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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if I can go to a colonoscopy alone?

151 replies

Lutherant · 22/01/2025 14:00

Just that really, posting here for traffic. I have to have a colonoscopy (not urgently). I have a young baby and absolutely no support network nearby - none - except my husband. Husband would have to stay with the baby so there is no one to come with me. I wouldn't drive myself, I would get a taxi there and back.

Is this OK?

OP posts:
Lovelysummerdays · 22/01/2025 14:02

I went alone. They won’t give you sedation unless you are accompanied. I managed on gas and air.

handmademitlove · 22/01/2025 14:05

If your DH can collect you to take you home at the end of the procedure, that should be fine. They won't let you go home unaccompanied if you have sedation.

Original poster
Lutherant · 22/01/2025 14:06

Oh jeez I'm not sure I want to do it without being sedated.

OP posts:
Needamagicfairy · 22/01/2025 14:07

I wasn't allowed to leave the ward until my DP came to meet me

TheSpottedZebra · 22/01/2025 14:07

Could he not drive to collect you?

fiftiesmum · 22/01/2025 14:07

Life would be easier if more people went to hospital appointments alone where possible - some patients bring the whole extended family guy

TheYearOfSmallThings · 22/01/2025 14:07

They will sedate you if you explain that your husband (and baby) will come to escort you home and stay with you for X many hours. At discharge they will confirm that he is present and understands what he is undertaking to do.

WiseLurker · 22/01/2025 14:10

I had exactly this scenario recently.

I'd planned to get a taxi there and back but they would not allow it, you need to be supervised by another adult for 24 hours after the sedation and they said a taxi driver wouldn't take on that sort of obligation.

To be fair, they were right.
They gave me fentanyl (or something similar) and I was absolutely off my face so I did need someone looking after me.

Marylou62 · 22/01/2025 14:11

I've been alone twice...
Both times I've had no sedation..
It was painful but bearable..
2nd time I had gas and air..
I got the bus home after..
It's like contractions during childbirth.. painful but only in waves..

Vaxtable · 22/01/2025 14:12

Get your husband to take you, then he goes off with the baby for a while then comes and collects you. Maybe he does soft play or whatever?

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 22/01/2025 14:13

DB goes on his own every time ( regular check ups). They give him a cup of tea and a biscuit afterwards and then he goes home on the bus.

He is tough, though.

MyProudHare · 22/01/2025 14:14

Must be different in different places - I had sedation and went home alone in a taxi. I was observed / in recovery for a good few hours first, mind. And they asked if I had someone at home (I did). You'll be fine, OP. Good luck.

PotaytoPotahhto · 22/01/2025 14:17

I have regular colonoscopies. I have always gone on my own and when it’s done, I call whoever is picking me up to make their way as usually once they arrive, I’m ready to leave. A couple of times my husband has come with one of our babies. You just need someone to walk out of the hospital with you so they don’t need to be there the whole time.

P00hsticks · 22/01/2025 14:19

Needamagicfairy · 22/01/2025 14:07

I wasn't allowed to leave the ward until my DP came to meet me

I never even got to a ward - did you have yours done under sedation ?

I had mine done as an outpatient - I was wheeled on the bed from the colonoscopy room to a recovery area but as I hadn't been given a sedative I was allowed to get up and dressed straight away and then given a sandwich and taken to a private room to discuss the findings.

maudelovesharold · 22/01/2025 14:20

I didn’t have sedation, because I wanted to drive there and back, rather than stand around for 2x buses each way or pay through the nose for taxis (the hospital is beyond the outskirts on the other side of the city). Dh was with me, but doesn’t drive (in light of another thread, that’s because of a disability!) I was fine with gas and air. The worst part of the whole process for me was the prep!

Original poster
Lutherant · 22/01/2025 14:20

TheSpottedZebra · 22/01/2025 14:07

Could he not drive to collect you?

He can't drive; he is partially sighted.

OP posts:
Ssrissri · 22/01/2025 14:20

I wasn’t offered sedation and it was manageable, certainly no worse than a coil insertion or smear test, but you will know what’s in your own pain limits.

Original poster
Lutherant · 22/01/2025 14:21

Vaxtable · 22/01/2025 14:12

Get your husband to take you, then he goes off with the baby for a while then comes and collects you. Maybe he does soft play or whatever?

He can't drive and there isn't really anything like that near the hospital.

OP posts:
Original poster
Lutherant · 22/01/2025 14:22

Ssrissri · 22/01/2025 14:20

I wasn’t offered sedation and it was manageable, certainly no worse than a coil insertion or smear test, but you will know what’s in your own pain limits.

Not a good comparison for me because I find smears agony 🤣🤣

OP posts:
Original poster
Lutherant · 22/01/2025 14:23

I remember being sedated after having my wisdom tooth out years ago and they let my sister take me home on the train.

OP posts:
Ssrissri · 22/01/2025 14:23

@Lutherant That’s why it’s good to have comparators sometimes!

FastFood · 22/01/2025 14:24

What do they actually do if you go alone? They never let you out?
So if you don't have family or friends, you're basically bound to move in permanently to a ward?
Have I just accidentally solved the housing crisis?

Thetrainer · 22/01/2025 14:24

Your husband could go in the taxi to collect u.

Original poster
Lutherant · 22/01/2025 14:24

FastFood · 22/01/2025 14:24

What do they actually do if you go alone? They never let you out?
So if you don't have family or friends, you're basically bound to move in permanently to a ward?
Have I just accidentally solved the housing crisis?

I assume they just would refuse to sedate you which is something I don't want!!

OP posts:
Probablynottheansweryouwant · 22/01/2025 14:24

It is manageable without sedation. You can have gas and air.
I had to have one when dt were 5 months old and I was bf so couldn't have sedation it was totally fine and meant I could look after dc straight away.
The hardest bit I found was the prep (looking after 3 under 4 and doing the prep was difficult to say the least (my mum could only have dc the day of procedure and I had to bf in between).