NewMexiKen took the day off Tuesday for some routine medical procedures — routine for the doctor and nurses, not so routine for me. (They do 90 a day at this hospital I was told.)
The procedures were a colonoscopy and an endoscopy. In case you haven’t had these pleasures, in each they insert a camera on a flexible tube and take a look around. The colonoscopy is a look at your lower intestine; the endoscopy views your esophagus, stomach and duodenum (a body part I hadn’t considered since high school biology).
Not to put too fine a point on it — and give you “more information than you need” — but to prepare for this double-header I had to go without eating for 36 hours; not even water for the last 12. Furthermore, I had to drink some nasty stuff that proved to be liquid roto-rooter. Prep and anxiety is by far the worst part.
During the procedure they gave me some sedative through an IV (so it sneaks up on you). To my surprise I fell asleep and missed the whole show. I remember coming to for a small amount of pain and some gagging on swallowing the endoscopy tube, but other than that I was gone. The worse part of the whole thing was the IV insertion.
(I did wonder later though if they put me out so they could use the same instrument for both tests without me being any the wiser.)
If you are supposed to get these tests (the colonoscopy is routine after age 50), don’t be like me and put them off indefinitely (10 years) because of fear or anxiety. Do it. Enjoy the nap (and the nap you get after you’re driven home as the sedative sweetly rolls on). Enjoy the encouraging good results if you are fortunate (as most are, and as were mine).
I have photos if you’re interested.
If your colonoscopy pictures look anything like mine did, you could post them as Carlsbad Caverns scenes as part of your national-parks series and see if anyone can tell the difference.
But look at the bright side — you got the pictures in time to send with all your Christmas cards. (Does Hallmark make cards reading “Let it flow! Let it flow! Let it flow!”?)
I’m glad things went well.
Mr. Reecie had that done for the first time last winter, and they burned a hole through when they removed a tiny little polyp (sp?) they found while scoping. Almost killed him — literally, not figuratively, speaking. He was in the hospital for weeks while they tried to get the hole to heal.
It was a nightmare.
But yeah, cool photos. 😉
Well, Reecie, I’m certainly glad Mr. Reecie recovered. But so much for my telling people to get the test. 🙂
I know. I’m just plain old rotten, aren’t I? 😉
But seriously. Doctors push so hard for men over 50 to have colonoscopies done — and yes, for good reason — but after what Mr. Reecie endured, I did a bunch of research. It turns out that complications, including perforation, which is, of course extremely serious, are more common than you’d think.
I just think it’s wrong that they don’t inform honestly. I like to know the benefits AND the risks/dangers of a procedure, you know?