant cancer cells into the bloodstream with no protection, where they can settle in worse places, like lymph glands, lung or pancreas – any one of these cancers will kill you faster than colon cancer. You would be better off to just treat the colon cancer, which has a far better mortality rate than these other cancers.

          This is probably why the “all-cause” cancer mortality rate was 158% higher in those who had regular colonoscopies and polyps removed as opposed to the group who didn’t in the Telemark Polyp Study 1. They are basically swapping colon cancer for pancreatic, lung or liver cancer when they go cutting on an actual malignant tumor without chemotherapy.

          Anytime cancer cells are removed from the body, chemotherapy is followed to kill all the cancer cells that broke free and stop them from metastasizing elsewhere – except in colonoscopies, where polyps are snipped off without ever waiting for the result of a biopsy to determine whether they are cancerous or not and the patient is not protected from the free cancer cells. This proves to me that they do not believe that most of them are malignant or they would treat this like any other cancer treatment.

          One of the multivisceral transplant recipients I met had lost her bowels to Gardner’s Syndrome (A rare type of intestinal cancer) and her cancer did not show up in a colonoscopy, but only under the PET Scan, because the cancer was wrapped around the outside of the bowels. The only reason they knew to perform the scan was because her mother had died from the same disease, which is congenital.

          I always think of the colonoscopy as a real expensive toy which allows doctors to show the patient high resolution images of polyps they snipped out of them (which are usually benign) and claimed they were saved from cancer. Kind of a dangerous parlor trick. About as likely as cutting a mole off the patient and telling them you saved them from melanoma.

          It is flat lesions that are eight to ten times more likely to be malignant cancer and these are typically missed during a colonoscopy and impossible to remove with the tools available with the endoscope. There is little good that can come from a colonoscopy.

          The most recent sad story of a colonoscopy gone bad is one of the woman who got an intestinal transplant in 2008. She had done so well with the transplant that she had been competing in marathons and triathlons the last couple of years and getting some great media attention to intestinal transplants. She was perforated last year by one of the recommended endoscopes, which I always refuse.

          To make matters worse, as usual, the doctors refused to admit that anything could have went wrong when she started complaining of abdominal pains. They gave her three more scopes before they discovered that there was a perforation which had caused her intestines to be digested into one solid lump in places, which also caused her to reject the organ. The organ was removed immediately upon this discovery and she now awaits a second transplant. She is lucky to be alive. That would have killed most people, but she was a top athlete.

          Just like in my story, the doctors were cynical and would not believe that there could be a problem from the scope. So you can expect that if you are injured by a colonoscopy, that you will not get immediate help (which kills most people who are injured). It’s easy for these doctors to keep telling new patients that they never had an injury when they refuse to admit that it is even possible when a patient complains.

          1 out of every 1,000 colonoscopies results in a perforation and that is a very conservative statistic which assumes that all injuries are reported (they are not – like mine wasn’t). So, if your doctor is telling you they have performed thousands of these procedures without an incident, they are lying or just refuse to admit they hurt the patients and ignored their cries of abdominal pain util the patient either died or another doctor stepped in to save them.

          My wife wasn’t just going to let that guy ignore me until I died. It wasn’t long before she gave up on him and started consulting other doctors in the hospital and I got help. Let’s face it, any doctor would find it impossible to do future colonoscopies if they were to tell patients that they have killed and nearly killed several people, so every gastroenterologist’s career would end the first day they began admitting this.

          Since everyone has to sign a legal waiver before they will do the procedure, the doctor cannot be sued, so there is no one to tell you the doctor is lying or any way to check their record to see how many injuries they have caused.

          The doctor who almost killed me with a colonoscopy gave me a big speech before the procedure about how he never injured anyone and I know for a fact that he still claims he has never inured anyone! He completely ignored my complaints, claiming that I was just hamming it up to get pain-killers (this is how cynical they can be. I had over 20 feet of necrotic bowels inside of me at the time). Other hospital resident doctors and surgeons had to step in and save me.

          Doctors are good at learning how to blame the patients for their own failure to effectively treat a disease or their outright medical errors. Medical errors are the number two cause of death in hospitals (death from pharmaceuticals is number one). They must teach a course on how to blame the patient for their own problems in medical school. If you were able to investigate their past and find all the people they really injured, they would have some lame-ass excuse on how it was the patient’s own fault. The minute they start admitting to injuring or killing people, their career is over and they know it. The trick is to never admit it.

          • Jean Bush
            March 14, 2014 | 6:51 pm

            Brilliant. Too bad you’re not a doctor, you’d have saved hundreds of lives.

  16. Mark Heyer
    April 19, 2014 | 10:44 am

    Excellent articles, thanks

    • Wolverine
      April 20, 2014 | 4:16 am

      Thank you, Mark.

  17. nina zeleny
    August 23, 2014 | 9:50 pm

    Thanks so much for all the time and research you have put into helping raise awareness of the dangers of colonoscopies. I am sixty, happy and healthy with no symptoms but a recent fecal sample revealed traces of blood. I am booked for a colonoscopy in a month but I think I will cancel it having read this. I am not sure what to do. I am sad and angry about what has happened to you and I hope that you will somehow be well and that God will help you. Grateful thanks. Nina

    • Wolverine
      August 25, 2014 | 2:56 am

      Hi Nina. You may want to see if the doctor would perform a sigmoidoscpy first, in order to rule out hemorrhoids or anal fissures, which are the most common reason for the presence of blood in stools. A sigmoidoscopy uses the same endoscope, but is inserted only a 18 inches or so into the colon, rather than the entire length of the colon (about four to five feet), therefore it is far less of a risk of perforation.

      Since Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s can both be diagnosed with biopsies from anywhere in the colon, a sigmoid is just as effective (though I doubt you have either of these, as they typically develop in people at a much younger age – around 25 to 35). If the sigmoid cannot find any reason for the bleeding, then you may have to consider a colonoscopy, but at least you would have a reason for taking a risk at that point. My big complaint is that doctors are reccommending people have a colonoscopy even when there is no sign of any problem. This procedure is too dangerous to just do on everyone, but like any other risky procedure, may be neccessary if there is a serious problem.

      It would be like getting a CT scan when you are perfectly health, but exposing yourself to all that radiation just to make sure that there is nothing secretly going on — that would be ill-advised, but this is what doctors are doing today with colonoscopies. They give them to anyone just because of their age (everyone over 50) and sometimes end up killing or seriously injuring someone who was perfectly healthy.

      I hope that everything turns out okay with you. More than 90% of the time, occult blood in the stool is cause by a hemorrhoid or anal fissure, which are common today, because people eat too much fiber, which causes overly bulky stools. I wish that doctors would always opt to perfom sigmoidoscopies first to rule out these common causes. Unfortunately this is money motivated. A sigmoidoscopy is much safer, but requires the same equipment and time as a colonoscopy, but insurance companies will pay ten times more for the colonoscopy, so doctors take that route, but it places the patient at much higher risk of a perforation.

      • Joan
        August 27, 2014 | 10:24 am

        I have been on the verge of having my first colonoscopy for 15 years. I am 64 and should have had at least 3 by today’s medical standards. I was about to finally schedule at least a sigmoidoscopy as a start since I have been suffering with IBS and diverticular disease for many years. I was excited to read this past week that the FDA has approved an at-home test for those, like me, who have not had any screening tests. I have included the link and I am calling my doctor TODAY!. It is called Cologuard and it must be ordered by one’s physician. The test is seemingly mailed to the patient and the samples are taken in the privacy of one’s home with results supposed to be available within a few weeks.

