Scrubbing bubbles.

Far be it from me to leave out any details, however private, so if you are of the squeamish stomach group, STOP reading here!

I survived my first colonoscopy, and I will say that it wasn't pleasant but if it saves my life, it is worth it. I was one of the "lucky" ones who got to take the pill form of the prep for the scope--as you may or may not know, when they do a scope of your colon (actually your entire large intestine) it has to be totally cleaned out for them to see the walls and tissues clearly. So that is what the prep is all about. I started my prep at 6:00 Monday night. That involved taking 4 HORSE pills every 15 minutes. About an hour later, those pills started to work and I spent a lot of time in the "facilities." All I could have to eat/drink all day were clear liquids, and popsicles and beef broth were my filet mignon of the night. Anyway, that phase was not the best but when I went to bed at 11:00 things had calmed down and I felt quite "clean" if you get my drift.

Round two of pill taking started at 3:00 AM, or "four hours before your procedure." So I set my alarm and took those horse pills again for an hour. Not much was happening so I went to bed until 5:30 as Ginger was picking me up at 6. At 5:30 I thought I was about to die from nausea. I swear the pills were going nutso inside me. Since I had nothing to churn on, I think they started to eat my insides and WOW, was I sick to my stomach and what was happening in the facilities was SCARY. Ginger arrived and immediately started cleaning my kitchen like she always does, Jim left for work, and I sat on the couch with my head in my hands. I do not want to go there again.

So we get to St. Joe at the Great Lakes Gastro place and they got me in right away. I was feeling better by then since the foaming action of the pills were done scrubbing my insides. Of course, they had major issues getting the IV started and after Nurse 1 poked me seven times to no avail, nurse 2 came in and got me going. Then we waited for Dr. B, who walked in and said sort of numbers, which indicated how much sedation I needed and then he said hello. Yesterday, I thought i was awake through the whole thing, but in retrospect, I do remember a lot of it, but certainly missed most of it. I do remember them inserting the scope into no man's land--it didn't hurt but made you go "hmmm"-- and I also remember watching the tv as the scope went up and around where no man has gone before. It looked like a cave really. Then, I also remember the scope coming out--again, no pain,--and then Dr.B saying he found 3 polyps. He immediately said none of them were suspicious, but that depending on the results because of my weird cancer history, I will have to be on a 3-5 year scope regimen. (I am assuming if the polyps are precancerous then the 3 year regimen it will be) Later when he was discharging me and I was a tad bit more coherent, Dr. B said he was 100 percent sure that they were not cancerous...which made me feel better but I also know better that the only way of knowing was to biopsy them.

Once I was home, I basically slept all day. I ate an Arby's sandwich and went back to bed. So yesterday was a total waste. Today, my stomach is still pretty queasy and a bit sore here and there, but I am hungry and can't wait to have real food. I think I will start with my broth to make sure things are ok.

So that was it. Many of you have already had one of these procedures, but for those of you who haven't, it is NOT a walk in the park but isn't as awful as one would imagine. I feel ok about getting results this time because it is the only way to save your life. And I will do it every three to five years, whatever they tell me.

Now, to my liver/rib cage issues. My side still aches and at times I had talked myself into thinking it is muscular on the side of my rib cage. The whole colon thing took my mind off of it so that tells me the pain isn't that bad (it really isn't pain, more of an ache) so I am a bit calmer today. I have poked and prodded myself so many times and can't feel anything like my breast tumor...so I will continue with the waiting game. With my breast tumor, there was no avoiding it, no escaping the pain and the actual lump. That was what prompted me to call my doctor. I am not at that point yet, but am close.

So today is a day that I have to feel better and start living again. Andrew was moaning and groaning that he has no clean shorts but laundry is done so who knows what that means.

I'm thinking a spinach omelette sounds good. Dr. B says I need more fiber in my diet and spinach has a lot of fiber so that is what I will have after my broth appetizer.

Thanks for listening.

Molly