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April 15, 2009
Just In Case You Are Curious
So for those folks in my peer group, if you already haven't gone through this, then you likely will in the next year or two. It's not so bad. For me it was totally true when people said the prep for the colonoscopy is the worst part.
But even that wasn't so bad. The hardest part for me was choking down that last glass of orange flavored chalk. (It tasted like Alka Seltzer cold medicine.)
It took two and a half hours for the stuff to start working. (Literature said anywhere from 1 to 6 hours.)
I started early enough in the day that by bed time the stuff had done all its work and I slept soundly the whole night. Got up Monday morning, missed not being able to drink coffee, and was hungry, but I felt fine.
Got to the doctor office. Changed into the little gown, and the nurse got an IV started. (Anyone who has to find a vein on me, well they love me. You can see the vein in my right arm from space. Even the newbies can get it right the first time.)
I waited on the bed for a few minutes. The nurses came to get me, wheeled me into the exam room, hooked up a heart monitor and all that stuff. They explained something they would put in my mouth to guide the EGD tube down and protect my teeth.
Then they put medicine in the IV, and said, "now this works really..." I think they said fast but I was already out. Opened my eyes and was in the recovery room looking at my mom.
Mom drove me home, I wolfed down a bowl of cereal and some juice, and spent a low, slow day at home. By Monday night I felt fine, albeit a little more tired than normal, but I slept all night again.
Don't dread the procedure. You won't remember any of it.
Don't dread the prep. It won't do you any good, anyway.
Instead, read Dave Barry's take on the whole thing.
Written by Angela Tanner. April 15, 2009 06:55 AM