I am a forty-five year old guy. Apparently, amongst the awards one wins when getting along to this age, is a recommended first preventive colonoscopy.
My anxiety about this process, including all the attendant activities and experiences, will apparently overwhelm today and tomorrow. It is now 5:47pm. I figured, I may as well document a bit of this. [I came back and forth to this post over about 24 hours.]
I am four minutes and thirty two seconds away from taking my third dose of the preparatory laxative. This stuff comes in a huge bottle, literally the size of my head, and needs to be taken every ten minutes in 8 oz increments until half consumed tonight. Then, again a few hours before my procedure.
I started searching on Google yesterday about the details of the procedure. My initial conversation with my doctor felt anodyne; Of course I should get a colonoscopy. Chadwick Boseman, statistics, etc. The interview with the nurse earlier this week felt like a risk management technique, more focused on affirming my ability to tolerate anesthesia than educating me about what to expect. Eventually, my Google searches led to information about diet and a few blogposts about the experience. They were helpful. Here is one. Here is another.
I have been nervous about this procedure for a while. I have GI issues that, depending on what ill advised search term I have dropped into Google over the years, could suggest colitis, lactose intolerance, cancer, or enteritis. Or nothing. But, given a recent friend’s bout with cancer and emerging trends, I am happy to be getting this done.
I’ll drop some thoughts in this post as the night goes along.
GaviLyte
It doesn’t taste that bad. I read a number of accounts of its awful taste and ways to cope involving the use of a straw and temperature. I didn’t notice that the stuff was that bad. It reminds me of slightly medicinal, chalky-tasting Gatorade. I wouldn’t choose to drink it but it isn’t that bad.
It has been interesting talking to people who have been through this before about their experiences. One friend told me that he thought, after an hour, that the solution wasn’t working; And then, all at once, it REALLY worked.
Diet and Hunger
The transition to a the clear liquid diet caused me to feel quite cranky for the first morning. Surprisingly, the GaviLyte felt surprisingly satisfying. My diet over the “prep day” was an early egg, two later servings of Jello, and a substantial amount of coffee.
Scheduling
The call confirming the timing for my procedure didn’t come until around 1pm on prep day. In a disappointing turn of events, my colonoscopy was scheduled for 1pm the next day, which meant that I was compelled to fast for an extra half-day.
Ultimately, though, the experience with Mount Nittany Health System, Dr. Salimi, and the staff that treated me could not have been better.
Anesthesia
Becca feels some anxiety around my past experience with anesthesia. When I was in my 20’s, I had oral surgery in State College which involved sedation [versed]; After the surgery, I was apparently experiencing euphoria and was quite enthusiastic about… everything!? Thankfully, I was not permitted to drive home and the telephone calls I made for work were met with benign amusement or confusion.
The good news – I had a very good experience with the propofol and the anesthesiology team.
Thankfully, my results were clear. I had a single polyp which was 3mm and nearly zero liklihood of malignancy. I would say that, on every single dimension (except initial hunger) the experience was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
William Shakespeare