Doctor, Doctor - give me the news....
Colonoscopy DONE.
Seriously, the easiest procedure I've ever done. As everyone will tell you, THE PREP IS THE WORST PART. Having to stay by a bathroom is annoying. And seriously, when your body tells you you gotta go....you really gotta go NOW. I don't think I've felt this clean in a long time!!!!
I had to laugh because once I was sitting (well, actually laying down) on my bed with the IV in (which I won't lie...that does kind of hurt a little), everything else was a breeze. My lovely nurses Shannon & Molly took such good care of me pre and post procedure and my nurse Andie during the procedure was awesome.
So, if you've never had a procedure like this done, here's how it goes:
*Nasty laxatives the day before as in drinking lots of this liquid that tastes like flat 7-Up. No real foods (only liquids) leading up to 2 hours before your procedure.
*The morning of you drink the other 2 liters of your laxative starting at 6 am (I started at 5:45 because I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to control myself at 10 am while lying in a bed!). You can drink clear liquids (nothing red or purple) until 2 hours before so you're pretty thirsty when you get to procedure time.
*Check in, fill out a few forms, get interviewed by the nurse and then go back into the procedure area. Looks like an ER, with beds and curtains and a nurses station. No big deal. Go to the bathroom at least one more time (I went twice!). They have you strip from the waist down and lie on the bed with a blanket covering you. My nice nurse gave me a warm blanket to put on my bed so my booty would stay warmer. LOVE YOU SHANNON!
*IV gets put in, blood pressure cuff gets put on, temp gets taken. Then they take you and your bed for a ride into the procedure room.
*You finally get to see your doctor! You meet your op-nurse and tech. They chit-chat to help make you less nervous. They have you lay on your side, scoot your booty back and then the nurse tells you what kind of drug they're going to inject you with. She says to me, "I'll be giving you 2 or 3 shots because the first one never takes. It just makes you relax. Okay, here's the first shot.". I'll admit it, I didn't like the way the shot felt....but I didn't feel anything else. The 3 of them joked about me being a Christmas baby and the tech asked me to move for a sec to give me a different pillow and put a wee pad under me and the next thing I know I wake up in recovery and Mark and Shannon the nurse are talking about me. SERIOUSLY. Mark said I was sound asleep and then all of a sudden my eyes popped open and I was wide awake. SO TYPICAL OF ME!
The procedure takes 20-30 minutes (depends upon whether or not you have polyps to remove or not).
*They take you to recovery when done. You sleep in recovery for about 30 minutes they say. Then you stay there for another 30 minutes and they FINALLY give you something to drink. They prefer to give you juice but being on my diet, I have to drink water or sugar free stuff. So water it was and boy did it feel good getting some liquids in me!
*You get dressed, the doctor comes in and gives you his results and you get pictures (way cool). They take out the IV and take the BP cuff off and then you get to leave in a wheelchair! Woo-hoo... that was fun!
*You will experience a lot of gassy episodes for the rest of the day. But it doesn't matter because you get to eat now!
We went to Silver City and I had their Salmon BLT - deconstructed basically because I don't eat the bread and asked for more lettuce to wrap it. Quite yummy and I strongly recommend it!
No pain, and I lost a little over 2 lbs from the cleanse! Even after eating yesterday! Hahaha!
Oh yeah, I had absolutely NO polyps. I do have diverticulosis (pockets) in the colon but that's my age, I guess. As long as I take fiber and drink lots of water (which I do) I should be okay. I don't have to have another colonoscopy for 10 years now. Woo-hoo!
I hope I took some of the mystery of this procedure away for you, gentle reader. It was painless except for the silly IV. Yes, the laxatives are annoying as hell but it's one day. And yes, you will be gassy for the rest of the day. It's okay though.... you really are pretty clean otherwise! And guess what, you lose weight! Bonus!
P.S. - make sure your procedure is in the morning. Even if it's in the afternoon, you can't eat that day until after your procedure. You will be hungry and thirsty after this so getting your booty checked by 10:30am is a good way to ensure you'll be eating lunch by 12:30pm!