      • Joan
        August 27, 2014 | 10:25 am

        http://investor.exactsciences.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=865698

        Sorry I forgot the link

        Cologuard

  18. bill
    September 13, 2014 | 11:58 pm

    Thanks for the info wolverine, I am 43 years old and has had 4 endoscopys and 1 colonoscopy done. The first one was both at the same time and yes they found 7 ulcers and after 5 or 6 different meds they finally disapeared but the heartburn never did so I take famodine which works very good. The issue is they new it before the scope but they wouldn’t help me unless I had the scopes done. And now my wife is being told she has to go in for both because she has heartburn and ocasional stomachachs and its close to her 5 year mark (but actually only 3 years) she’s been on nexium for 20years and its well known that those meds sometimes quiet working, however her doctor will not try a different med unless she subjects herself to the test. I tried talking her into switching docs but no go on that. What do you recommend in that situation because I really don’t want her to do it but at the same time I don’t want her to have heartburn forever. And I was really moved by your story I hope things work out for you.

    • Wolverine
      September 15, 2014 | 10:20 pm

      Of course, my biggest complaint about colonoscopy and other endoscopic procedures this modern trend of doctors recommending them to everyone over 50, irregardless of whether they have any complaints or not. I think that people should know the real dangers that exist with this procedure and that it is really not something to undergo just for the hell of it.

      In your’s and your wife’s case, there is at least symptoms of a problem, which could possibly warrant the risk. I do think that it is wrong for the doctors to make the procedure a requirement before starting a treatment for something they have already diagnosed without the procedure.

      Taking PPIs (Proton Pump Inhibitors, like Nexium and Prilosec) for years on end has also become a trend that doctors should know better than to recommend. If you read the pamphlet from the manufacturer, they even warn against taking this medication every day for life, but only for 14 days at a time, then take at least 14 days off.

      The reason for the warning is because these drugs have many bad long-term side effects, like causing the inability to absorb vitamin B12 (a necessary nutrient — deficiency in B12 causes anemia, cognitive problems and other issues of the nervous system). The body cannot manufacture red blood cells without B12.

      B12 must bind to Intrinsic Factor in order to pass through the stomach properly, but Intrinsic Factor cannot bind to B12 in a non-acidic environment. PPIs disrupt this process, rendering the vitamin B12 unable to be absorbed. Taking a B12 supplement will not help, because it will still be unable to absorb. I have known several people who have become anemic from long term use of PPIs and now must inject B12 via a subcutaneous shot in the stomach or leg weekly.

      Long-term use of PPIs has also been known to deplete calcium from the bones, causing osteoporosis. GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) is rarely caused from too much stomach acid, but more often from too little. All doctors treat all GERD as though it is a hyperacidic issue, when it is more often the opposite, especially in seniors.

      This is evident because the ability to make stomach acid lessens as we age, not increase — the fact that more seniors suffer GERD is strong evidence that it is more commonly caused from too little acid. Too little acid causes the stomach to empty much slower (the stomach will not empty until the contents are digested). This causes the next meal to pile on top of the last, stacking up food into the esophagus, which does not have the same protective lining as the stomach, thereby causing the burning sensation in the chest.

      Taking PPIs to reduce stomach acid can relieve the burn, but only makes the problem worse as it causes the stomach to empty slower and slower. Pharmaceutical companies continue this lie in order to sell more PPIs, which are some of their top selling drugs. Long term use of their product causes dependency, as the stomach attempt to compensate by creating more acid. It’s a bad cycle to get into.

      The better way to defeat this problem is to either get hydrochloric acid pills (do an internet search for hydrochloric acid pills), which can be taken before meals. Some people have found success by drinking a diluted measure of Apple Cider Vinegar prior to eating. Others have eaten sauerkraut or other fermented foods with their meals (as a condiment), which are highly acidic. This will raise the PH of the stomach and help to digest food faster, thereby making the stomach empty faster.

      There is a man named Bryan Davis who cure his GERD using natural foods, such as ACV and fermented foods. You can read more and even contact him through his website http://www.askbryan.com

      Bryan is very knowledgable in these things and also runs a regular podcast. I have been his guest several times. He may be able to help you and your wife get the stomach problem fixed without the need for all the pharmaceuticals, especially the PPIs. Bryan also lived on PPIs for many years, but found a natural way to elevate his stomach acid and no longer has need of PPIs.

      Taking any acid supplements is not recommended if the person is taking any large quantities of NSAID, like aspirin or ibuprofen, because they can work in tandum to cause ulcers.

      I am not a doctor and cannot give medical advice. If you or your wife were considering endoscopic procedures as a precaution and were otherwise having no symptoms, I would not recommend it, because the risks would outweigh any possible benefit (which are none, since colonoscopies have never been proven to detect cancer early. Endoscopes were unable to diagnose ischemic bowels in several transplant patients. If they can’t detect over 25 feet of necrotic bowels, how could they find a tiny cancer in an early stage?) Colonoscopies as a cancer screening is a snake oil sales pitch at best.

      I do agree that it is unethical for the doctors to demand a scope before administering treatment for a disease they already know is present, but these scopes make a lot of money for these doctors, so they recommend them at every chance they can.

      Chances are good that everything will go fine with the endoscopic procedures, since statistically they usually do. The risk factor is about 5 in 1,000 procedures result in an injury and about 1 in every 1,000 is a very serious injury (perforation). Colonoscopies do not go bad all the time, my warning is that when they do go bad — it is very bad — even life-threatening. This is why I do not recommend them for people who are perfectly healthy and are just being pressured by their doctor to use it as a cancer screening, especially since it has not been proven to be effective as a cancer screening device (statistically, every clinical trial has shown that those who have regular colonoscopies develop colon cancer at the same rate as those who don’t).

      There may be a benefit in your wife’s case, if the doctor needs to see what damage gas been done to her stomach. The endoscopy (where the scope is sent down the esophagus to view the stomach is far safer than the colonoscopy (which is the one I rant about). The esophagus is a pretty straight line with few curves to maneuver. The colon has many sharp turns and this is typically where perforations occur. This is why I always recommend patient have a sigmoidoscopy first, it also has less turns, but a full colonoscopy extends the length f the entire colon and is far more likely to result in an injury.

      Thanks for writing. I really can’t give any medical advice, just the truth about the real dangers of colonoscopies, so people can be well prepared to make the decision whether their case warrants such a risky procedure and to seek help immediately following a procedure if they feel any kind of abdominal pain and not let their doctor ignore these symptoms. I have known many other people, besides myself, who received delayed treatment for a colonoscopy injury because the doctor ignored their complaints of abdominal pain. In most cases, doctors will downplay any complaints following a colonoscopy procedure and this can cost the patient their life.

      So the only advice I can give is for your wife to seek immediate attention if she experiences any abdominal pain following the procedure and not let any doctors downplay it and make her play the wait-and-see game. Hopefully she can overcome the problem without the need for medicine. I hope she will at least check out Bryan’s website or contact him for advice.

  19. Sally Slichter
    September 17, 2014 | 4:18 am

    After my first colonoscopy I swore I would never have another. I can’t help but wonder how many people have died the night before a scheduled colonoscopy due to the pre-
    treatment!

    But, my doctor pretty much demanded I have a second one since 10 years had passed since the first one.

    Pre-treatment was much worse, probably because I am now 71. The waiting room the day of the colonoscopy was a cattle call.

    At least 25 patients all my age or older crammed into a tiny waiting room, with one tiny bathroom. I had been there about 1/2 hour waiting, when the desk person announced that they were running two hours behind!!!!!

    I almost passed out on the spot. I thought to myself, people could die right here while waiting. None of us had had anything to eat or drink, I know I was already lightheaded, and now another 2 hour wait??

