hi I'm dr. Craig Pepin I'm a
gastroenterologist at the poly clinic
and I've been in practice since 2002 I
have the great pleasure of working with
six other board-certified
gastroenterologist well as well as an
amazing well trained staff at the
polyclinic Endoscopy Center much of our
practice involves the performance of
colonoscopy for our patients we love
colonoscopy then we understand many
patients don't love colonoscopy and many
patients delay scheduling their exams
due to inconvenience fear cost and
embarrassment to educate our patients
we'd like to share some facts as well as
some myths and misconceptions about
colonoscopy so you can learn to love
colonoscopy - or at least schedule an
exam when your time is due as part of
the Affordable Care Act and required by
the state of Washington screening
colonoscopies are covered as a
preventative care benefit just like a
physical or a mammogram some patients
may have out-of-pocket expenses that
polyps are found and removed so please
do check with your insurance company
however for most patients there are no
out-of-pocket costs at all no one likes
the thought of drinking liquid laxatives
and spending a lot of time in the
bathroom but you'll be asked to do that
usually the day before your exam the
truth is the better you are at making
sure your colon is sparkling clean the
better we can see your colon detect
polyps and remove them we also have
smaller volume preparations that may be
an option for you bottoms up
the colonoscopy test itself takes only
about 30 minutes you can expect to spend
about two hours total here at the office
as we prepare you for the exam and
provide you with a sedative that will
keep you relaxed and comfortable
throughout the test itself and then let
you recover for a little while before
you go home it's true that colonoscopy
does require a little bit of advanced
planning and a commitment of some time
but when you think that it can prevent
colon cancer and potentially save your
life it's clearly worth the effort
because we performed thousands of
colonoscopy every year were very good at
it
we offer excellent quality and earn top
marks to prove it we also provide
patients with an exceptional patient
experience from quick and easy direct
scheduling to your arrival and care on
the day of your colonoscopy we're here
to make this experience as easy and
pleasant as possible colonoscopy is
often referred to as the gold standard
and for good reason no other diagnostic
tests can both screened for and prevent
cancer by identifying the small growths
or polyps in your large intestine that
can eventually turn into cancer and
removing them on the spot colonoscopy is
one of the most impressive cancer tests
yet
you