Do It Yourself Colonoscopy

I am in no way a health professional, nor should this be taken as medical advice.  This is just a personal opinion.

The Health Industry recommends you should have a colonoscopy every ten years after the age of 50.  But, getting the procedure done by a doctor at the local hospital can be a real pain in the “you know what” when you factor in everything.  You have to:

• get someone to drive you to the hospital or find and pay for expensive parking,
• fill out the forms and releases,
• get changed in a small room with just a curtain and put on a hospital gown that is thinner than the curtain you’re standing behind,
• sit in the waiting room consistently making sure the gown is fully closed,
• make that awkward eye contact with strangers who all know what procedure you’re in for,
• say “hi” to your bed neighbour in the room afterwards (if you’ve had a colonoscopy, you know what this room is actually for),
• and, finally, once the sedative has faded, you get can redressed and then head home.

What a process!!!!  There must be an easier way….

Well, why not just do it yourself at home?  You can go to any lumber store in Greater Sudbury and buy one of those new, high-tech plumbing or inspection cameras that we see home inspectors use and you could ask a family member to help you administer it!  No parking, no waiting, no awkwardness with your bed neighbour afterwards – it sounds so easy!  Uncle Jim has had a colonoscopy, so I'm sure he can do it!

But, all kidding aside, what are the main reasons you wouldn’t do a DIY Colonoscopy?  Common sense reasoning would probably be:

• Something this important should be handled by a licenced professional for your safety.
• You may not understand what you’re seeing on the camera or not understand what you’re reading in the results which could be severely detrimental to your health if you miss something.
• Uncle Jim may be “too nice” and doesn’t want to hurt you or your feelings by not giving you the “full” test or the honest truth about the results.
• You’re probably not prepared to handle any possible complications at home that could arise during the process and you’d probably want to make sure there are professionals to take care of you if something goes wrong.

Most would probably agree those are 100% practical reasons as to why you wouldn’t administer your own colonoscopy.  And, if you look closely at all those reasons, they’re identical to why selling the largest investment most people will own in their lifetime by yourself is just as dangerous….

Selling your house privately is like giving yourself a colonoscopy – sounds easy in theory, but way too risky to try on your own.  Too often we see people taking a giant risk with 100’s of thousands of dollars with the false promise they’ll save a small handful.  Just cause Uncle Jim has owned a house doesn't mean he has the knowledge and experience to protect you and your investment.  Keep the DIY projects to stuff that have far less risk involved than major financial and medical decisions.

Don’t give yourself a financial colonoscopy.  Let the professionals handle what they’re trained to do and hire a Realtor®.

Never hesitate to contact us with any questions, comments and suggestions, including any topics you’d like to see us discuss on here.  You can reach us anytime through our team email account – caswellteam@realtyexecutives.com – be sure to check out some of the other great topics in our Caswell Team Blog and keep coming back to see what’s new and exciting in Greater Sudbury!

Contributed by:

Steve Caswell

Cell - 705.561.8767

caz@realtyexecutives.com

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other salespersons, staff or affiliates of Realty Executives of Sudbury LTD. Brokerage, Realty Executives International, the Sudbury Real Estate Board, Ontario Real Estate Association, Canadian Real Estate Association or any of their subsidiaries.  For any concerns pertaining to the content herein, please contact us immediately at caswellteam@realtyexecutives.com.