Have had three colonoscopies and they were all uneventful. Prep is a nuisance but no other issues. Much as I'm an advocate because of my personal history, I also realize that colons can get perforated during the procedure so it's not something to be taken lightly.

Cologuard is a great alternative for many people.

I know someone who worked for Exact Sciences (the Cologuard company) when they were in the process of finishing up the last trials and getting FDA approval; he hasn't worked for them for some time. He's a geneticist who specializes in quality control and regulatory stuff. He said that the science behind the product is solid and that it would likely replace a lot of routine screening, and that GI docs would be kicking and screaming as one of their primary income streams dried up. My mom's GI guy is one of them; he poo-poohed Cologuard. He also perforated my Mom's colon, so what does he know? Seriously though, once Cologuard is in widespread use I'm sure there will be studies that will compare it to the "gold standard" colonoscopy.

I'm not a candidate for Cologuard because of family history (at least five close relatives with colon cancer) and a "bad" polyp that my GI guy removed during my first colonscopy when I was 49. But for a lot of people (the ones who have no polyps and are told to come back in ten years) it's a perfectly good alternative.

edit: And I thought this was going to be about that service that lets you send poop to someone anonymously....