colonoscopy (sp?)
colonoscopy (sp?)
- Thread starterElad 12
- Start date
Have done this procedure twice and am scheduled for another in July. It is an emotionally difficult proposition. You just have to get over the emotional part. It is a necessary procedure. My grandpa died from colon cancer and I am nearly his physical double. Like it or not, if I am not to follow in his path, I have to take the test.
The last time they gave me sodium pentothal before the procedure. Truth serum. It keeps you awake and able to answer necessary questions during the process but causes you to forget the whole thing when the drug wears off.
If you cant handle being awake for the procedure, demand sedation. Health care professionals understand the emotional difficulty involved.
Let me assure that you dont want to go thru what my grandpa did in the last years of his life. And the only way to avoid that is to take the test.
Find a mental trick to separate your past sexual abuse from this necessary medical procedure. They are not the same thing and are unrelated in any way except for the obvious porthole.
There is no way to suggest that the thing is pleasant. But it has to be done. The first time I had to do it I had to have a couple of operations just to make it possible. It was pure hell! But life is much better since then. At first I regretted it, but in time I realized things were much improved.
Look, take the test. A piece of your anal mind will be at ease for the next five years. That is a lot of time to make an ass out of yourself and feel good about it.
Aden
The last time they gave me sodium pentothal before the procedure. Truth serum. It keeps you awake and able to answer necessary questions during the process but causes you to forget the whole thing when the drug wears off.
If you cant handle being awake for the procedure, demand sedation. Health care professionals understand the emotional difficulty involved.
Let me assure that you dont want to go thru what my grandpa did in the last years of his life. And the only way to avoid that is to take the test.
Find a mental trick to separate your past sexual abuse from this necessary medical procedure. They are not the same thing and are unrelated in any way except for the obvious porthole.
There is no way to suggest that the thing is pleasant. But it has to be done. The first time I had to do it I had to have a couple of operations just to make it possible. It was pure hell! But life is much better since then. At first I regretted it, but in time I realized things were much improved.
Look, take the test. A piece of your anal mind will be at ease for the next five years. That is a lot of time to make an ass out of yourself and feel good about it.
Aden
crisispoint
Registrant
Elad,
When I was diagnosed w/Crohn's Disease, I had a colonoscopy. The way the hospital did it with me was as an 8-hour admission because they used "conscious sedation," a type of anasthesia that doesn't knock you completely out (in my case, a wonderful combo of Demorol (tm) and Vicoden (tm)
).
The day before, they put me on a clear-liquid fast, which meant no solid foods and only liquid nutrition (broths, consommes, clear fruit juices, tea (no milk), and Jello (tm), but I didn't know THAT was considered liquid!), and the morning of the procedure, I drank a potassium phosphate solution to complete the purge of my system (don't ask!).
The procedure itself was relatively pain-free. They administered the drugs via I.V. hookup, and I felt GREAT when they kicked in! That is to say, I was pleasantly buzzed and there was no discomfort, apart from the scraping they had to do when they performed a tissue biopsy. Even then, the drugs pretty much made it so that I didn't care.
Overall, it wasn't an experience I'd care to repeat, but it wasn't as unpleasant as I thought it'd be (the worst moment was when I saw the apparatus sober - scary! ). I'd talk to your doctor before the procedure in regards to any areaas of concern you have. They'll work with you to make it as discomfort-free as possible. And, after all, it's better to know what's going on than not.
I hope this helps.
Peace and love,
Scot
When I was diagnosed w/Crohn's Disease, I had a colonoscopy. The way the hospital did it with me was as an 8-hour admission because they used "conscious sedation," a type of anasthesia that doesn't knock you completely out (in my case, a wonderful combo of Demorol (tm) and Vicoden (tm)
).The day before, they put me on a clear-liquid fast, which meant no solid foods and only liquid nutrition (broths, consommes, clear fruit juices, tea (no milk), and Jello (tm), but I didn't know THAT was considered liquid!), and the morning of the procedure, I drank a potassium phosphate solution to complete the purge of my system (don't ask!).
The procedure itself was relatively pain-free. They administered the drugs via I.V. hookup, and I felt GREAT when they kicked in! That is to say, I was pleasantly buzzed and there was no discomfort, apart from the scraping they had to do when they performed a tissue biopsy. Even then, the drugs pretty much made it so that I didn't care.
Overall, it wasn't an experience I'd care to repeat, but it wasn't as unpleasant as I thought it'd be (the worst moment was when I saw the apparatus sober - scary!
). I'd talk to your doctor before the procedure in regards to any areaas of concern you have. They'll work with you to make it as discomfort-free as possible. And, after all, it's better to know what's going on than not.I hope this helps.
Peace and love,
Scot
I have been there several times, due to some weird crud in my last intestine a few years back. There's was this big long name for a rare condition that required surgery for it to start healing.
Some tips:
You will need to clean yourself out with a laxative the day before, or use a saline enema. Not pleasant, but they need you cleaned out to get a good look at things in there. Plan on staying home that evening to use the commode a few times.
Have someone drive you there and bring you back. They may knock you out for the procedure. They knocked me out every time. Tell your driver to bring some good reading. If they don't knock you out, they will give you something to make you woozy.
If you are susceptible to anesthesia as am I, take a bucket along with you in case you get queasy on the ride back. If you can, lie down in the back seat.
If they knocked you out for it, you will wake up long enough to get a ride back home, then just go to bed and sleep it off the rest of the day. Do not even try to eat or drink anything if you are queasy. Just go to bed.
That's all I can think of right now. If I come up with anything else I'll let you know. You can PM me if you like. You may feel your dignity take a bit of a hit for the day. I just wrote that off as standard medical practice. In spite of abuse issues, I tend to be more lenient in the medical field. That doesn't make it foolproof, but it makes it easier to handle. I had to use a catheter when I had my surgery. So because of having to handle the handling and exposure by a nurse, I went home from the hospital almost not caring if anyone ever saw me naked again. It just didn't seem to matter anymore for a few days. Fortunately for my neighborhood, I got over that.
FT
Some tips:
You will need to clean yourself out with a laxative the day before, or use a saline enema. Not pleasant, but they need you cleaned out to get a good look at things in there. Plan on staying home that evening to use the commode a few times.
Have someone drive you there and bring you back. They may knock you out for the procedure. They knocked me out every time. Tell your driver to bring some good reading. If they don't knock you out, they will give you something to make you woozy.
If you are susceptible to anesthesia as am I, take a bucket along with you in case you get queasy on the ride back. If you can, lie down in the back seat.
If they knocked you out for it, you will wake up long enough to get a ride back home, then just go to bed and sleep it off the rest of the day. Do not even try to eat or drink anything if you are queasy. Just go to bed.
That's all I can think of right now. If I come up with anything else I'll let you know. You can PM me if you like. You may feel your dignity take a bit of a hit for the day. I just wrote that off as standard medical practice. In spite of abuse issues, I tend to be more lenient in the medical field. That doesn't make it foolproof, but it makes it easier to handle. I had to use a catheter when I had my surgery. So because of having to handle the handling and exposure by a nurse, I went home from the hospital almost not caring if anyone ever saw me naked again. It just didn't seem to matter anymore for a few days. Fortunately for my neighborhood, I got over that.
FT
I had my third one done just a week ago, the hard part for me is the prep, not the procedure, but they dope me up pretty well. In fact, me & my AA sponsor were laughing this weekend about the fact that by having a colonoscopy, I can get passing-out intoxicated without having to admit to falling off the wagon ! 
If you feel safe enough, tell your doctor about what's going on with you emotionally. Based on the other replies you've gotten, it seems there are different levels of sedation used, something I was not aware of, so I'd suggest doing the max. My doc gives me an IV combo of Demerol & Versed - apparently I remain conscious enough to move & follow simple instructions, but from my point-of-view, I go out like a light, remember nothing, and wake in the recovery room after it's all over.
Ditto to everything FormerTexan said : you MUST NOT drive or conduct any sort of business, and expect to have to sleep it off, 4-8 hours worth.
Like I said at the beginning of this post, the hard part for me is the prep. Two nights before, I have to drink 10 oz of Magnesium Citrate, which is a purgative. "Purgative is to "Laxative" the same as fire hose is to garden hose - a purgative is designed to blast out your intestines. Then, the day before, I have to eat only clear liquids, just like FT said (but nothing grape or cherry colored). Finally, the night before, I have to mix up this gallon jug of liquid laxative & drink a glass every 20 minutes until I run pretty much clear out the other end - for me, it usually takes no more than 4-5 glasses. The stuff goes by different names, you can check out the details on Yahoo Health here . Make sure you drink the stuff as cold as you can stand it, that dulls the flavor. For me, the artificial flavors that the various drug companies add to their version of this stuff makes it even harder to swallow, so I get the generic, flavor free brand.