    When it was my turn, the Dr. said something about the wonderful fact that no one’s intestine had been perforated yet at this particular clinic! I didn’t even know that was a concern. But then I was nervous.

    I had a couple of polyps removed. Swore I would never do it again. I even told the Dr. who performed the colonoscopy to do a good job because I would never have it done again.

    After what happened to Joan Rivers, I got to thinking how, if doctors are saying her procedure should have been done in a hospital, then why aren’t colonoscopies, which are certainly more dangerous, not done in hospitals?

    I was trying to find an answer to that question when I came upon your sight. Thank heaven you are doing what you are doing, and I am so sorry to hear of what happened to you. How awful. And how awful that doctors are being so casual about the whole procedure.

    I won’t ever have one done again, for sure, after reading your information. Besides, when you reach this age, it seems you ought to just die when your body decides it has had enough.

    Please continue with your work. You are helping so many other people. I will send prayers for your medical issues to be less of a burden for you. Thanks so much. Sally

    • Wolverine
      September 17, 2014 | 11:42 pm

      Hi Sally and thank you for writing and for your words of encouragement. You are correct about the “Cattle call” state of the modern gastroenterologists office. Colonoscopies have become big business and insurance companies pay a flat fee for a colonoscopy irregardless of the time spent on the procedure. If you look at the few things that a gastroenterologist does (especially since they do not know how to cure any gastric disease, such as Crohn’s, Celiac’s or Ulcerative Colitis), there are few services they can perform that pay as high, by the minute, as a colonoscopy does. This is why they push the procedure so hard onto all patients, for any reason. The worst thing they do is immediately recommend colonoscopies to people with Crohn’s, Celiac’s or UC, yet these people have the highest risk of perforation because of the inflammation and ulceration in their colons. About 50% of the time they are injured.

      The more procedures they can cram into a day, the more money they make. They will make the same amount of money for a procedure whether they spend 20 minutes or 5 minutes, so there is plenty of motivation to do them as quickly as possible. Some gastroenterologists can cram in as many as 30 procedures in a day. With this kind of speed, risks of injury go up.

      This does not scare the doctors because most injuries will turn up days later and they will never take the blame. There is no such thing as a clinic or doctor who have not had a perforation, unless they opened their doors last week. Even by the conservative statistic of 1 in 1,000 procedures (this is the published stats) resulting in a perforation, then they have had at least one perforation if they have performed more than 1,000 procedures.

      The actual number is much higher, because few injuries are reported. My injury was not reported as the colonoscopy being the cause. The reason the gastroenterologists can make that claim is because they simply ignore anyone who complains of an injury and those people ultimately end up seeking help elsewhere. Unfortunately, it is usually in a hospital ER when they finally crash. When someone’s colon is perforated, unless in is a major tear. larger than a half inch, it will take days before they lose enough blood or it becomes infected. More often, as in my case, the body will form a blood clot in an attempt to stop the internal bleeding, but again, that will be days later.

      Unfortunately in my case, the clot formed in the mesenteric artery, which cut off the blood to all of my intestines, so I lost all of my small bowels. The gastroenterologist who performed the colonoscopy on me bailed as soon as I began complaining of pain. He claimed I was fine and would no longer treat me. It was the hospital resident that took over as my condition worsened. To this day, that gastroenterologist still claims he has never had a perforation. They all claim that. The minute they admit they injured anyone, their career is over. Who is going to go to a doctor who admits he has injured or killed people with the procedure? No one.

      So, I am not surprised that the clinic you went to claims they have never had a perforation. Trust me — they have had plenty. They just bailed on the patient like the doctor did to me and refused to take responsibility unless the patient could prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it was the endoscope that injured them. Not only is that difficult to do, but who is going to pursue such a thing when they are dying? Your first responsibility is to save your own life by seeking other medical attention. By the time you’re fixed and stable, the statute of limitation on a lawsuit is up, since the federal government has set the statute for medical malpractice at 2 years (and no lawyer will touch it without at least 6 months to prepare, so you better start within the first year). This is pretty sad since any other lawsuit has a statue of 7 years. Wonder how much money was spent in Washington to have the medical statute shortened?

      The other scary part of the “cattle call”, is that with that speed, the cleanliness of the endoscope also suffers as an endoscope cannot be sterilized, but has to be hand cleaned. Since these scopes cost more than $30,000 each, it is unlikely the doctors has more than 20 or 30 on hand, so the scopes are reused within the same day. Just how clean can they be? Especially if you have ever seen an endoscope and understand that it has a tiny channel (less than a millimeter in diameter) which runs the entire length of the scope (about 4 feet).

      How can that channel be cleaned? This becomes more disturbing when you consider that any tissue snipped from the last patient (polyps or skin for biopsy) was pulled back through that channel. You know it scrapes the side, leaving whatever bacteria or fungus that person may have had inside the channel. This was how over 1,000 veterans ended up exposed to HIV and Hepatitis in one case.

      There has recently been an epidemic of a new drug-resistant strain of C.diff which is deadly to many seniors. This has been kept relatively quiet in the media, but a quick Google search will turn up many stories. The doctors claim that they cannot understand how it is spreading so quickly, which is total horses shit. There is little doubt in my mind that these endoscopes are spreading this disease. It is the only way that this bacteria can be passed from colon to colon and since it is a fact that endoscopes cannot be sterilized (the sensitive optics cannot take the heat of steam), it only makes sense it is being transferred this way, especially since it is being spread throughout the senior’s community and seniors are pushed more heavily to get colonoscopies.

      The saddest part of all, is that colonoscopies have never been proven to detect cancer early. They are actually a terrible diagnostic tool. In the 7 months I was at Jackson Memorial recovering from my transplant, I saw endoscopes fail to diagnose organ rejection and even necrotic bowels. Twice I was scoped and diagnosed to be in organ rejection. In both cases the biopsies came back negative. I ended up being treated for rejection when I was actually fine. That treatment almost killed me. There were two other woman who had scopes which gave them a clen bill of health and in both cases, the biopsies returned a positive result for organ rejection. Both woman received late treatments for rejection and nearly died. How is it anyone relys on this scope as a diagnostic tool?

      There was one woman who had been perforated by a scope and when she complained of abdominal pain she was given two more scopes and given a clean bill of health. The 3rd scope finally revealed that she had been perforated by the first scoping and that the leaking gastric juices had digested the rest of her bowels. She was rushed to surgery and all of her intestines were removed, She had to have a second transplant earlier this year.

      This woman had over 20 feet of dead and necrotic bowels and 2 colonoscopies failed to detect a problem. If an endoscope cannot detect 20 feet of dead, rotting bowels, how can it detect a tumor smaller than a pea? Especially with the big rush that doctors are now performing this procedure with? The Telemark Polyp Study 1 (the only clinical study ever done on the effectiveness of colonoscopies and polyp removal) has so far (its an ongoing study) showed that there is no advantage. The group who had regular colonoscopies and polyps removed developed colon cancer at the same rate as those who had no colonoscopies. Worse yet, the group who had the polyps removed had 158% higher mortality rate.

      For some reason, they had shorter lifespans when all disease was considered and most of them were from other cancers. My theory is that the cancer cells break free from the removed polyps and find their way to other organs. Colon cancer is typically a slow cancer which is also very treatable, whereas lymph nodes, lung, pancreas and liver cancers are far more aggressive and less treatable. In any other cancer surgery, where tumors are removed, a follow-up of chemotherapy is standard to kill any free cancer cells broken free. There is no chemotherapy following polyp removal from a colonoscopy. It would make good sense that this is why the mortality rate was so much higher. The free cancer cells metastasize to other organs, speeding up their death.

