Why I think that I didn't want to have a colonoscopy

(Chapter 15 Medical Appointments and its Challenges in my book)

I'm not really sure why but this morning when I was taking a shower, I thought about this. In Sept. 2019 I had a physical at my primary care doctor’s office. They checked my records and told me that I was due for a colonoscopy. I am sixty-two and I know that I have only had one of these done and all that I can remember is the liquid that I had to take beforehand tasted horrible! I asked the doctor if I could just do the home test kit because I would prefer that. They told me that my insurance should pay for the home test so they would order it for me.

This morning while I was taking my shower, I started thinking why I made that request rather than just have the test that was done previously. What I have figured out is having this procedure done would probably create a lot of anxiety for me and I think that I was trying to avoid that. Living with a memory impairment impacts so much more of my life than my memory. It greatly makes my comprehension challenging. Sometimes doctor’s appointments can become challenging for me because I don't understand what the doctor is saying to me and I might not even realize that I’m having this problem.

I know that my primary care office is aware that I have been living with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

I guess in this post, I was actually bringing up two points about living with mild cognitive impairment. One is the anxiety of having any medical procedures and problems with self-advocating at my doctor’s office.