March 13, 2004
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The Rest of the Story
I was just too pooped (to make a terrible pun) to check back in yesterday. The good news, I think, is that they didn’t discover any disturbing pathology, though they found and removed one very small benign-looking polyp and took some random biopsy samples to look for “microscopic colitis.” I won’t get the results of that for a couple of weeks probably. The bad news is that it was an even more unpleasant experience that I expected. I had had one other colonoscopy 7 years ago that I recalled as uncomfortable and did without any sedation. This one was painful even with sedation. I had also requested a woman doctor for the procedure, was told who she would be, and found at the last moment that my request was ignored. I wound up with 2 male doctors, a Fellow and an Attending doing the procedure, 2 other male technicians in the room, and one female nurse. The Fellow is, of course, someone in training, and in my opinion he was unnecessarily rough. So I just have to say that when you hear on the news that everybody should be screened for colon cancer because it is so easy to prevent if caught in time, I agree, and when they say it’s no big deal I have to disagree. I think that part depends a lot on circumstance. And now here’s the Friday Five on Saturday:
1. What was the last song you heard?
I think it must have been Pockets Full of Gold by Vince Gill. I just love his voice.
2. What were the last two movies you saw?
Mona Lisa Smile and The Order on video. Both met my fairly low expectations. I kind of left Mona Lisa Smile, thinking, who cares about all these waspy rich girls anyway? And as for The Order, too bad about Heath Ledger. He seemed to have promise when he first appeared on the scene. The movie was gloomy and boring.
3. What were the last three things you purchased?
Iams dry catfood, 2 tiny bottles of Scope – one for my purse and one for home, and some different-colored post-its.
4. What four things do you need to do this weekend?
Mow my lawn, at least in the front yard; clean my house and do laundry; attend my home group Recovery meeting.
5. Who are the last five people you talked to?
Oops, almost forgot this one. They were: (1) my son on the phone about his visit to the doctor yesterday, (2) his girlfriend on the phone when I called to see how he was, (3) my daughter on the phone before she took off with her boyfriend to meet his mother this weekend, (4) the friend who took me to my procedure yesterday and brought me home, and (5) the kind woman who helped me in the recovery room and kept bringing me warm blankets and stuff to drink and calling me “sweetie.”
Deep Thought: Somebody told me how frightening it was how much topsoil we are losing each year, but I told that story around the campfire and nobody got scared.
Today I am grateful for: The many choices in life
Comments (8)
I’m sorry the procedure was so rough! How awkward, too…
I hope that the results are all perfect!
Okay, you have officially convinced me that a colonoscopy is yucky, but then I pretty much thought that anyway. I’m glad they didn’t find anything they think is serious and that you are now home to rest. infinite blessings
Yeah, now that yours is over, I can share how unpleasant mine was. Wasn’t gonna say it before you did it, but now I can. They say you won’t be conscious of any of it. They lie! I don’t remember most of mine, except for a moment that I was whimpering to myself in my head. And I just remember thinking, “If they shove that thing any further, I’m going to scream.” Bleh. Glad it’s over with for you.
You could have always kicked him – that is what I would have done! Sure hope it goes well. Hang in there.
I always ask for extra drugs because it’s too painful otherwise. Now the doctor knows to knock me out for most of it. I don’t think it’s the sort of procedure that should be used for training Fellows & you should complain about his roughness when you get your results. It’s a test that takes a lot of patience & if he’s in such a hurry, he needs to be doing something else. Glad it’s over for you!
sorry the test was painful. You are right. Some MDs are more gentle than others. Hopefully, you won’t have to do the “poop patrol” again for awhile.
Well hell. I was hoping you would come back and tell us it was a breeze. No worse than going to the dentist. OK, I just stopped and read the other comments … no way. No way will do that for “prevention.” Something is going to have to show up to make me concerned before I do it. Ya’ll have scared me, now.
I would have told Dr. Attending that he had better be gentle because you are a medical practictioner, too, and he is NEXT for the same procedure and YOU are in charge!
I don’t think he liked this part of his training and he needs to learn to be a lot more gentle. I am glad you survived….((HUGS))
(What kind of recovery meeting??)