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Put to the Test
Jun. 16th, 2023 05:12 pmI "slept in" for an hour later than my usual weekday alarm, but I did have to be up before 6 AM because I had to take the second dose of the sodium sulfate goop. I dutifully drank it and the required two additional full (16 oz) glasses of water. Combined with what I took last night, not too long thereafter the medication started taking effect. Not to give too much medical information, but it wasn't pretty and it wasn't fun. If you've ever had a colonoscopy, you probably know what I mean. It's just as well that I was in a hotel room, as I was even closer to the bathroom than I am at home, and I lost track of the number of trips I had to make. However, the medication did what it was supposed to do.
I drank more water because that goop tastes awful, but, per instructions, I had to stop drinking anything by 8 AM, four hours before I was to report to the hospital. Fortunately for me, the effects ended (and it appeared it had done its work) by about 10 AM, giving me time to have a shower and get ready to be tested.
Lisa drove me over to the medical center. While it's only about 800 m from the hotel, traffic conditions meant it took us around twenty minutes to get there. We went to the colonoscopy center and checked in. I filled out the form explaining that Lisa would be the one to collect me. I had to bring Lisa with me to prove that someone really would get me and that I wasn't going to try to drive myself back. I gave the telephone number of the hotel and our room number. They assumed it was a cell phone and wanted to test it. I explained that it was our hotel. The said when they expected to call her, and she was then free to go back to the hotel.
I filled out more papers, and after a few minutes, they called me in and took me to the patient prep room and asked me questions. I changed out of my clothes and into the surgical gown. Various staff members came and prepped me in different ways, including installing a line in my hand through which the sedative would be injected. Eventually, they rolled me into the examination room. I don't even remember the sedative being injected, but I was already feeling sleepy before they did so, and I was out like a light. The next thing I knew, I was in a recovery room and I could get dressed.
Eight years ago, they found one polyp, and told me to come back in about five years. I was planning to do so, and then the pandemic hit. The doctor told me that the current guidelines are actually 7-8 years, and told me not to beat myself up.
I buried the lede here, and it's good news: there were no polyps and nothing else of concern. They told me to come back in ten years. That's a big relief.
While I was much more alert than I recall from my previous colonoscopy, I was still not terribly steady on my feet. They eased me into a wheelchair and took me out to the van, where Lisa was waiting to take us "home" to the hotel.
Our initial plan had been to order out for pizza. However, it turns out that there are no Pizza Huts within delivery range of our hotel. Lisa has to be careful about what she gets due to some food allergies. (Round Table Pizza, for example, makes her sick.) Therefore, she sticks with pizza brands that have worked for her in the past. After I rested for about an hour so I was steadier on my feet, we went to Plan B: Lisa drove us to a Raley's grocery store about 2 km from the hotel and we bought various groceries and take-out food to suit ourselves. This worked out pretty well. Both of us got what we want, and I broke my two-day-long fast enthusiastically.
I'm pretty happy about how everything turned out. We are in no hurry to leave tomorrow, so we can sleep in for a little bit, probably take advantage of the hotel's included breakfast, and then head for home. I doubt that I'll have any difficulty sleeping tonight.
I drank more water because that goop tastes awful, but, per instructions, I had to stop drinking anything by 8 AM, four hours before I was to report to the hospital. Fortunately for me, the effects ended (and it appeared it had done its work) by about 10 AM, giving me time to have a shower and get ready to be tested.
Lisa drove me over to the medical center. While it's only about 800 m from the hotel, traffic conditions meant it took us around twenty minutes to get there. We went to the colonoscopy center and checked in. I filled out the form explaining that Lisa would be the one to collect me. I had to bring Lisa with me to prove that someone really would get me and that I wasn't going to try to drive myself back. I gave the telephone number of the hotel and our room number. They assumed it was a cell phone and wanted to test it. I explained that it was our hotel. The said when they expected to call her, and she was then free to go back to the hotel.
I filled out more papers, and after a few minutes, they called me in and took me to the patient prep room and asked me questions. I changed out of my clothes and into the surgical gown. Various staff members came and prepped me in different ways, including installing a line in my hand through which the sedative would be injected. Eventually, they rolled me into the examination room. I don't even remember the sedative being injected, but I was already feeling sleepy before they did so, and I was out like a light. The next thing I knew, I was in a recovery room and I could get dressed.
Eight years ago, they found one polyp, and told me to come back in about five years. I was planning to do so, and then the pandemic hit. The doctor told me that the current guidelines are actually 7-8 years, and told me not to beat myself up.
I buried the lede here, and it's good news: there were no polyps and nothing else of concern. They told me to come back in ten years. That's a big relief.
While I was much more alert than I recall from my previous colonoscopy, I was still not terribly steady on my feet. They eased me into a wheelchair and took me out to the van, where Lisa was waiting to take us "home" to the hotel.
Our initial plan had been to order out for pizza. However, it turns out that there are no Pizza Huts within delivery range of our hotel. Lisa has to be careful about what she gets due to some food allergies. (Round Table Pizza, for example, makes her sick.) Therefore, she sticks with pizza brands that have worked for her in the past. After I rested for about an hour so I was steadier on my feet, we went to Plan B: Lisa drove us to a Raley's grocery store about 2 km from the hotel and we bought various groceries and take-out food to suit ourselves. This worked out pretty well. Both of us got what we want, and I broke my two-day-long fast enthusiastically.
I'm pretty happy about how everything turned out. We are in no hurry to leave tomorrow, so we can sleep in for a little bit, probably take advantage of the hotel's included breakfast, and then head for home. I doubt that I'll have any difficulty sleeping tonight.
