Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Why I will not have another Colonoscopy part 1

 


Morning After (Prep Day)😱😱

My body is past its expiration date, way too old to have a colonoscopy, but I did have one and will never again. Above the red dots on my graphic, show my pain points from Just Being Old. The morning after Prep Day, I could barely stand and walk and getting up and down was a real PAIN.  I had no problem with the nasty drink, at my age, a night of a thousand leg presses (get up/get down) and other things, was just too much for the joints. I am glad I did not read about the dangers of the test in older seniors.

I started the day after PREP night, already in pain.

At 1 PM they propped me on a bed made of concrete metal with 2-inch pad, with rollers. I have Arthurs-itis in tail bone, and it always hurts when lying on gurneys (think ER).  

NO one, in ER, or when I have a bone scan, MRI, etc. ever believes me when I say I have a dowager hump, and I need two pillows because laying back, my head is about 5 inches from touching whatever I am laying on. 

See the drawing? my head was not touching, both arms were propped on rails, one with the drip thingy needle in the top of the hand and because of pain in my bottom, I keep skootching tail bone forward to relieve pain, until soon my feet were hanging off the cart, up to the ankles, to relieve each pain, I bent knees, lowered knees. 

This went on while I laid watching not one but two clocks, for FIFTY minutes, trussed and bound and propped improperly and in mortal pain. Yes, I did ask them for a 2nd pillow, they scrunched the one pillow and adjusted the bed higher which did not help at all. 

At 1:55 they rolled me down a short hall, into a room that was just wide enough to hold the cart and not 1 but 4 women, poking, prodding, sticking thing on skin and one that propped me like a pretzel. 
turned me on my left side which is my bad hip, bad knee and bad ankle, then pulled and twisted to prop be up with said bad legs, and said good night and I woke up at 3:08 and it was done.
The torture was not over. I tend to have opposite reactions to drugs, like steroids WIRE me and the whatever they gave me did the same thing. I hit the house running around cleaning and picking up and worked for an hour.  No nap, no rest, and hurting bones, I was wired. 
But wait, it gets worse. Watching a movie until bedtime, twice my left ankle got a horrid cramp in the joint, like a Charlie horse and I had to struggle to stomp my foot. I went to bed and slept 4 hours only and woke up at 1 am and was up all day the next day until I crashed at 7:30 pm and slept 9 hours straight.
I do not intend on ever, not never, not ever having another colonoscopy
😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱

If you are wondering what dowagers hump is, read below. MINE is Genetic. from my maternal side. My Grandmother, her 5 sisters, my mother, her sister and all females in our family, all have the hump. Most of them are deceased and did not make it past 63. Aha! I made it to 80.


Apr 11, 2023 — A dowager's hump, a curve at the base of your neck, can cause extreme fatigue, back pain and headaches

try lying flat on you back when you look like this. Mine started in my early 20's and as I age I bend further forward
After all this, I had to wait 2 weeks for results with doctor. I went home with a paper that said
small gastric polyps
poor prep
severe pandiverticulosis...
To be continue

24 comments:

Sandee said...

Goodness. My body hurts reading this. I have a bad left hip too. Not as bad as yours though. Yikes. I'm glad you got through this.

Have a fabulous day and week. Scritches to handsome Beau. ♥

Tigger's Mum said...

Grimace. Neck pulled tight just reading it. Thank goodness I just got an all clear on bowel cancer screening. (That was an easy one.)

Ginny Hartzler said...

I love your little drawing of you on the stretcher!! I have something called Schuurmans Kyphosis, which is a really curved spine resulting in a big hump. It is genetic and starts in the teen years. My Mom was always telling me to stand up straight, but it hurt so bad to do that. I wondered how other people were able to sit and stand up straight. So, I am unable to lay flat like you, my head sticks way up like a turtle on it's back. Having tests, I tell everyone right from the beginning, and they can see. They were NOT accommodating to you!

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari Om
The lack of nursing empathy makes my blood boil for you. So glad you've gotten through it and don't blame you for saying never again. YAM xx

easyweimaraner said...

that was a hard day for you... my dad forgot that he had to go to a funeral as he had prep day... dont ask... it was like that what we think now... ;o)

eileeninmd said...

The pain sounds awful. The neck and back pain is horrible when they have you laying flat on your back. I get cramps in foot so bad my toes bend and look weird. I hope your results are good. I do not blame about getting another colonoscopy. Take care, have a great day!

David M. Gascoigne, said...