      I thank you for the encouragement. I will continue to tell the real truth about this fad. The colonoscopy is dangerous and ineffective. We have certainly not seen a drop in colon cancer rates since it has been the standard. I’m not sure why everyone is convinced that it is working and line up for this procedure? If it was effective at all, we would have expected to see at least a slight drop in colon cancer rates, but instead, the rates have risen a few percentage points.

      You are also right about the colon prep required prior to the procedure. It is as dangerous as the procedure itself, especially the mechanical bowel prep that some doctors still use (its been proven unnecessary and many doctors have dropped it). The massive water loss and electrolyte imbalance caused by the colon prep can be deadly to many seniors. This colon prep has also been known to cause blood clots in some people, which is another form of death which will never be associated with the procedure, especially when it is a senior. If they have a stroke, the doctor will simply blame it on their age. Doctors are very good at removing the blame from anything they do and transfer it to the patient.

      When statin drugs causes people to lose their memories, the doctors just blame it on Alzheimer’s, when in reality, if they stop taking the statin, their memory returns, but few will go against the doctor and continue to take the drug. (my Aunt is one of them and I can’t convince her to stop taking the statin, yet she can’t even drive anymore because she can’t remember how to get home — sad)

      Sorry for the long reply — when I get on a roll, it’s hard for me to stop. I do thank you for writing though and I am sorry for the hell the doctors put you through for a totally useless procedure. I am happy that you were not injured though. Please stay healthy.

  20. Steve Naidamast
    December 5, 2014 | 1:26 pm

    I came across this site while researching the dangers of colonoscopies. Like many here, I too have experienced the inadequacies of the medical field/industry regarding this procedure.

    I had my first (and last colonoscopy) around 2005 or so. I was given the instructions for the preparation by my internist which consisted of 24 hours of fasting while drinking every hour some concoction to clean my plumbing out.

    Before going into the hospital I called the out-patient clinic to verify my next day’s appointment and explained the preparation process I had been undergoing.
    The nurse I spoke to said that the instructions I had been given were incorrect and that I needed to fast and drink this rat-poison for at least 48 hours. I though this woman was insane.

    I went to the out-patient clinic at my local hospital the next day and went through the procedure. After going to the bathroom on a regular basis for most of the past day the doctor performing the procedure couldn’t see my colon clearly enough so she aborted the procedure early on. She told my wife who had been waiting that “my colon was to murky” for her to continue but what she could see there were no problems at all. She also said that I should retry the procedure in three months.

    I found this very hard to believe. In 1993 I had a sigmoidoscopy, which is the same thing but does not go into the small-intestine. Here I took two or three enemas the day before and my gastroenterologist at the time found my entire colon “clean as a whistle” all the way to the end.

    In 1993 I was having a lot of trouble with IBS with which I was also bleeding out some blood from terrible hemorrhoids along with irregular bowel movements. BTW, I was born constipated.

    Nonetheless, I received a complete clean bill of health. However in 2005 suddenly with far more preparation they couldn’t see anything.

    I told my wife later that I believed what had happened was that I was found to have a clean colon and would make a good candidate to pursue a second procedure (and make more money) since the risks would be so low as I was relatively healthy.

    I suspected this since I take many supplements and never get sick; aging ailments such as arthritistendonitis yes but disease no. In fact, I haven’t been ill with any disease or illness since I had the Hong Kong Flu in 1968.

    Simply put I have a mindset where I simply refuse to get ill. I don’t have time for it.

    I would later be told by my doctor that the doctor who performed the original procedure was no longer with the hospital and should take it again with a different one. No dice! Why should I play medical-roulette with a different doctor I had never met.

    Since 1993 I went on Citrucel fiber therapy several times a day as that was what was recommended to me and I have experienced no similar IBS issues since.

    The doctors I went to back in 1993 were the last doctors I ever trusted. To this day, as I keep abreast of what is going on with the medical industry, I do not trust doctors to tell you anything truthfully or recommend a safer, natural alternative to their witch-doctor prescriptions.

    • Wolverine
      January 3, 2015 | 5:18 pm

      Hie Steve, sorry I have been so long replying — things have been pretty crazy recently. Props to you for standing up to these greedy bastards and not letting them frighten you into undergoing this completely useless, yet dangerous procedure. I say useless, because everyone seems to overlook the fact that there has never been a clinical study to prove its effectiveness — we certainly haven’t seen the drop in colorectal cancer they promised since mandating this screening test. The only fact is, that they are very dangerous, as I am living proof, unfortunately, I know of several others who are no longer living, but deceased proof of the dangers.

      I hail your attitude that you haven’t the time to get sick, I never believed that I had the time either. If you let them poke and prod on you enough and submit to their invasive tests, you will end up finding the time for the rest of your life, that’s considering that you survive their treatments at all. Thanks for sharing your story with us. Just another in the long list of horror stories I receive concerning these procedures daily. I hope you continue to stay healthy and the best move towards achieving that goal is saying “no” to colonoscopies. I guarantee you they injure and kill far more people than they have ever saved (there is not a shred of evidence that they ever saved anyone, but they sure have injured many).

  21. Kathy H
    April 2, 2015 | 12:46 am

    I wasn’t sure about the whole colonoscopy idea, but between my parents saying I needed to have one at the age of 50 and then my new doctor stating I needed one. I finally said ok I would look into it.
    After reading your whole experience I will not complete the paperwork for it. I will take my chances otherwise. Thanks for all that you have done to keep others aware of these serious dangers. I am sorry you had to go through so much.

    • Wolverine
      April 2, 2015 | 2:33 am

      Kathy, I am happy you found my blog before going in for the procedure. At least you have a chance to do more research and learn the side of endoscopic procedures not hyped by the medical industry. Just remember that the endoscope (the instrument used in a colonoscopy) cannot be sterilized. The medical personnel claim it is hand cleaned according to the manufacturer’s reccomendations. These reccomendations are not public knowledge, nor will the manufacturer release that information to the media.

      Since the unounded hysteria of colon cancer skyrocketed the amount of colonoscopies performed, several serious colonic infections, including a strain of C.diff, which has proven resistant to every known class of antibiotics (a superbug), have increased more than 200%.

      Of course, there is also the possibility of perforations and other serious injuries. When the President of the United States, Barack Obama, turned 50 he wanted to set an example for the American people and have a colonoscopy. He had, a VIRTUAL COLONOSCOPY. This is performed by a non-invasive procedure using a CT scan and certain contrast dies which tumors absorb and glow brightly on the imaging. We have to ask the question, if a mechanical colonoscopy, a very invasive procedure, is so safe, then why would his advisors and doctors not allow the President to undergoe the more invasive procedure?

      Even with the high exposure to radiation, his doctors and other advisors still found the risk factor far lower. In my article about intestinal transplants, I said that the media will stay silent on the issues of these transplants and the dangers of colonoscopy procedures until a celbrity is injured by one or needs a transplant. I actually doubt this will happen as people of fame, just like the President, will be advised against the procedure which injures 5 out of evey 1,000 patients who have the procedure (it is actually far higher since it is not always easy to prove that an endoscope caused an injury or especially an infection when symptoms often do not show up until days, weeks or months later.

      This is what I tell people to do. You do not have to refuse the procedure, just refuse to sign the legal waiver. Tell them (and your parents), I am not refusing to have the procedure, I am just refusing to sign away my rights to damages in case something goes wrong (that’s what the legal waiver does, protects the doctor’s ass). Trust me, they will refuse to perform the procedure without a signed waiver. Here is your sound argument. If this procedure is so damned safe as doctors claim it is, then there should be little fear from them doing the procedure without the release.

