All over and done with.
None of it was as bad as I'd anticipated. The stuff I had to drink was lemon flavoured...sort of - which made it slightly more palatable than it would have been without flavouring. But there was such a lot of it, and one has to drink more water and other liquids on top of the medical stuff. I'm a small framed person, and can only fit a certain amount in my tummy without wanting to burst. So I probably didn't drink as much as I should have, but I did my best.
Most people say you run back and forth to the toilet many times in the 24 hours between drinking stuff and having the colonoscopy done. I only went twice. Messy, yes,but I won't go into any more details.. But I didn't feel ill at any stage, just slightly hungry, and very full of liquid. But apparently my preparations were good enough.
The first nurse took me into a room to remove my skirt and undies, although I could leave on my shoes, bra and teeshirt. (Shoes??? Yep, leave them ON!) I had to put one of those blue 'gowns' on and a white chenille dressing gown over that. From there I was led to the theatre where the procedures are done, and told to lay on a bed where they put an oxygen mask on me, and inserted the intravenous needle into my arm to anaesthise me. That was the last thing I remember until I woke up an hour later in the recovery room. I was lying in the same position, and couldn't figure out whether I'd been 'done' or not, until a nurse came over and said 'Hello Gina, you're all done. Feeling okay?" To my relief, I was. After spending weeks worrying about getting sick after the anaesthetic it was a happy moment to wake up feeling perfectly well, and being offered tea and biscuits!
After a few minutes, I was helped off the bed and into a room with comfortable armchairs, where some other ladies were sitting waiting to be taken home. I was there for about half an hour, during which time the surgeon who had performed the colonoscopy on each of us, came and spoke to us. He said to me that my results are fine - no polyps or any other issues, and I don't need to have another colonoscopy in the foreseeable future. (Some people have to have them regularly if they've had polyps removed). He said if I wanted to check myself, I could get a test kit from my doctor every few years.
So! Very nice to know that my belief in myself was justified. I know some people thought I was being cocky when I said I didn't believe I had cancer, because I try to eat regularly the kind of foods that are known as cancer fighters, such as broccoli, strawberries, and several others. I never smoked, and only drink alcohol occasionally. The only thing I don't do often enough is exercise properly, but fortunately for me, I've always been skinny up until middle age, and never had a tendency to put on weight. This is a family trait, so I'm lucky to have inherited those genes. I know luck and genetics play a large part in how good our health is, but I firmly believe lifestyle and healthy eating has a lot to do with it. Who knows what the next 30 years will bring to me, if I live that long? No use worrying about the future; I'm just very happy to be healthy at this moment!
Most people say you run back and forth to the toilet many times in the 24 hours between drinking stuff and having the colonoscopy done. I only went twice. Messy, yes,but I won't go into any more details.. But I didn't feel ill at any stage, just slightly hungry, and very full of liquid. But apparently my preparations were good enough.
The first nurse took me into a room to remove my skirt and undies, although I could leave on my shoes, bra and teeshirt. (Shoes??? Yep, leave them ON!) I had to put one of those blue 'gowns' on and a white chenille dressing gown over that. From there I was led to the theatre where the procedures are done, and told to lay on a bed where they put an oxygen mask on me, and inserted the intravenous needle into my arm to anaesthise me. That was the last thing I remember until I woke up an hour later in the recovery room. I was lying in the same position, and couldn't figure out whether I'd been 'done' or not, until a nurse came over and said 'Hello Gina, you're all done. Feeling okay?" To my relief, I was. After spending weeks worrying about getting sick after the anaesthetic it was a happy moment to wake up feeling perfectly well, and being offered tea and biscuits!
After a few minutes, I was helped off the bed and into a room with comfortable armchairs, where some other ladies were sitting waiting to be taken home. I was there for about half an hour, during which time the surgeon who had performed the colonoscopy on each of us, came and spoke to us. He said to me that my results are fine - no polyps or any other issues, and I don't need to have another colonoscopy in the foreseeable future. (Some people have to have them regularly if they've had polyps removed). He said if I wanted to check myself, I could get a test kit from my doctor every few years.
So! Very nice to know that my belief in myself was justified. I know some people thought I was being cocky when I said I didn't believe I had cancer, because I try to eat regularly the kind of foods that are known as cancer fighters, such as broccoli, strawberries, and several others. I never smoked, and only drink alcohol occasionally. The only thing I don't do often enough is exercise properly, but fortunately for me, I've always been skinny up until middle age, and never had a tendency to put on weight. This is a family trait, so I'm lucky to have inherited those genes. I know luck and genetics play a large part in how good our health is, but I firmly believe lifestyle and healthy eating has a lot to do with it. Who knows what the next 30 years will bring to me, if I live that long? No use worrying about the future; I'm just very happy to be healthy at this moment!
posted by Gina E. | 1:44 am
1 Comments:
And Amen to all that! Now you can get on with your life.
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