Quoted from DCFAN:
Cologuard makes a lot of sense for those that don't want to use two days of their life, having the prep for a colonoscopy on the first day and then the procedure on day two. Cologuard is only good for people that don't have any previous issues from what I have read.
I don't have a family history of colon cancer so my doctor gave me the choice and I did Cologuard because I'd been putting it off for over a year and I'd get it done much sooner with Cologuard. The way it works is that skin cells in your colon shead and get mixed in with your "poop" and they get tested along with determining if there is any blood in the stool which is also tested. Cologuard is done every 3 years if your test is negative.
When the box arrives, it has a decent sized plastic container with a screw on lid that has a gasket, a bottle of preservative, and a wand that is in a tube of preservative. You "deposit" a sample in the container, scrape the wand over over it to collect a surface sample, and pour the preservative in the container. The wand and container go back into a sealable bag in the box and UPS will deliver to the lab the next day.
The instructions don't tell you, but the sample size must be the same or less than the bottle of preservative. Needless to say, I beamed with pride when they called to say that I'd sent too much. My wife overheard the conversation and was horrified yet laughing her ass off and said, "I always knew that you were full of shit." They sent another kit at no additional charge.
The puns wrote themselves. "Hey honey, I finally have my shit together." "I'm going to pack up my shit and get out of here." "I'm going to drop my shit off at the UPS store."
Here's an overview: