Colonoscopy Journal

[brnidokiegurl 1]

Newshound Dave Barry's Colonoscopy Journal:

I called my friend Andy Sable, a gastroenterologist, to make an appointment for a colonoscopy.

A few days later, in his office, Andy showed me a color diagram of the colon, a lengthy organ that appears to go all over the place, at one point passing briefly through Minneapolis .

Then Andy explained the colonoscopy procedure to me in a thorough, reassuring and patient manner.

I nodded thoughtfully, but I didn't really hear anything he said, because my brain was shrieking, quote, 'HE'S GOING TO STICK A TUBE 17,000 FEET UP YOUR BEHIND!'

I left Andy' s office with some written instructions, and a prescription for a product called 'MoviPrep,' which comes in a box large enough to hold a microwave oven.

I will discuss MoviPrep in detail later; for now suffice it to say that we must never allow it to fall into the hands of America 's enemies.

I spent the next several days productively sitting around being nervous.

Then, on the day before my colonoscopy, I began my preparation.

In accordance with my instructions, I didn't eat any solid food that day; all I had was chicken broth, which is basically water, only with less flavor.

Then, in the evening, I took the MoviPrep. You mix two packets of powder together in a one-liter plastic jug, then you fill it with lukewarm water. (For those unfamiliar with the metric system, a liter is about 3.2 gallons). Then you have to drink the whole jug. This takes about an hour, because MoviPrep tastes - and here I am being kind - like a mixture of goat spit and urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon.

The instructions for MoviPrep, clearly written by somebody with a great sense of humor, state that after you drink it, 'a loose, watery bowel movement may result.'

This is kind of like saying that after you jump off your roof, you may experience contact with the ground.

MoviPrep is a nuclear laxative. I don't want to be too graphic, here, but: have you ever seen a space-shuttle launch? This is pretty much the MoviPrep experience, with you as the shuttle. There are times when you wish the commode had a seat belt. You spend several hours pretty much confined to the bathroom, spurting violently. You eliminate everything. And then, when you figure you must be totally empty, you have to drink another liter of MoviPrep, at which point, as far as I can tell, your bowels travel into the future and start eliminating food that you have not even eaten yet.

After an action-packed evening, I finally got to sleep.

The next morning my wife drove me to the clinic. I was very nervous. Not only was I worried about the procedure, but I had been experiencing occasional return bouts of MoviPrep spurtage. I was thinking, 'What if I spurt on Andy?' How do you apologize to a friend for something like that? Flowers would not be enough.

At the clinic I had to sign many forms acknowledging that I understood and totally agreed with whatever the heck the forms said. Then they led me to a room full of other colonoscopy people, where I went inside a little curtained space and took off my clothes and put on one of those hospital garments designed by sadist perverts, the kind that, when you put it on, makes you feel even more naked than when you are actually naked.

Then a nurse named Eddie put a little needle in a vein in my left hand. Ordinarily I would have fainted, but Eddie was very good, and I was already lying down. Eddie also told me that some people put vodka in their MoviPrep.

At first I was ticked off that I hadn't thought of this is, but then I pondered what would happen if you got yourself too tipsy to make it to the bathroom, so you were staggering around in full Fire Hose Mode. You would have no choice but to burn your house.

When everything was ready, Eddie wheeled me into the procedure room, where Andy was waiting with a nurse and an anesthesiologist. I did not see the 17,000-foot tube, but I knew Andy had it hidden around there somewhere. I was seriously nervous at this point.

Andy had me roll over on my left side, and the anesthesiologist began hooking something up to the needle in my hand.

There was music playing in the room, and I realized that the song was 'Dancing Queen' by ABBA. I remarked to Andy that, of all the songs that could be playing during this particular procedure, 'Dancing Queen' had to be the least appropriate.

'You want me to turn it up?' said Andy, from somewhere behind me.

'Ha ha,' I said. And then it was time, the moment I had been dreading for more than a decade. If you are squeamish, prepare yourself, because I am going to tell you, in explicit detail, exactly what it was like.

I have no idea. Really. I slept through it. One moment, ABBA was yelling 'Dancing Queen, feel the beat of the tambourine,' and the next moment, I was back in the other room, waking up in a very mellow mood.

Andy was looking down at me and asking me how I felt. I felt excellent. I felt even more excellent when Andy told me that It was all over, and that my colon had passed with flying colors. I have never been prouder of an internal organ.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Dave Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist for the Miami Herald.

On the subject of Colonoscopies...

Colonoscopies are no joke, but these comments during the exam were quite humorous..... A physician claimed that the following are actual comments made by his patients (predominately male) while he was performing their colonoscopies:

1. 'Take it easy, Doc. You're boldly going where no man has gone before!