      They will claim accidents are rare and the waiver is just a formality, but hold your ground and think about it. When you go to a park, like Disney, there are very rare risks of injury from their rides, correct? These are so rare, that Disney would not dare scare away visitors by making everyone sign a waiver which listed loss of limb or death. The lost business would cost more than paying the few lawsuits that might result from a rare injury. WHy the difference? because in the case of Disney, the injuries are truly rare!

      All business is the same. Many people are frightened away from having colonoscopies by actually reading the waiver, which list all of the complications, injuries and even death that can occur. The medical industry had obviously considered this and determined that the lost business from people frightened away by the waiver is a much smaller loss than what the damages occured would be (most likely it is the doctor’s insurance underwriters who have made this decision). This alone tells us that these injuries are not so rare. This doctor want you to put your life on the line for a procedure that he/she will not even put their money at risk for (the risk of being sued). If injuries and death were really so rare, they would just do the procedure without the need for you to waive all your legal rights.

      Just some more food for thought. I have several new articles I am working on and hoe to publish soon. I have been contacted by 2 different people in the industry (one is a retired urse who assisted on thousands of colonoscopies and the other is a medical equipment distributer who oversees the selling and maintenance of devices such as endoscopes. The nurse has told me that the daangers are far worse than I would believe (even after reading my articles) and the distributor has evidence of how these scopes are repaired overseas, often in countries like Korea and China, where there is no oversight whatsoever.

      The deeper I dig, the smellier this whole money making racket becomes (no pun intended) and not only are people dying (as you can see by reading many comments to this article from people telling the stories of loved ones lost to colonoscopes), but infections from superbugs are being transfered from one host to another.

      The worst thing of all is that there is absolutely no evidence to even suggest that colonoscopies have EVER prevented cancer. Colon cancer rates have went up, not down since the use of this ill-advised procedure and the one real clinical study, which is still ongoing in Finland (The Telemark Polyp Study 1) has shown no advantage in the group who had regular colonoscopies, but in fact, it was found that those who had the colonoscopies and polyps removed had a 158% higher mortality rate when “all-cause” deaths were considered. 158%!! That is a significant number. These deaths would have to be from other, more deadly cancers.

      Since colon cancer is very treatable and survivable and colonoscopies are never followed up by chemotherapy treatments, even when polyps are cut on (all other cancer removal surgeries are followed by chemo to kill any cancer cells which broke free and could metastasize to other organs) it is very possible this high death rate is due to cancer cells traveling to other organs which carry a much higher probblility of death from cancer like lung, liver, pacreatic, lymph or brain cancers. Are these poor people trading their treatable colon cancer for deadly lung cancer? What else could explain the higher mortality rate for those who had colonoscopies and polyps removed? Certainly not heart diisease. It would make no sense. This number should not be ignored, it is way to high to be within the margin of error or even unrelated to the prcedure, since it was the only thing these people had in common and the people not having colonoscopies lived longer lives on average.

      It’s all a sham, because doctors cannot visually diagnose cancer. If they could, then skin cancer would be a non-factor. The human skin, unlike the colon, is not covered in 1/4 inch of mucus. No doctors knows what a healthy colon or diseased colon look like, nor the difference between the two. This became very apparent when I saw the transplant doctors misdiagnose organ rejection time after time. They were completely unable to look into the intestines and determine which ones were in chronic rejection, a condition which should be far easier to spot than a tiny tumor and yet I only saw failures during the 7 months I was in recovery and the doctors were scoping each patient weekly. Because of the frequency of scopings, we saw many patients injured and rushed into surgery. A couple of them died as a result of the injuries.

      One woman was injured by a colonoscopy last year (she was an intestinal transplant recipient from 2008). She was perfectly healthy since her bowel transplant and was only having the procedure because the doctors recommend all transplant recipients have a colonoscopy every 6 months to check for signs of organ rejections (I have refused to sgn the waiver in 5 years and they stopped asking me to have the procedure). She complained of abdominal pain, so 2 more colonsocopies were done. Both came back with a clean bill of health. No problems found in her bowels.

      She ultimetely crashed and was rushed into surgery where all of her transplanted bowels (both large and small) were removed and she had to undergo a second transplant earlier this year. In the surgery, it was discovered that her bowels had been perforated on the first colonoscopy, which caused internal bleeding, which cause a blood clot to form in the mesenteric artery, shutting off the blood to all of her intestines. All of her bowels had died and were necrotic.

      The bowels were dead during both follow-up colonoscopes. If these doctors, who were using a far more expensive scope than the average one used in colonoscopies for cancer screening (it has magnification capabilities to check villi for rejection), were unable to detect over 20 feet of dead and necrotic bowels, how am I to believe that they can spot a malignant tumor smaller than a grain of rice? It’s all bullshit! Thanks for writing and I hope you can stay healthy. You do not want to end up like I am. I will continue to warn people of the dangers of this procedure.

  22. scott danforth
    April 14, 2015 | 11:19 pm

    So i had stomach problems and diarrhea for a month it finally went away but they say they found some blood in my stool so now they want to do a colonstopy but after reading this i dont think im gonna do it blood in your stool can be caused by many other things like ulcers ibs etc My mom rip before she died in march warned me to never do this procedure now that im feeling better i will do another blood stool test to see but i cant imagine what you have been through and i dont think its worth it.i noticed obama did a different type ct body scan for the colon which is not as invasive let me know whatyou think thanks

  23. Robin
    December 8, 2015 | 1:47 pm

    Hi ! Thank you for sharing your story. I am one the definitely steers toward homeopathic medicine, but, being 50, has been pressured to schedule an appointment for a colonoscopy. NO WAY NOW. But have you heard of Cologuard Stool DNA testing? I just got back from my Drs and she gave me a pamphlet on this. Do you have any stories to share from others on this? It is very non evasive, but not sure how accurate or easy to do.
    I hope you are doing well as I do not see recent posts from you.
    Blessing, Robin

    • Wolverine
      December 19, 2015 | 5:10 pm

      Hi Robin. Thanks for writing. I know… I have not been active on the site for quite a while. I have had a lot going on in other direction. I do hope to get back to it eventually, because I still have a lot to rant about. I am not familiar with the Cologuard Stool DNA testing, but I will certainly research it. Any other type of colon cancer screening is a very welcome addition since I do not believe that the colonoscopy is very effective at the claims they make for it, but I do know for a fact that it is extremely dangerous.

      The accuracy of this test cannot be any worse than the colonoscopy. There has never been any study done which proves the colonoscopy does anything other than butcher people up and generate millions for the medical industry. These endoscopes cost more than $25,000.00 each and at the rate that doctors line humans up like cattle and perform this procedure, they must have several on hand, because the time it must take to clean them. The medical industry refuses to release any information about how these things are clean, but do admit that they cannot be sterilized and must be hand-cleaned.

      Think about that for a minute. Some poor person, who I cannot imagine is paid very well, has to sit all day and clean shit-covered scopes. If you had to clean 20 to 30 of these things per day, how long before your attention wonders? I can’t believe that anyone actually chose this profession, but rather somehow ended up there. How happy do you think they are at their job? Well, your life depends on how well they do their job. One study, which was done at the VA after more than 1,500 veterans had been exposed to scopes tainted with HIV, found that 1 out of every 3 scopes did not meet the cleaning requirements, whatever they are!

      No one has ever disclosed that information, but I bet it is already quite low and now they say 1 out of every 3 did not meet that requirement and were found carrying the HIV virus, along with other pathogens, such as Hepatitis, Pseudomonas and the fairly new drug-resistant C. diff, which has proven resistant to every known strain of antibiotics.

