So recently, thanks to the fact I have recently turned 50, had to go thru the ritual of the scoping of the colon (or in plain English, a colonoscopy).
Great, just what I would like to avoid, but with a family history of various cancers (no colon cancer that I know of tho) I have to keep up on the screenings to just play it safe. Had the boobie squishing done last week (everything is ship shape and Bristol fashion) and now it was time for the camera going places no camera should really go.
The morning before I set up the prep fluid. Went with the cherry flavor as being the least objectionable of the flavors offered (orange, lemon-line and pineapple were the others) and stashed it in the fridge to make sure it was good and cold by that evening.
I had been assured by friends, colleagues and family that the prep is the worst of the ordeal. I can say that as liquids go, the solution wasn't that bad as long as it stayed very, very cold. It didn't taste like cherry tho, more like slightly salty bubble gum.
The really hard part was not being able to eat. We picked up a pizza for hubby since we needed something easy for him to fix and since he got a ham and pineapple I wasn't really tempted to try and sneak a bite (okay, I lied, I was really tempted even tho I loath pineapple on pizza and it was a regular pizza crust. But hey, the one side effect of getting glutinated would help the process along right!).
So I managed to survive the prep, tho we found out the next day while they were trying to put in the IV that I was also rather dehydrated (not surprising considering what the process does) and I couldn't being myself to drink anything, much less water after drinking half a gallon of salty bubblegum flavored stuff. So the poor nurse had a time getting an IV in. Once in tho everything went smoothly.
As with any medical stuff, it was hurry up and wait, but the staff at the surgery center were great. Checking in periodically to make sure I was comfortable and it was finally time to meet the surgeon. He looked like he was old enough to have graduated college, so I was happy (I swear, medical professionals are getting younger and younger every year. It is disconcerting to have your health in the hands of someone who doesn't look like they even have a driver's license).
So I met the surgeon, the anesthetist and the nurse. We went over everything, I signed more forms and the nurse took my CPAP to get it set up and then it was across the hallway to the room.
I got hooked up to various machines, the nurse was nice enough to add water to the humidifier on my CPAP and I lay down. The anesthetist puffed my pillow so I would be more comfortable and then he started the IV and said "you should be getting sleepy", at which point I was and the next thing I knew he was waking me up.
Got unhooked from various machines and then into the recovery room where I was joined by hubby (he'd been with me up until I went in for the procedure). Once I was comfy in my chair with my feet up they gave me a cup of ice water to make sure I could drink. That went down fine, so I then got a cup of coffee. Ambrosia couldn't taste better then that cup of coffee LOL!.
Rested a while and came to the conclusion is the prep isn't the worst part of the whole thing. It is the air still trapped in the system that is trying to get out (even tho the surgeon did his best to remove it when he was done. But there are so many nooks and crannies for it to hide in). Talk about pain, they made some of the worst menstrual cramps I've ever had seem like a pleasure. But eventually things worked themselves out and the pain went away.
They did find one polyp that they cut out for biopsy.
Got dressed, went home and curled up in my chair with a BIG cup of tea to rehydrate myself. Later the hubby hit Jack in the Box to pick my up a bacon double cheese burger (sans bun) and fries. So wonderfully yummy. They wrapped the burger in a couple big pieces of lettuc and put it in a salad bowl. Didn't even miss the bun.
So this morning the surgeon calls with the results. The biopsy came back that it was a tubular adenoma. He said as seriousness goes, it was pretty low on the scale, but I get to repeat the process in 3-5 years. Closer to 5 years.
Crap. I was hoping to not have to do this again for 10, a much nicer number. But it is better to be safe and know things early then finding things too late and being in a world of ick.
Great, just what I would like to avoid, but with a family history of various cancers (no colon cancer that I know of tho) I have to keep up on the screenings to just play it safe. Had the boobie squishing done last week (everything is ship shape and Bristol fashion) and now it was time for the camera going places no camera should really go.
The morning before I set up the prep fluid. Went with the cherry flavor as being the least objectionable of the flavors offered (orange, lemon-line and pineapple were the others) and stashed it in the fridge to make sure it was good and cold by that evening.
I had been assured by friends, colleagues and family that the prep is the worst of the ordeal. I can say that as liquids go, the solution wasn't that bad as long as it stayed very, very cold. It didn't taste like cherry tho, more like slightly salty bubble gum.
The really hard part was not being able to eat. We picked up a pizza for hubby since we needed something easy for him to fix and since he got a ham and pineapple I wasn't really tempted to try and sneak a bite (okay, I lied, I was really tempted even tho I loath pineapple on pizza and it was a regular pizza crust. But hey, the one side effect of getting glutinated would help the process along right!).
So I managed to survive the prep, tho we found out the next day while they were trying to put in the IV that I was also rather dehydrated (not surprising considering what the process does) and I couldn't being myself to drink anything, much less water after drinking half a gallon of salty bubblegum flavored stuff. So the poor nurse had a time getting an IV in. Once in tho everything went smoothly.
As with any medical stuff, it was hurry up and wait, but the staff at the surgery center were great. Checking in periodically to make sure I was comfortable and it was finally time to meet the surgeon. He looked like he was old enough to have graduated college, so I was happy (I swear, medical professionals are getting younger and younger every year. It is disconcerting to have your health in the hands of someone who doesn't look like they even have a driver's license).
So I met the surgeon, the anesthetist and the nurse. We went over everything, I signed more forms and the nurse took my CPAP to get it set up and then it was across the hallway to the room.
I got hooked up to various machines, the nurse was nice enough to add water to the humidifier on my CPAP and I lay down. The anesthetist puffed my pillow so I would be more comfortable and then he started the IV and said "you should be getting sleepy", at which point I was and the next thing I knew he was waking me up.
Got unhooked from various machines and then into the recovery room where I was joined by hubby (he'd been with me up until I went in for the procedure). Once I was comfy in my chair with my feet up they gave me a cup of ice water to make sure I could drink. That went down fine, so I then got a cup of coffee. Ambrosia couldn't taste better then that cup of coffee LOL!.
Rested a while and came to the conclusion is the prep isn't the worst part of the whole thing. It is the air still trapped in the system that is trying to get out (even tho the surgeon did his best to remove it when he was done. But there are so many nooks and crannies for it to hide in). Talk about pain, they made some of the worst menstrual cramps I've ever had seem like a pleasure. But eventually things worked themselves out and the pain went away.
They did find one polyp that they cut out for biopsy.
Got dressed, went home and curled up in my chair with a BIG cup of tea to rehydrate myself. Later the hubby hit Jack in the Box to pick my up a bacon double cheese burger (sans bun) and fries. So wonderfully yummy. They wrapped the burger in a couple big pieces of lettuc and put it in a salad bowl. Didn't even miss the bun.
So this morning the surgeon calls with the results. The biopsy came back that it was a tubular adenoma. He said as seriousness goes, it was pretty low on the scale, but I get to repeat the process in 3-5 years. Closer to 5 years.
Crap. I was hoping to not have to do this again for 10, a much nicer number. But it is better to be safe and know things early then finding things too late and being in a world of ick.
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