[Ditto]

I have been stalling on the obligatory colonoscopy in the hope that the camera pill would be approved.

Don't be afrade of getting the standard procedure. It really is nothing, and it could be life saving. You don't even know when they are doing it. Totally painless.

[Rockingham]

I did not mean to be flip about it, but the costs and medical risks of colonoscopies have generated a debate over their merit and scheduling. We may well have gone overboard on the procedure: Too Many Colonoscopies in the Elderly.

Since I do not smoke, drink little, am not overweight, am not yet elderly, and do not have a family history of colon cancer, I lack the greatest risk factors for colon cancer. My doctor has therefore not pressed me to get a colonoscopy.

Meanwhile, I have a more pressing requirement for a head MRI every year or two to monitor the residue of a benign pituitary tumor that remained after two surgeries. If the residue starts growing, I will need radiation treatments. If I am lucky, the residue will gradually disappear without further intervention. On the whole, that worries me more than getting a colonoscopy.