Seriously, the easiest procedure I've ever done. As everyone will tell you, THE PREP IS THE WORST PART. Having to stay by a bathroom is annoying. And seriously, when your body tells you you gotta go....you really gotta go NOW. I don't think I've felt this clean in a long time!!!!
I had to laugh because once I was sitting (well, actually laying down) on my bed with the IV in (which I won't lie...that does kind of hurt a little), everything else was a breeze. My lovely nurses Shannon & Molly took such good care of me pre and post procedure and my nurse Andie during the procedure was awesome.
So, if you've never had a procedure like this done, here's how it goes:
*Nasty laxatives the day before as in drinking lots of this liquid that tastes like flat 7-Up. No real foods (only liquids) leading up to 2 hours before your procedure.
*The morning of you drink the other 2 liters of your laxative starting at 6 am (I started at 5:45 because I was nervous that I wouldn't be able to control myself at 10 am while lying in a bed!). You can drink clear liquids (nothing red or purple) until 2 hours before so you're pretty thirsty when you get to procedure time.
*Check in, fill out a few forms, get interviewed by the nurse and then go back into the procedure area. Looks like an ER, with beds and curtains and a nurses station. No big deal. Go to the bathroom at least one more time (I went twice!). They have you strip from the waist down and lie on the bed with a blanket covering you. My nice nurse gave me a warm blanket to put on my bed so my booty would stay warmer. LOVE YOU SHANNON!
*IV gets put in, blood pressure cuff gets put on, temp gets taken. Then they take you and your bed for a ride into the procedure room.
*You finally get to see your doctor! You meet your op-nurse and tech. They chit-chat to help make you less nervous. They have you lay on your side, scoot your booty back and then the nurse tells you what kind of drug they're going to inject you with. She says to me, "I'll be giving you 2 or 3 shots because the first one never takes. It just makes you relax. Okay, here's the first shot.". I'll admit it, I didn't like the way the shot felt....but I didn't feel anything else. The 3 of them joked about me being a Christmas baby and the tech asked me to move for a sec to give me a different pillow and put a wee pad under me and the next thing I know I wake up in recovery and Mark and Shannon the nurse are talking about me. SERIOUSLY. Mark said I was sound asleep and then all of a sudden my eyes popped open and I was wide awake. SO TYPICAL OF ME!
The procedure takes 20-30 minutes (depends upon whether or not you have polyps to remove or not).
*They take you to recovery when done. You sleep in recovery for about 30 minutes they say. Then you stay there for another 30 minutes and they FINALLY give you something to drink. They prefer to give you juice but being on my diet, I have to drink water or sugar free stuff. So water it was and boy did it feel good getting some liquids in me!
*You get dressed, the doctor comes in and gives you his results and you get pictures (way cool). They take out the IV and take the BP cuff off and then you get to leave in a wheelchair! Woo-hoo... that was fun!
*You will experience a lot of gassy episodes for the rest of the day. But it doesn't matter because you get to eat now!
We went to Silver City and I had their Salmon BLT - deconstructed basically because I don't eat the bread and asked for more lettuce to wrap it. Quite yummy and I strongly recommend it!
No pain, and I lost a little over 2 lbs from the cleanse! Even after eating yesterday! Hahaha!
Oh yeah, I had absolutely NO polyps. I do have diverticulosis (pockets) in the colon but that's my age, I guess. As long as I take fiber and drink lots of water (which I do) I should be okay. I don't have to have another colonoscopy for 10 years now. Woo-hoo!
I hope I took some of the mystery of this procedure away for you, gentle reader. It was painless except for the silly IV. Yes, the laxatives are annoying as hell but it's one day. And yes, you will be gassy for the rest of the day. It's okay though.... you really are pretty clean otherwise! And guess what, you lose weight! Bonus!
P.S. - make sure your procedure is in the morning. Even if it's in the afternoon, you can't eat that day until after your procedure. You will be hungry and thirsty after this so getting your booty checked by 10:30am is a good way to ensure you'll be eating lunch by 12:30pm!
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