He Saved My Life!

The first night in the hospital was really lonely.  I was in a semi-private room, but by myself.  The nurses were really great and knew that I was nervous about being there without knowing exactly what was going on with my body, so they would stop in and chat with me when they had the time.  I was on the Geriatric Ward, the only one with an available room at the time, and I was the youngest patient on my floor.

When my Gastro came by that day he explained what was going to happen during my Colonoscopy, and I was relieved when drugs were mentioned.  The pain I was already in was bad enough, let alone having a scope scratching along on the inside of my intestines.  The lucky part for me though, was that since I already had the feeding tube in my nose they would be able to put the prep through the tube.  At the time I didn't realize how really lucky I was until the first time I had to drink one myself, Yuck!  I felt really bad for my family and friends that came up to visit me that night because I spent most of my time in the bathroom, while they sat around in my room waiting for me.  I would just get back into bed, and have to get back up and go back to the bathroom.  I had a little table in there with me so that I could do crosswords or read if I wanted to, it passed the time.

The next morning I met my hero in the Colonoscopy Suite.  I was so nervous.  A small part of me thought and feared that nothing would be found, that I really had nothing wrong with me and that I would be sent across the street to the Mental Health Hospital.  These were worries from not being believed for so long, and being told I was just making it all up still affecting me.

When I find out that I would be awake for the test, I tried to get off of the gurney, but I was attached to it by my i.v. bag.  It was explained to me that the medication they would be giving me would act as an amnesiac and that I would be aware of what was going on, but I wouldn't remember any of it.  I was completely alright with never remembering an embarrassing experience like that, so I relaxed and let him give me the meds.  I actually thought that I was sleeping, until I felt the pain.  I told him that it really hurt, but fell back to sleep so he must have given me more.  It is necessary to be awake during this test as you need to roll around on the table when asked, this makes the scope easier to move around the corners of the colon.

I woke up in Recovery, and was brought back to my room to sleep.  When I woke up it was after noon, and my Hero came into my room with my results.  He said that I definitely had Crohn's Disease, he didn't need to wait for the biopsies to come back.  It was really quite a bad case, and that I would need a lot of bowel rest, medications and time in the hospital.  Surgery was an option, but there was so much damage that trying to heal the bowel first was the best idea.  The damage started at the Cecum, which is a large pouch where the small intestine feeds into the colon, and spread in both directions into the small and large bowels.  Recovery would be a slow process, but things could only improve.  If I had not seen him or had the test and treatment when I did, perforations of the bowel and blood poisoning could have killed me.  I believe he really did save my life.

My treatments started that day.

"The Dreaded Prep for the Scope"

As Crohn's patients, we go through a lot. Good, bad and indifferent.

Spending days, weeks and even months at a time in the hospital teaches us patience, that's a good thing. Being thankful for good days, and making the most of them, empathizing with others that suffer, and learning to listen to our own bodies are also all very good.

But the Colonoscopy, that falls under the bad category.

It's not the test itself, that's a breeze. The humiliation of having a tube inserted into your butt in front of a doctor and nurses, is greatly reduced by the medications that are given by i.v., weakening our defences and cares. Most of the time, thankfully, we don't remember much of it at all. The pain experienced during the test, thanks again to the medications, becomes part of a very distant memory.

The inhabition that the medication can create has been comical to some present in the past for me. When I was diagnosed, I was very blessed to have an extremely good looking Gastro. that I had a secret crush on. My Mom and friends knew about how I felt, but I certainly didn't want him to find out.

Under the influence of these medications during a Colonoscopy, I guess I changed my mind and told him that I was in love with him! When I woke up in Recovery the nurses told me about it and I was mortified! Then he came into the room and neither of us would look eachother in the eye. It was so embarassing! He was my doctor for close to 20 years, and I said stuff like that everytime. He was such a good sport about it and never mentioned any of it to me, but the nurses rubbed it in any chance they got! LOL!

Now for the worst part, the prep. Drinking litres of a salty based, slightly thick, clear liquid, that DOES NOT taste better cold, like they tell us it does, within a small, set period of time (... oh, it is just the worst tasting stuff created by man!) is such a horrible experience for me, that I actually have small panic attacks in the days leading up to having to drink it.

In the past when I have been in the hospital having tube feedings, they would put the prep down the tube, by-passing my mouth. That was great! I wish they could do that everytime. The stuff has such a negative effect on my gag reflex, that sometimes vomiting is inevitable, and then unfortunately I have to start all over again.

How are you with "The Dreaded Prep for the Scope"? If you have any tricks or advice on how to make this a more palatable experience, leave a message, you could help me or someone else that is reading this post. Have you had an embarassing moment too? I'd love to hear about it!