I put it off for nearly a year and a half, but in the end, I had to go through with it.\u00a0 I’m talking about\u00a0my colonoscopy.\u00a0 I’m so glad it’s behind me now.\u00a0 Before the procedure\u00a0I didn’t think I would write about it, but afterward in those first, precious moments\u00a0as the anesthesia wore off I realized: how could I not tell the tail?\u00a0 I think in hindsight, I’ll be glad I did.<\/p>\n
My family doctor mentioned it at my physical shortly before\u00a0my fiftieth birthday a year and a half ago.\u00a0 He said 50 is when you have your first colonoscopy.\u00a0 I\u00a0wasn’t thrilled.\u00a0\u00a0The idea of\u00a0sneaking a\u00a0camera\u00a0in through the\u00a0back door wasn’t appealing.\u00a0 Maybe it was a deep-seated fear.\u00a0 I didn’t want to be the butt of jokes even though I knew colonoscopies\u00a0are routine and fairly safe.\u00a0 During my next physical\u00a0soon after\u00a051, the doc asked about it again.\u00a0 “Don’t be a bum,” he said,\u00a0 “Get it done.”\u00a0 I didn’t want to be asinine.\u00a0 The point of the procedure is cancer prevention.\u00a0 What was at the bottom of my hesitance?\u00a0 Why was I scared about this evaluation of my: colon.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Soon after, I started scoping out a place to have the procedure done.\u00a0 I finally found one.\u00a0 The doctor I ended up with had been trained in and worked as a physician in the military, possibly the navy.\u00a0 I wonder if he attained the rank of rear admiral?\u00a0 When we first talked, I asked him if gastroenterology was all it was cracked up to be?\u00a0 He said that it was a gas.<\/p>\n
I must say anticipating the whole thing was far worse than the actual procedure, though the preparation wasn’t much fun.\u00a0 I assiduously followed the instructions: consume only a liquid diet the day before, then drink copious amounts of lemony liquid (what really cleared the runway) the evening before and morning of.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0actual event was almost fun.\u00a0\u00a0After a nurse took my vitals and I’d had a chat with the nice anesthesiologist, I walked to the procedure room in the rear of the office (wearing only one of those hospital gowns that tie in the back).\u00a0 As soon as they told me to lie down on the table on my left side, I knew the end was in sight.\u00a0\u00a0 Then the\u00a0anesthesiologist turned on the juice.\u00a0 One minute I groused that I wasn\u2019t asleep yet and the next, I was opening my eyes in recovery, reciting poems and assuring myself I was still myself.<\/p>\n
My dear wife drove me home, something the doctor required.\u00a0 I think he was afraid that so soon after being anesthetized I might rear-end someone.<\/p>\n
The bottom line is that I’m o.k.\u00a0 He found three polyps, but they are not cancerous.\u00a0 I ‘ll have to butt into line for another colonoscopy in three years.\u00a0 In the meantime, I’ll promptly pay whatever insurance doesn’t, lest I be in arrears.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I put it off for nearly a year and a half, but in the end, I had to go through with it.\u00a0 I’m talking about\u00a0my colonoscopy.\u00a0 I’m so glad it’s behind me now.\u00a0 Before the procedure\u00a0I didn’t think I would … Continue reading