      I think the dangers far outweigh any possible benefit, especially since the device has yet to be proven to do anything. Has there been a great reduction in colorectal cancer in the last decade? The colonoscopies became a normal part of everyone’s medical list over 10 years ago and has been used on nearly everyone age 50 and over since, yet we have seen no reduction in colorectal cancer. Doctors simply say it works and everyone believes them, just like everyone takes their statin drug daily and suffer all of the horrible side-effects, even though we have seen nothing but an increase in heart disease for the last 20 years. Statins have been pushed for more than 20 years and it’s quite obvious they do not work or we should have seen a mass reduction in heart disease and we haven’t.

      It must be nice to be able to make claims on your product and everyones believes it without any proof it works. This is something only the drug companies enjoy because they have doctors pushing their products and everyone trusts their doctor. Well, drug companies and medical equipment manufactures. At $30,000 each, General Electric makes a lot of money selling these endoscopes.

      I think you’re smart to stay away from this procedure because there is nothing but bad that can possibly come from it. I saw endoscope fail to make proper diagnosis time after time while in the recovery from the transplant. Endoscopes were used weekly on patients to determine any problems inside the bowels, most specifically, organ rejection, and the scope failed all of the time. A few patients ultimately died because of the poor diagnostic ability of the scopes.

      If an endoscope cannot help the doctors diagnose a dead and necrotic intestine, then how in the hell can it tell a malignant tumor from a benign polyp? Any polyps they chop away at would just be surface removal because the tools used through the endoscope cannot do a resection of the bowel, which is what would be needed if the polyp is malignant. The only thing they can accomplish by chopping off the surface (cancer usually lies deeper than surface) is break loose cancer cells which can then metastasize to other organs. A colonoscopy is never followed by chemotherapy, which is what all other cancer surgeries do to kill any free cells. This probably explains why the colonoscopy group in the Telemark Study had a 158% higher “all cause” death rate than those who had no colonoscopies, ever.

      Thanks again for writing. Hope the Cologuard test can put your mind at ease (because that’s all the colonoscopy does, makes people think they are safe from colorectal cancer, when in reality their chances are the same as those who have no colonoscopies, according to the real studies done). Even if the Cologuard test does work like a champ, the medical community will attack it and try to convince everyone it is not successful because they would lose a lot of money if everyone cancelled their colonoscopy appointments. Companies, like General Electric have a lot of money they can use to discredit any safe alternative which may arise.

    • Joan
      December 19, 2015 | 8:47 pm

      I recently had a Cologuard test and the results came back negative. I am female, 66 years old and have refused to have a colonoscopy. I do suffer from IBS and diverticular disease. I well understand the significance placed on the medical profession has placed on having a colonoscopy but I am not yet ready for that test. I had to ask my primary care physician to order the test since two gastroenterologists whom I have seen through the years, refused to order the test. During my most recent visit with one of them, I challenged him to assure me that a colonoscopy would, in any way, alleviate or diagnose my current symptoms, which had already been found via abdominal CT scan and by a review of my physical symptoms. Of course, he agreed that the test which I so dread would be only a screening for pre-cancerous polyps and nothing else – significant, of course, but not my main concern at this point. Before the Cologuard test, I had asked the two gastro physicians to order a sigmoidoscopy, a much less invasive test which I have had several times during the past decades. Again, both refused. They both used the perennial rationale likening that test to only having a mammogram of one breast – they almost used the exact same phrase. I may be making a mistake in my refusal to have the colonoscopy, now basing my refusal, in part, on the favorable Cologuard result, that I have not yet arrived at that point. If you opt for Cologuard, be aware that the results are not guaranteed, and there can be false positives and negatives. But, for someone like myself, who has adamantly refused a colonscopy, it was a good first step. And, it was covered by Medicare.

      • JoeInMidwest
        February 4, 2016 | 9:54 pm

        I realize that the IBS puts you at a greater risk for colon cancer, but also recognize that you naturally have accepted what risks there are. I am saddened that doctors refused to accommodate your wishes.
        I also had a barbaric experience with a sigmoidoscopy, and have refused the colonoscopy. I am fortunate that I have zero family history of colon/rectal cancer, and my lifestyle keeps me active, and removed from the risks associated with colon cancer (more red meat, smoking, processed foods, etc.), so my risk is 5%. I also know that I will die of something, 100% guaranteed, with or without a colonoscopy.
        The argument that the sigmoidoscopy does not assess the right side of the colon is somewhat disingenuous to me, because the right colon is the area that the flatter lesions tend to reside in, and gastroenterologists have a higher risk of totally missing those flatter (I think they are called serrated sessile lesions) lesions, as the polyps are typically more easily recognized. Credible studies have indicated that 12-19% of polyps/other lesions are totally missed by colonoscopy anyway.
        A colonoscopy may catch something, yes, but the cologuard test is 92% sensitive to cancer cells, and 40-60-some% sensitive to precancerous cells. Good enough for me too.
        Plus, I also know that skipping the colonoscopy means I still have a 5% risk of cancer, but it will also mean I have a 0% chance of a colonoscopy adverse effect, like perforation, medication side effects, bleeding, glutaraldehyde-induced (the disinfectant will to clean many colonoscopy devices which cannot always be properly rinsed off apparently due to the assembly process at clinics looking to cut corners)colitis, and getting any infectious bugs (which happens as disinfectants take time to be effective. And time is money at assembly line colonoscopy clinic sites) from the colonoscopy device which the manufacturers agree cannot be reliably cleaned.
        So, yes, Joan, I support you in your quest to have a voice in your own health care.

        • Joan
          February 5, 2016 | 10:26 am

          Thank you very much for your in-depth response as to the right-side colon lesions which are often missed anyway, during colonoscopy. I am sorry you also had a bad experience with the sigmoidoscopy. It is still an invasive test and would also carry some risk of perforation etc. I have started a daily regime of LaYogurt probiotics and it has actually helped with the diverticular issues.

  24. Suzanne
    January 9, 2016 | 11:39 am

    My boyfriend was recently diagnosed with low-risk early stages multiple myeloma (mm). The doctors want to sign him up immediately for chemo and stem cell transplant. We have never been horrible at our diet… but have just this last week… completely cut out grains, only little fruit, but lots veggies, seeds, nuts, farm eggs, grass-fed beef, nearly everything organic, turmeric, ginger, 20,000iu D3. Your blog is best we’ve read so far and encouraging on non-traditional therapy. Still so much to read and learn. I want to be on your ‘notification’ list so I can keep up with your progress and all of the super great info. Looking to give 100% effort of what’s necessary to cure (or stabilize progression). Trying to cover as many bases as possible. SO MUCH good info on your site. Thank you so much. Definitely want to be notified of new posts.

    • Wolverine
      January 17, 2016 | 4:01 pm

      I am very sorry to hear about your boyfriend. Is the chemo subcutaneous shots of Velcade and steroids (dexamethasone)? This is what I was treated with in 2013 and the Multiple Myeloma stayed in remission for 2 years (I also had targeted radiation for a large tumor which ate a hole through the top of my skull). I underwent more Velcade and Dex at the end of last year and am now on a maintenance of Velcade shots every 2 weeks. So far, the cancer has responded well to the Velcade, but I know that t will eventually build a resistance. Luckily, there are a few more effective treatments (Revlimid) to start after that happens (is your boyfriend already on Revlimid?).

      There are several new drugs for Multiple Myeloma which have recently been released and several more in the pipeline to be released in the next few years. Hopefully, these treatments can by me and your boyfriend lots of time. Thank you for sharing his story and for you kind and encouraging words concerning my blog. I haven’t added anything new in a while, but I promise everyone, I will be writing again soon.

