Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Colonoscopy - FAIL!

Monday had an all liquid diet, took the pills that evening and Tuesday morning (at 5am no less - ugh). But I wasn't cleaned out enough so after being drugged and probed that morning, I had to do the liquid diet again all Tuesday and drink the nasty liquid in the evening. Kept me up most of the night, so I was quite cranky going in again. We went early this morning so I could drink the rest of the nasty stuff at the hospital and not have to worry about making the 45 min. drive with me wondering if I was going to make it to a bathroom. (If you are young and have no idea what I'm talking about for a colonoscopy prep, count your blessings and enjoy life.) The one really bright spot of the morning is that after drinking one large glass of the prep stuff on the drive, the nurse said I didn't have to drink the rest since my stool looked good. (I know, TMI!) They actually took me in an hour sooner than I was scheduled, so I was glad of that. I've been STARVING and had a bad headache from not eating for two days and getting very little sleep. (Weight this morning was 190.0, which was a minor bright spot of the day, but I'm sure as I eat normally, it'll pop back up again.)

Well, I was cleaned out enough this time, BUT, my colon is all "loopy" so the doctor couldn't get the scope all the way in, over and down. Normally with the good drugs you get, ya don't remember much of the procedure. But no, not for this princess! I had a nurse on either side of me pressing down on my abdomen as the doctor tried to maneuver the scope in and around and I was having flashbacks to childbirth! NOT FUN! I tried the deep breaths through the pain, but it wasn't helping much. When I got back to recovery, I had bad cramps for quite a while until they gave me more fentanyl (sp?) and I was able to sit up.

My options:
Have the other GI doc at this hospital do a colonoscopy since he has 22 years experience and is good with the loopy colons.
Get a barium enema done with contrast and they look at x-rays and if they see anything suspicious, the colonoscopy would need to be done anyway. But if they don't, I'd be good for 5 years or so.
Do nothing for now.

We're opting for the BE for now, I think. But I'm taking a little rest first. I want to wait until I get back from Arkansas at the end of the month to take the next step.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gee, you have had a time of it! Hope all goes well. Relax, you have more that earned it.

Diana said...

Wow...you've just been through the pitts this week. I hope you're able to take it easy after all of this!

Cammy@TippyToeDiet said...

Ouch! I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Here's hoping the BE shows the all clear so that you don't have to go through all this again.

I'll be having this test at some point in the next year, and I'm not looking forward to it. Mostly because of the icky prep stuff. My mom says that's almost worse than the actual test!

Feel better soon!

Anonymous said...

oh..that bites. I thought the glucose solution was bad but I know what you had to down is much worse.

Good luck on the BE.

Mom said...

My husband has had it three times and each time he says that the prep was the worst part. I don't want to have one. That scares me to death. I am afraid I would be awake during it even despite the drugs.

pointing the weigh said...

You poor thing...(((HUGS))) You have been through it. Try to take things easy.

Hugs again xx

Slenderella said...

Good grief, ugh. Your poor body. Sending you a huge hug.

I hate all the procedures we go through to stay healthy, but it's better than the alternative.