Not the best experience of your life, obviously, but you came through it and are back at home. I doubt that your body is past its expiration date, maybe past it’s ‘best before’ date, but there’s still a lot of living to do!

jabblog said...

What a horrible experience, but your results were pleasing, at least.

Sparky said...

Ouch! That sent my body into spasms just reading that! So sorry it was that painful. Yeah, might wanna pass on any more of those exams. Did you get the results yet or did I pass out half way through the descriptions and missed it?! 😆 Hope it/will be good results. Anyway, at our age(s) hardly seems worth the effort. Golly. Prayers that you are better today. Draw something fun to ease the bad memories away.
Love 💓

Donna said...

As we age, they don't give older folks systems time to let the cleansing take proper effect. We digest slower... Hence, poor prep comment. Idiot office staff should tell us older guys the truth of it!
2 weeks? We are told right after the procedure what was found.
Feel better!
hugs
Donna

My Mind's Eye said...

Jumpin' Catfish that was an O R D E A L....thankful it is over and results were good.
Hugs Cecilia

Breathtaking said...

Hi Sandra :)
I'm so sorry you had such a bad experience. I must say that the nurses were not helpful nor sympathetic which added to your discomfort. I don't blame you for saying you will never have another colonoscopy.
All the best
Sonjia.

Shug said...

First of all, you did a really fantastic job with your drawings.. I am a visual learner and I could clearly see the pain and discomfort that you experienced. Second...I am so sorry that you had so much pain from this test. I am so very thankful though, that is is done and over with, and you had great test results. Our bodies just do not like being turned upside down and ever which way do they? Happy Tuesday.

DeniseinVA said...

Good grief! That sounds horrible!!! I'm so sorry you had to go through all that and can understand why you say never again. I hope you're feeling better by now. Poor prep comment? Talk about adding insult to injury!

Mevely317 said...

Oh my word! This experience is worse than I imagined; I can't believe no-one listened to you or at least noticed you were in such pain. And what's that business about 'poor prep'? IMHO those people don't belong anywhere near a medical facility. (Boo-hiss!)
I don't blame you one bit for refusing another such test.

DawnTreader said...

Your story gives me flashbacks to other hospital experiences many years ago, and the difficulty I had then of constantly having to remind and explain to staff that I had other severe pain problems (neck-shoulder-arm) besides what I was in hospital for (hysterectomy)...

photowannabe said...

Yikes...that's all I can say about the horrible saga you went through. I don't blame you at all for not wanting any more of those tests. Me either... Reading all of those results and comments are almost worse than the tests themselves. Reading them makes one feel like they are on their death bed. Actually every day we are one day closer to our appointed time... so I'm just going to live each day to the best of my ability...So There !!
Dave has acquired the "Dowager's hump this last 2 years. He is leaning more forward all the time and his neck aches and it makes him more tired to do anything physical. It's hereditary from his Dad. It seems there is always something.
But Hallejuah..you made it through and now its onward and upward.
Love you Girlfriend.
Sue

The Happy Whisk said...

Oh my gosh, this does sound horrible. HORRIBLE. So sorry you had to go through this. Sucks.

Loved your cartoons. I do the same. That stick figure on my blog is me, or as a friend calls her Little Whisk. I just draw what I'm doing.

Marvelous Marv said...

Goodness Gracious! What an ordeal! Totally sucky! I had a colonoscopy about 2 years ago and it was bad then, I'd hate to think what one would be like now that I am old (and broken but healing up). I send you virtual hugs Barb

Debby@Just Breathe said...

Seriously, what a horrible experience that was for you. I am so sorry. I don't blame you, I would never have one again either. Reading this made me so sad. No one should have to go through that. (((HUGS)))

Brian's Home Blog said...

I sure don't blame you! Never again sounds like the most logical option!

lexitheschnauzer said...

I can't imagine the pain you were in. The people at the hospital didn't seem to care a bit about you! I'm sorry you have that back condition, too. I followed the link and learned a lot.

Rose said...

It makes me hurt just to read this!

Pamela M. Steiner said...

I can relate to so much of this...yes, those hospital gurneys are terrible for people with back pain issues/arthritis, etc. It is like a torture chamber. Thankfully, once they give you the "juice" to put you to sleep, you don't know what's going on anymore until they are waking you up and saying, "it's all over honey. You can get up now!" Right!!! Yes, I've been there, done that, and have the t-shirt...and I'm so glad you survived that battle. I wouldn't do another one either if I were you. I hope I never do either, but I know I'm supposed to in a another year or so. Not sure I want to. We'll see. God bless you my friend. You are a real trooper!!!