      • Suzanne
        January 17, 2016 | 10:14 pm

        He has not started any treatment. He asked for three months to A. research and B. finish some personal financial projects. Of course insurance acceptance is of utmost importance and UAMS is a 3 hr drive… but he’s not sure if he’s onboard with their 2 back-to-back SCT plan. Since he has no lesions or tumors and all was discovered fairly early …wondering if there is some treatment that won’t tear him down so hard as the UAMS plan. They pretty much want to sign you up before you leave and give you no time to even think. Thank you again.

        • Wolverine
          January 23, 2016 | 7:05 pm

          I see. If the chemo treatments they want to start are Velcade, then the side effects are very minimal or none at all. When we think of chemo, we all tend to think of those very long 4 to 8 hour infusions which cause hair loss, vomiting, diarrhea and all types of other horror. Unfortunately, these type chemo treatments still exist, but they are used for the very hard to treat cancers, but not all chemo are equal.

          Chemotherapy is just a name given to any treatment which uses chemicals. Multiple Myeloma therapy has come a long way in recent years and increased the survival time considerably. Just 10 years ago, the average time of death was typically just 3 to 5 years from the time of diagnosis.

          Because a prominent politician named Geraldine Ferraro, a congress woman (and also a Vice President nominee) who was running for senator when she was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. She used her knowledge of how to get things done in Washington to raise many funds for research and had the knowledge to part the red tape necessary to get FDA approval. In many cases, like with Velcade, she volunteered to be first to take the drugs under the experimental trials. She is an amazing woman who I owe much to or I would have already been gone.

          Thanks to her relentless work, three new drugs have recently been released with several more in the pipeline to be released soon after. Geraldine Ferraro was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in 1998, at a time when the prognosis was three years to mortality, yet she is still alive and working hard on getting more effective treatments out each year.

          My oncologist has one patient who is 20 years past his initial diagnosis I personally know man who was diagnosed in 2001 and he is still going strong.

          Unfortunately, I am in a case by my self because I have to take immunosuppressant drugs (so my immune system doesn’t attack my transplanted organ), which lower my T-cells and any of the treatments for Multiple Myeloma are designed to strengthen and increase the T-cells. So far, my oncologists have done a great job working around this handicap. This could well shorten my prognosis, but I have surprised doctors before, which is how I got the name “Wolverine”.

          You can tell your boyfriend that Velcade is not even delivered by an IV infusion, but is simply a subcutaneous shot in the abdomen (takes only a minute). It stings a bit, but that’s it — boom. it’s over. It does not make any hair fall out, nor does it cause nausea in most patients. I have found no side effect other then dry skin and sometime a bit of inflammation in the area of the shot, which is why I have them give the shot on a different side each treatment.

          A typical chemo cycle with Velcade is a shot twice a week, usually on Monday and Thursday (on Monday they will also do blood labs, which only take a couple of minutes). This is done for two weeks, then there is a week off and that is one cycle. Doctors will usually order 6 cycles for a first treatment. It is very light treatment, but is often very effective. The Velcade alone has put mine in remission twice now. I have had the cancer since 2010, but it wasn’t diagnosed until 2013. Mine is back in remission and I am getting a maintenance Velcade treatment every 2 weeks.

          The may start me on Revlimid, which is an oral pill. They say some people have an upset GI from it, but not everyone. It is a very effective drug also, yet there are 3 new treatments which have come out. There is nothing to fear about these treatments, though there is much to fear from no treatment. Multiple Myeloma is a very deadly cancer left untreated, so I hope he gets help soon.

          I understand the insurance nightmare which exist out there. I hope your boyfriend gets the coverage he needs for these treatments (they are very expensive) very soon. Please keep me appraised of his situation, if you don’t mind. Best wishes.

  25. malou
    February 21, 2016 | 8:33 pm

    feb 22

    your story is a timely one. i have been prescribed my ob-gyne to have colonoscopy about 4 years ago because there was that on and off pains in the abdominal area, and at first, she had me had an abdominal ct scan, and did not see abnormalities, thus, she ruled out problems in my remaining 1 & 1/4 ovaries, i had my sub-total hysterectomy 26 years ago. i asked around in the 2 clinics who had gastro specialist, and at that time, 2012, the cost was P16,000.00 (philippine pesos)! must be blessing in disguise, i did not have that much money, so bore the pain and ignored colonoscopy.
    but now there are again pains, i noticed, they attack almost always during the 1st quarter of the year. this time i am already a bit scared because i think this must be the 5th year that i have been feeling this “abdominal pain”, again, maybe, fortunately, i still do not have the money, this time, it must be P20,000.00.
    Actually, i can raise the P20k, but, there is something deep inside, my character core, that is somehow whispering: ” you do not need it!”- just the thought of something invading my anus, is revolting to me.
    then i read your story…so now, i am decided that i will not have colonoscopy, in fact i have written 3 people already and asked them if they had had colonoscopy and if they know anybody who will have one, to wait for the article i will forward them( your article)
    you know, i am just wondering, if the criminal act that was done to you happened there in a supposed to be “modern and high tech” country, how much more damage may be happening in 3rd world countries like mine, Philippines? Or maybe, it is also possible that our doctors are more careful and more humane-your take on this.
    now, in your story, you did not narrate what prompted you to undergo colonoscopy…what was your ailment that you got into it, will appreciate if you can include it in your story so as to help people/me know what and when to do colonoscopy.
    i am also would like to request where i can communicate with you directly and please include me in all your subscribers.
    you have done a great job of making the public know about the evil of the procedures done to helpless sick people by the amoral greedy medical/pharmacolonies. I pray that you be spared of further complications and ailments…i believe God is using you so many can feel God”s love! blessings to you and your wife, malou

  26. Rob Watts
    March 24, 2017 | 10:35 pm

    In November 2012 I was told by the VA I needed to have cancer screening since I was 56 and never had any cancer tests done . I had never had any internal problems or complaints at all. I had a colonoscopy and endoscopy performed and I had three benign polyps and a small hiatal hernia, that’s all. By April of 2013 I had esophagitis, gastritis, duodenitis, diverticulosis, massive inflammation throughout my entire body, allergic bronchopulmonar aspergillosis, and finally a pulmonary embolism. WTF? If I knew what I know now I would never have agreed to any invasive testing, and never will again. My health has gone totally to shit and strangely my illness cannot be diagnosed enough to treat the cause. I enjoyed your article, keep up the good work.

    • Wolverine
      April 8, 2017 | 3:23 am

      Hi Rob. Thanks for writing and for the kind words. WTF is right. Wow, that’s a lot to go through, especially the pulmonary embolism. You’re lucky to survive that. Colonoscopies are notorious for causing blood clots. Usually the clots are due to the colon prep more than the scoping itself, I think. Either way, all of my problems started because of a clot caused by a colonoscopy.

      In my case, the bowel was perforated, but because the doctors continues to ignore my complaint of severe abdominal pains, the colon continued to bleed inside of me. I figured this out two years later when I went over the blood test result for those three days. The blood platelets were doubling each day. From 200 to 400, to 800, to 1,400!

      At the time, I was unresponsive, but the doctors kept telling my wife that my white blood cells were skyrocketing (eventually got to 62,000!), but they never once mentioned the blood platelets. I wonder why? They couldn’t have missed those numbers in the results. They knew that was a sign that I was hemorrhaging inside, but I think they hoped it would clot or heal on its own. They didn’t want my wife to know I had been perforated by the scope.