2. 'Find Amelia Earhart yet?'

3. 'Can you hear me NOW?'

4. 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?'

5. 'You know, in Arkansas , we're now legally married.'

6. 'Any sign of the trapped miners, Chief?'

7. 'You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out...'

8. 'Hey! Now I know how a Muppet feels!'

9. 'If your hand doesn't fit, you must quit!

10. 'Hey Doc, let me know if you find my dignity.'

11. 'You used to be an executive at Enron, didn't you?'

12. 'God, now I know why I am not gay.'

And the best one of all.

13. 'Could you write a note for my wife

saying that my head is not up there?'

[forchika 4]

Got a kick out of that....I am a medical coder and read COLON/EGD procedures daily!!!!! I tell you something funny.....there was one guy that tattooed the mascot for the Georgia Bulldogs on his butt!!!! His butt is now famous cause the doctor took a picture of it and included it in the procedure report. How embarassing sure hope the insurance company does not make a request for medical records!!!!

[Jasman0717 9]

Colonoscopy is actually very easy, the bad one is something called (and I probably can't spell it) sigmoidosopy. They to that one when you are awake and is not a pleasent experience to say the least.

[forchika 4]

Colonoscopy is actually very easy, the bad one is something called (and I probably can't spell it) sigmoidosopy. They to that one when you are awake and is not a pleasent experience to say the least.

Not bad Jasman0717- sigmoidoscopy...in that one they are examining the entire rectum,sigmoid colon and may include examination of a portion of the descending colon.

Edited January 21, 2009 by forchika

[Amby 490]

I love poop shoot talk

[Jasman0717 9]

Colonoscopy is actually very easy, the bad one is something called (and I probably can't spell it) sigmoidosopy. They to that one when you are awake and is not a pleasent experience to say the least.

Not bad Jasman0717- sigmoidoscopy...in that one they are examining the entire rectum,sigmoid colon and may include examination of a portion of the descending colon.

The damn thing hurt like hell

[brnidokiegurl 1]

'Could you write a note for my wife

saying that my head is not up there?'

[Yoink 7]

are we there yet are we there yet....

I have a terrible chest cold and I think I cracked a rib!

:rofl:

[Jasman0717 9]

'Could you write a note for my wife

saying that my head is not up there?'

[spookyturtle 9,466]

I love poop shoot talk

On no! Here we go again. I hope Mrs. Cat doesn't see this thread.

[NickD 203]

Didn't help to be with my son when he had a colonoscopy, was moaning like crazy during the procedure, maybe I was too, but never made it to ten, passed out like a light and don't recall a thing, two hours seemed like two seconds.

Seems like a 24 hour clear liquid diet should be enough even with an enema that can do after they put you out. Drinking a gallon of the go-lightly stuff is not pleasant, my doc had me take practically a full bottle of a natural vegetable laxative, can't quite recall, like six pills every hour for five hours, was nothing left after that. Good news for me, my gastro guy wants to see me in ten years, forgot to write that down.

[brnidokiegurl 1]

i had one, told them they better look good, i wasnt coming back

[Emancipation 2]

I had one.. and I have IBS... the combination was horrible.. the stuff they make you take (the little pop that tastes sweet but gives you the toots).. UNBEARABLE!!! When it was time for the procedure my mother was in a waiting room 2 double hospital doors down from where the procedure was happening and she could hear me blood curdling scream from there..

They never finished the procedure.. they took a quick look see and let me be..

It honestly was one of the most traumatic things ever to happen to me..

But I think that had a lot to do with IBS and my bowel going into spasms..

[Jasman0717 9]

I had one.. and I have IBS... the combination was horrible.. the stuff they make you take (the little pop that tastes sweet but gives you the toots).. UNBEARABLE!!! When it was time for the procedure my mother was in a waiting room 2 double hospital doors down from where the procedure was happening and she could hear me blood curdling scream from there..

They never finished the procedure.. they took a quick look see and let me be..

It honestly was one of the most traumatic things ever to happen to me..

But I think that had a lot to do with IBS and my bowel going into spasms..

Sounds like a sigmoid

[Emancipation 2]

I had one.. and I have IBS... the combination was horrible.. the stuff they make you take (the little pop that tastes sweet but gives you the toots).. UNBEARABLE!!! When it was time for the procedure my mother was in a waiting room 2 double hospital doors down from where the procedure was happening and she could hear me blood curdling scream from there..

They never finished the procedure.. they took a quick look see and let me be..

It honestly was one of the most traumatic things ever to happen to me..

But I think that had a lot to do with IBS and my bowel going into spasms..

Sounds like a sigmoid

They told me I Had to be awake for the whole thing.. so I could move around the table as the Dr. needed me to.. I don't remember anything though I wa so drugged.