Finally, a suggestion for the little boy inside you ....
Tell him very gently, but firmly :
This (the colonoscopy) is not sexual.
This is not abuse.
This is not manipulation or coercion.
This IS good self-care.
This IS the adult part of me taking care of ALL of me, including the hurt little boy.
If you feel safe enough, tell your doctor about what's going on with you emotionally. Based on the other replies you've gotten, it seems there are different levels of sedation used, something I was not aware of, so I'd suggest doing the max. My doc gives me an IV combo of Demerol & Versed - apparently I remain conscious enough to move & follow simple instructions, but from my point-of-view, I go out like a light, remember nothing, and wake in the recovery room after it's all over.
Ditto to everything FormerTexan said : you MUST NOT drive or conduct any sort of business, and expect to have to sleep it off, 4-8 hours worth.
Like I said at the beginning of this post, the hard part for me is the prep. Two nights before, I have to drink 10 oz of Magnesium Citrate, which is a purgative. "Purgative is to "Laxative" the same as fire hose is to garden hose - a purgative is designed to blast out your intestines. Then, the day before, I have to eat only clear liquids, just like FT said (but nothing grape or cherry colored). Finally, the night before, I have to mix up this gallon jug of liquid laxative & drink a glass every 20 minutes until I run pretty much clear out the other end - for me, it usually takes no more than 4-5 glasses. The stuff goes by different names, you can check out the details on Yahoo Health here . Make sure you drink the stuff as cold as you can stand it, that dulls the flavor. For me, the artificial flavors that the various drug companies add to their version of this stuff makes it even harder to swallow, so I get the generic, flavor free brand.
Finally, a suggestion for the little boy inside you ....
Tell him very gently, but firmly :
This (the colonoscopy) is not sexual.
This is not abuse.
This is not manipulation or coercion.
This IS good self-care.
This IS the adult part of me taking care of ALL of me, including the hurt little boy.
self_righting
Registrant
Elad,
About two years ago a tumor on my appendix burst. I had to have extensive surgery. About six months later I had to have a colonoscopy. I was very nervous about being "violated" again. Also I was afraid that I might get excited. Well, after I thought about it I realized that there was nothing remotely erotic about what was going to happen so I could let myself go and not worry about any embarassment. I had to drink like a gallon of this foul liquid which made everything come out of the pipeline - everything. At the hospital that started an IV. I was really nervous despite saying a bunch of affirmations. They asked me to lie on my side. I have a brief memory of the doctor pointing out something on a video display the next thing I know they were helping me up to a chair in the recovery area. I guess I am saying that there is very little to worry about. You don't feel anything - even afterword - except for a little squishyness .
About two years ago a tumor on my appendix burst. I had to have extensive surgery. About six months later I had to have a colonoscopy. I was very nervous about being "violated" again. Also I was afraid that I might get excited. Well, after I thought about it I realized that there was nothing remotely erotic about what was going to happen so I could let myself go and not worry about any embarassment. I had to drink like a gallon of this foul liquid which made everything come out of the pipeline - everything. At the hospital that started an IV. I was really nervous despite saying a bunch of affirmations. They asked me to lie on my side. I have a brief memory of the doctor pointing out something on a video display the next thing I know they were helping me up to a chair in the recovery area. I guess I am saying that there is very little to worry about. You don't feel anything - even afterword - except for a little squishyness .
self_righting
Registrant
Elad,
I am proud of you. You made it through an event that can be tough even for people who've never been abused. I hope the exam turns up negative and you get the "all clear."
Best,
John
I am proud of you. You made it through an event that can be tough even for people who've never been abused. I hope the exam turns up negative and you get the "all clear."
Best,
John
Elad,
So glad to hear you made it through with so little stress - hope the results are clean, too.
Be SURE to give yourself LOTS of credit for how you handled this : you honored your fear, you talked about it with guys like us that understand, and then you took care of BOTH your health AND yourself (and the little boy inside, too) despite your fears.
That, in my book, is some terrific recovery work.
Blessings,
Shy
(edited to correct spelling)
So glad to hear you made it through with so little stress - hope the results are clean, too.
Be SURE to give yourself LOTS of credit for how you handled this : you honored your fear, you talked about it with guys like us that understand, and then you took care of BOTH your health AND yourself (and the little boy inside, too) despite your fears.
That, in my book, is some terrific recovery work.
Blessings,
Shy
(edited to correct spelling)