      My body did what it had to do to stop me from bleeding out and formed a clot in the mesenteric artery, which is the main artery that feeds blood to all of the intestines, small and large. All of my small intestines died and about half of the large. I should have died.

      Of course, because of this, the doctors blamed me (they always blame the patient when they can) and said I had some blood clotting disorder. Shit, anyone would have a clot when their platelets are beyond 1,400. All 14 months I was hospitalized, I was kept on heparin. After the transplant, the doctors wanted me on anticoagulants for life. I knew damned well I didn’t have a clotting disorder. I had never had a blood clot in the 48 years prior to the colonoscopy. I threw the shit in the trash and never took it again. It’s been over 7 years now and I still haven’t had any clotting issues. That’s how doctors are, something happens one time, which most of the time is due to something the doctor did (procedure or medication), and they put you on some drug for life.

      I am sorry to hear about your troubles. Thank you for sharing your story here. No one can fuck up your health better that a doctor can. Doctors can definitely save your life, if you are in series trouble, like a heart attack or banged up in an accident. It’s the chronic diseases, which they have no clue how to treat, like Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s Disease, GERD, etc. that they will try to treat and do more damage than just leaving it alone. Any dietary advice from a doctor will always be the worse diet you can be on (lots of grains, low fat, low calorie, low taste). I hope you are feeling better. Thanks again for writing.

  27. Frank Delaware
    May 3, 2017 | 1:41 pm

    Thank you for all this great information about colonoscopies! One thing that really stood out to me is that they can help you make sure that you don’t have colon cancer. It would be nice to know that something so simple will help you live a better life.

  28. Janette
    August 14, 2017 | 10:31 am

    Thank you so much for all of the information you have shared. I am horrified at what you have gone through. It is so incredibly unfair. I am so very sorry for these health issues you have suffered because of this procedure you endured.

    I have been a vegetarian since I was 40 and am now 62. I have refused my doctors push for colonoscopies for the last 12 years. About 3 years ago occult blood was found in my stool and a recent Cologuard test came up positive. Of course, now I was getting pushed even harder to get this colonoscopy. I had a CT scan two years ago, in an effort to find the cause of the occult blood and a pain that wouldn’t go away in my left side. They were looking for tumors. I risked the CT scan against my better judgment but rationalized that it would be the best way to find out if I had a tumor. I also have shingles, but I’ll go into that in a minute. The CT scan didn’t find any tumors (of course it can’t detect super small polyps) but there was some sort of abnormality at the illium and the report indicated that there might be the possibility of the onset of Crohns disease. (Crohns can also cause occult blood in your stool, so I’ve read). Of course, the doctors recommended a colonoscopy so that they could take a biopsy to confirm. I rejected the colonoscopy because Crohns can’t be cured, so I rationalized why take the chance of such an invasive procedure when a diagnosis of Crohns is all one gets from it. I simply started trying to treat Crohns through dietary changes. This year, after my complete physical that came out perfect (we’re talking full blood work and metabolic functioning) I conceded to get the Cologuard test as opposed to the colonoscopy that was being pushed. I’m sure you know, but a positive Cologuard test could result due to either presence of blood in the stool And/Or pre-cancerous or cancerous cells. Cologuard doesn’t break that down for you. So, having that test in my view is no better that a standard $25 FIT test. They only issue a positive result and then the doctors push for the colonoscopy. I’ve been in a panic for a week now and was about to schedule that colonoscopy today. I have been in such a state of depression for days now because I am totally aware of the risks that you have cited. I finally found one hospital who cleaned their endoscopes with paracetic acid vs. the industry recommended glutaralderhyde solution you have indicated (which doesn’t clean the instruments at all). After reading your blog today, there is absolutely no way I will have this colonoscopy, especially since I may have Crohns and the state of the inside of my intestines may be weaker because of it. I have recently started incorporating fermented foods into my diet, too. I had already pretty much eliminated all wheat from my diet and don’t eat a whole lot of other grains, but will now exclude those, too. I don’t eat a lot of soy either, though now I will eliminate all but fermented soy. I feel great. I have no pain. I just have a lot of very loose bowel movements and I have assumed this is due to perhaps having Crohns disease. However, when I routinely take my probiotics, those stools become more normal. That pain that I had in my left side, which the doctors couldn’t determine the source of, went away, along with all of my shingles outbreaks when I eliminated completely all nuts from my diet. Immediately. There are large concentrations of Arginine in nuts. Arginine is known to actually bring on a shingles outbreak. That pain in my left side, along with the really bad night sweats I had,and the shingles outbreaks, all disappeared and have never returned. At the same time I removed the nuts from my diet, I also tried to remove all gluten from my diet. So not sure if the nuts and gluten were the cause, but it is really coincidental that all of those symptoms went away when I eliminated those foods.

    I just wanted to thank you for your research and for sharing here with the world because I was feeling in my gut that getting this colonoscopy was not a good idea. I was in tears last night and was feeling like a coward. Though, I normally go with my gut instincts, I was finally going to succumb and do what I thought was not a good thing for my health. I feel strongly that Colon cancer can be cured through diet and a change in lifestyle. At 62 years old, I’m good with taking my chances. My grandmother was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer at my age, was given 5 years to live. She lived 10 years with no dietary changes. At the end, when she was dying, she agreed to take some new drug for colon cancer. She died, but not due to the drug but, instead deyhydration. I figure even if I do have colon cancer, I’ll just take my chances and if my dietary changes and lifestyle changes don’t fix what ails me, then so be it. Like you say, at least you know it wasn’t something you did to yourself.

    One other interesting note. I had developed what I considered an overgrowth of Candida yeast in my gut about 10 years ago. Of course, every doctor I told this to looked at me like I didn’t know what I was talking about. I couldn’t get a doctor anywhere to consider this as an issue, even though I had rectal itching that would send you over the edge! I finally researched candida overgrowth and it was then that I started cutting out foods, especially sugars,grains, and gluten and also started taking probiotics on a regular basis. I mention the overgrowth of Candida yeast because such overgrowths can cause cancer, according to things I have read. Not sure if there is a connection between Candida yeast overgrowth and some diseases like colon cancer, colitis or Crohns. So, I’m curious if you have any thoughts on the impact of candida overgrowth.

    Thanks again for all you have done. I feel you saved my life today!

  29. Kim
    August 28, 2017 | 10:19 pm

    Hi I am so glad I came across your site. I’m so sorry this had to happen to you and want to thank you for sharing all the information about colonascopy, the risk, etc. two of my primary Drs., told me do not go through this procedures due to my grand mull seizure and I am a bleeder since a baby plus my blood does not clot., I am not on blood thinner medicine. My new primary dr., wants me to have this test done as he want to know if there are any cancer in me. I said the other 2 primary dr., said I should not go through this. I have people I know & have talk to and said you don’t want to go through this as it is very painful, plus they have done damaged to them. Like I told my dr., it’s all about making money here, plus I don’t believe in all of this. I am schedule to have the test done on 09/22/2017, but I will be calling them to cancel this test for good. I’ll just deal with the problem I always had with bowel movement until I can go. I hope more and more poeople come across your site read about your story. I have forward the link to a friend who his wife went through this test after the test she was sick for 6 months. He refused to take her. He took picture of her getting into a cab. This way he had proof if he had to sue. They wanted to do it on his mother at age of 92 he refused his mother to have this test. Called his lawyer had the lawyer notify the nursing home threaten if you do this test on his guy mother there will be a law suit file against you. They did not do the test.

  30. Ell
    January 23, 2018 | 11:21 am

    Thank you so much for sharing your battle.Only story like that make us think more before becoming a subject who follow every procedure that someone decided it must be good for us because is modern and hey- it costs/it earns

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