My First Colonoscopy

And I hope it is my last (at least until I'm 50!).

Yesterday I had my first colonoscopy. I'm not going to lie, it was not fun.

Saturday I rushed through my last meal before my day of clear liquids on Sunday. All day Sunday, I ate one package of yellow, a entire bottle of diet 7 up and about 7 werthers. I was starving! I organized Addison's room a bit in the morning and then watched TV in bed all afternoon to conserve energy. I was so hungry. You see, I had ran 12 1/2 miles on Friday and 6 on Saturday, so I was still revved up from all of that. I needed FOOD!

Little did I know that starving was the easy part. Come 5:30 Sunday night, I had to start drinking the 4 liters of crap to clear me out and send me running to the bathroom. The drink was salty, slimy and made me gag. It was like drinking a tongue depressor. I could hardly choke down the 8 oz every 10 minutes. Within an hour, I was in the bathroom every ten minutes, too. I was dizzy, light headed and quite nauseous. It was no treat! I had told the kids to leave me alone in my room. When I was at my sickest, all three kids and Chris were in the room. Gees! I went to bed Sunday night dreading drinking more in the morning.

Monday morning I dragged myself out of bed. I had gotten up once in the night to go to the bathroom and went twice in the morning.  I had no energy to get the kids going. I sat down to do Addison's hair. Alivia was concerned about me driving them to school. I was a wreck.

After dropping them off at school, it was time to drink the next half of the 4 liters of liquid Go Lightly. I tried real hard to not have it touch my tongue. I would drink one and run to bed nauseated. By the third or fourth one, I was dry heaving, shaking and could not stand. It was a nightmare. According to the directions, I did not have to drink all of the stuff if I was clear before hand. Well, I was, thank goodness, thanks to my light Saturday night meal and no meals on Sunday (the directions are for clear liquids the day before the procedure). I dragged myself out of bed and sat in the shower. Yes, I sat in the shower. I sat to comb my hair and to brush my teeth. The longer I was from finishing the drink the less nauseous I was, but I was still quite weak.

My mom arrived about 11. She was my required driver. I can tell you, there is a reason why they require a driver. I was in no shape to drive there and definitely in no shape to drive home!

We arrived an hour before hand as directed. I went to the bathroom another time (gees, never ending!) and they called my name. They took me back into a very small space with a chair, sink, toilet and a locker to get changed into a gown. The door on the other side of the room opened up into the area with my bed. I climbed and and the nurse put a very warm blanket on me that felt amazing. She put in my IV and moved me to the procedure room. She then put the warm sleeper medicine into my IV, followed by a cold saline flush. The next thing I remember was waking up in recovering hearing the nurse tell me to try to expel the air (probably a man's dream...waking to a woman telling them to fart!). I was too sleepy to comprehend what she was saying. I somehow managed to put my clothes on, but I don't remember dressing.

The nurse, I think, walked me into a room where Chris and my mom were waiting. The Dr talked, saying that I probably have Irritable bowel syndrome, nothing serious and what to do for it. (yeah for being cancer free!). Chris said he was freaking out before the doctor started talking, thinking it was either good news or news that would change everything. It was scary, especially since I have a family history of this sort of thing (my aunt died of colon cancer). Fortunately, it is treatable and not serious. Chris says he walked me to my mom's car, but I don't remember that. I do remember telling my mom to take me to Panera. I ate soup, break and a cookie, but I don't remember much of it.

My mom drove me home, I dropped my bags on the floor and ran up to bed without saying anything to her. Chris woke me up at 5. I was so confused. I felt like I just laid down. I felt bad that I just walked off and didn't say anything to my mom. I was so out of it. Wow, I like that drug! :) I spent the remainder of the night hanging out in bed, drinking 7-up.

Meanwhile, the school called while I was in the procedure saying Asher had vomited at school. So, Chris' mom when and picked him up. When I woke, Asher looked as bad as I felt and went to bed. He slept all night!

Today, Asher and I are just hanging out, recuperating. We are both much better! We are both eating, drinking, and are beginning to feel normal. Yeah!

I can't say I will be signing up to be the poster girl for a colonoscopy. I am hoping that by the time I am 50 (when most people get their first colonoscopy) they have that drink replaced because it is awful! Glad it is all over with and I will be okay. Whew!