Bottoms Up!

OK, that's a terrible pun, sorry about that.

I had a colonoscopy this week. Now you see the terrible pun.

It was not a bad procedure, but the dietary restrictions were a job. They didn't leave me hungry or anything like that, there was just SO MUCH that I couldn't have that it made finding something I could have difficult. Here's the list of things I couldn't have:

leafy vegs (no salads for YOU!)
nuts
seeds
beans
corn
popcorn
fruit with skin

So I stuck to baked potato and toast mostly. Oh yeah, I also had a ham sandwich. The last day was a light breakfast, then only clear liquids and no dinner.

The day before was the clean out day. At 1 I took some harsh laxatives and then at 4 I started drinking this liquid which amounted to baking soda and electrolytes. It did a fantastic job of cleaning me out (I know so because they sent me home with pictures!). I drank a cup every 15 minutes and there was probably a quart.

The actual procedure was not too difficult. Not really too embarrassing either when you consider that this is what they do all day every day, I was just butt #1 for that day (and it's a nice butt, thank you very much!). They hooked me up to an I.V. bag and gave me 3 syringes of stuff to make me woozy just before the procedure. I felt stuff, pain at times. I grimaced and groaned but the doc put in his report "patient tolerated the procedure well." He also said "The colonoscopy was difficult due to a tortuous colon." That means twisty, I had to look it up.

They actually found and removed 2 polyps that were 7 - 9 mm in size. So I was glad to have gone through everything and have it done. The doc said this is the #2 or 3 cancer killer of both men and women and is the most easily preventable, since tumors start as polyps, not as tumors, and can be easily removed as mine were. They used a "hot wire" and just removed them right during the "examination".

So, all you "50+" friends and relatives - go get yours done! It's not that bad and you probably know people who've had colon cancer and either died from it or lived out their life wearing a colostomy bag. You don't want to go there, now do you?

Your turn - Bottom's up!