No Butts About It....Colonoscopy Saves Lives #justdoit

Holy Crap............thats about all I can say about my colonoscopy adventure last week. Nurses are the worst kind of patient, yes tis true. I recently turned another year older and had been putting off this most anxiety producing procedure for several years now. Due to the fact that my family history includes a father who had colon cancer and died with liver cancer, it was a "no brainer" per my internal medicine doctor. I should have had a first screening at age 40...............well just 9 years late, I put my mind to it and got it done.
Yes, I survived and it was not as bad as I had imagined at all.

If you have been putting off having this life saving test done, don't. Besides the prep the night before, it is not all that bad. It is the best test to detect precancerous and cancerous polyps or lesions in your large bowel or colon.
The prep that I endured was called "Suprep" and it was more like a ticking time bomb that went off several hours after I drank the 2nd bottle at 9pm the night before. It did take a couple of Zofran ODT(nausea medication) to get thru the prep, it made me sick on my stomach. It sure does work well though....sheesh. I highly suggest that you plan ahead to stay home and rest while doing your prep. You will go to the bathroom, have some abdominal discomfort and watery diarrhea that can be hard to control until it finally stops. Have a path to the bathroom and place a towel or protective barrier on your bed that night....just in case. I had several uh oh moments when the bathroom was just not close enough..... I told you this stuff worked well.....lol

I arrived at the Endoscopy center at 8am, got my IV started (took 2 sticks as usual, I am a difficult pt I told you) , hooked up to a bunch of monitors, rolled back to the procedure room and the anesthesia staff gave me some happy milk of anesthesia (propofol--Michael Jackson death juice) to sedate me. I don't remember any of the actual procedure and woke up as they rolled me into the recovery area. My hubby was waiting for me there. I felt safe and never embarrassed while I was there. The staff was great and made my experience much calmer and less stressful.

How is the procedure done? 

A colonoscopy is an exam that views the inside of the colon (large intestine) and rectum, using a tool called a colonoscope.

The colonoscope has a small camera attached to a flexible tube that can reach the length of the colon.

How the Test is Performed

You will usually be given medicine into a vein to help you relax. You should not feel any discomfort. You will be awake during the test and may even be able to speak, but you probably will not remember anything.

You will lie on your left side with your knees drawn up toward your chest. The colonoscope is inserted through the anus. It is gently moved into the beginning of the large bowel and slowly advanced as far as the lowest part of the small intestine.

Air will be inserted through the scope to provide a better view. Suction may be used to remove fluid or stool.

The health care provider gets a better view as the colonoscope is moved back out. Therefore, a more careful exam is done while the scope is being pulled back. The doctor may take tissue samples with tiny biopsy forceps inserted through the scope. Polyps may be removed with snares, and images may be taken.

Specialized procedures, such as laser therapy, may also be done.

More information can be found HERE 

Gas is what you will have post-procedure--lots of it, be prepared to toot toot toot it out as instructed by the staff, this is the only time when it is perfectly acceptable to let it all out...lol. You want to expell the gas so you don't have problems later as it rises up and causes pain & nausea. 

I feel very blessed that my colonoscopy results only showed a couple of diverticula areas and no cancerous areas. Now I only have to have this test every 5 years ( due to my family history). Normally it is every 10 years after age 50.