Colonoscopy Day

Well after two prep days I finally had my colonoscopy. Overall, all went well. It was clean and they only found one very small polyp. The doctor said it was so small that he almost missed it, but saw it and took it out. They will send it out, but he said he was confident that it was benign. Now, some details (leaving out most of the gross ones!)…

My last procedure was five years ago in 2013. Overall, it went off well. I had only a few polyps, all benign. But the one day prep was not enough and they couldn’t be absolutely sure of things. The doctor suggested another procedure in about a year or two. He made it clear that he didn’t believe I did the prep completely. I was furious. I did.

When I got home I went online and found that almost 40% of men who have diabetes, over the age of 65, do not have clean preps. I was so angry I almost made a copy of the report and sent it to the doctor. But I didn’t. but I did forget about the one or two years. So I waited until 2018 to have my next regular colonoscopy.

It was during my pre-procedure meeting with the nurse that I realized I should have gone earlier. I saw it in my report of 2013. Then I remembered. Now I had something else to worry about. And by now you should realize I worry a lot; about everything.

I was given a two-day prep. I could eat a light breakfast the first day, then nothing but a liquid diet from then on. The afternoon of the first day, I drank a small bottle – 10 oz. – of magnesium cal citrate. It was lemon flavored and other than tasting salty was not bad. Throughout the day I drank water, ginger ale, coffee, and tea. I also had Jello, popsicles, and Italian ices.

The second day I continued my liquid diet. At about 1:00 pm, I took four Dulcolax pills, then at 3:00 pm I began drinking a mixture of Gatorade and Miralax powder. I had mixed it up in the morning and let it chill. I was to drink it from 3-7 pm, which I did. It wasn’t bad at all, primarily since I like Gatorade.

By the morning of the procedure, I was ready. They had called the day before to tell me that I was to come at 7:15 am. Being a diabetic sometimes has its benefits. …(TBC)

(Cambria 13 font)