As many of you know my repeat colonoscopy and EGD were this morning. I completed my bowel prep like the perfect little patient that I am. And for the record, the MoviPrep was probably the best bowel prep solution I have used. It caused no cramps which is a bonus however it tasted exactly like my beloved Dt. Mountain Dew so I think our relationship will be tainted forever. Anyways, I took the first half of the prep at 6pm as instructed (drink 8oz of the solution every 15 minutes with an addition 16 oz of clear liquid). I had to take the second dose at 1am (same amount). Needless to say, I was able to keep it all down (barely) but sleep was not in the cards.
So the alarm went off at 4:30 am to get ready for the hour drive to the hospital. At 4:45am a friend of ours showed up at our apartment to hang out and take A to daycare (God bless her). By 5am we are in the car and on the way. We arrive promptly at 6am as instructed. There was already another couple there. They check in. Then I check in. I noticed pretty quickly that something wasn’t right. The receptionist starts to fumble through paperwork. If you’ve ever had a bowel prep, you know that by the end you are quite depleted and exhausted and honestly patience is not one of your virtues at that point. Somehow my appointment got “lost.” That’s right. LOST. Somewhere from the office next door to this office my appointment was lost. They did not have me on the calendar anywhere. Let me just tell you. I was pissed. I know “pissed” isn’t a very lady-like word but its the cleanest word I can think of to describe how mad I was.
Thankfully they were not going to send me home and they would work me in as soon as possible. As much as I wanted to let someone have it, I realized that the error was not with this office but with the office the did the scheduling. Once they called me back (almost 2 hours after I arrived), the staff was great. My nurse did a great job putting in my IV. My veins are HORRIBLE and without being able to drink before hand frankly I was worried (and they don’t numb….yes I’m a baby). But she was awesome. From there they took me back pretty quickly. They got me hooked up to all the monitors. I talked with the doctor briefly (who looked so familiar but I couldn’t place where I knew him from….later I realized that he looks just like my rheum). Then they started the drugs. The nurse warned me that sometimes people say that it burns but rarely. Of course I was one of those people. My hand felt like it was on fire. But soon enough I didn’t care.
Next thing I knew I was in recovery being asked to fart by the nurse. Ha. Yes you read that right. She was encouraging me to pass gas to release the air that they pumped into my stomach and colon. I felt pretty woozy. She walked me to the bathroom and then popped me in the wheelchair and off I went. John was waiting for me downstairs with the car. Then we were off for the drive home! Thankfully the nurse had given me a Sprite to drink (the spray that they use to numb your throat for the EGD tastes n-a-s-t-y).
The funny part was the instructions they gave regarding how the drugs would affect me. Of course they said no driving or operating heavy machinery but the funny one was they told me to avoid making any big decisions for the next 24 hours. Ha. Maybe I can use that excuse for a little longer than 24 hours (“sorry boss. I’m not allowed to make decisions”). Maybe this is why I shouldn’t have made the decision of what to eat for dinner. Not smart.
But all in all. I survived. The good news is that they didn’t find anything serious (they did take some biopsies during the EGD since they saw some evidence of gastritis which may be the cause of my nausea) but other than that everything looked normal. So I should be happy right? The bad news is they didn’t find anything serious. So we are still left wondering what the problem is and what is the source of my pain. The more we cross off the list (like IC and other GI problems), the more it seems like scar tissue or endo could be the issue.
So the wait for biopsy results begins.
Oh – BTW – did you notice the shiny new badge under my profile?! I have been asked to be a part of the Health Blogger Network! A New Kind of Normal will now be featured and republished on Wellsphere.com as a part of their Chronic Illness community! I am so excited and honored!
