Colonoscopy, September 19, 2005

WARNING These are medical pictures of my insides and related discussion. If that squicks you, then don't come here. I was actually hoping for a movie, but they only take a few stills at Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis, where I went due to some occasional light bleeding, combined with the fact that I'm getting old enough where they like to check for colon cancer. By doing the full large intestine, it's supposed to be good for 10 years, though I think because they found a "polyp", and the area around it was a little unusual, they want me to come back sooner. Oh well. Because I really had no clue what to expect in the process, I thought I would describe it for others who will be going through it: Sometime beforehand, you pick up a little kit designed to clean things out. I was also prescribed a pill which is kind of a pre-laxative that also makes you less likely to feel nausea from the stuff you drink (which really isn't that bad, though I guess it used to be). Also, one thing I was worried about is not the case: the laxatives do not cause you to lose control. You simply "get the urge" and go take care of it normally. For obvious reasons, you can't eat after you start the process, and it probably behooves you to modify your diet accordingly ahead of time, though I had a Filet Minon dinner the night before with no ill effects. The main thing that surprised me is that I didn't get particularly hungry all through this process. I figured I'd be starving by the afternoon, especially since I didn't eat anything after the dinner the night before. Even now, the evening after the fact, I'm not that hungry, although I have had a couple bowls of ice cream by now ;-) The night before, you fill the jug that comes with the kit with warm water (to help the powder inside dissolve), then put it in the refrigerator to chill (makes it more palatable). The day before (I started noonish) you take the pre-laxative and wait a half-hour. I actually waited 45 minutes as I was working on something, and had a movement. After this, you take four laxative pills that come in the kit, and wait for them to do their thing (1-6 hours it says, it took about 2 for me). After you've done that one, get out the jug you've mixed up and basically drink it all over about 45 minutes (a glass every 10 minutes). This basically washes you out --- you will go a few times over a few hours flushing your system. That's it. The next day, you go in (having someone drive you to/from), they give you intravenous sedation. You don't really feel a thing, some people are even knocked out entirely, though I didn't really feel sedated at all and watched the monitor the whole time. Snipped the polyp and wheeled me back to the room I'd started in and then let me "recover" from the sedation for an hour. My ride picked me up and took me home and we had ice cream to celebrate being able to eat again. ;-) (though because they removed a polyp, I'm limited to liquids and dairy for 24 hours). And that's really all there is to it, it's not nearly the icky process I thought it was going to be...

2048 x 1536 640 / 1024 This is the "cecum", where the small intestine joins the large intestine.

2048 x 1536 640 / 1024 The transverse, which I believe is the part across the top

2048 x 1536 640 / 1024 I think this must be the part that drops down to the rectum

2048 x 1536 640 / 1024 Here's the little jobber that apparently made this all worthwhile. Not the best picture of it, being washed out by the light. The doctor just put a little snare around it and tightened it till it popped off. The lighting was a lot better on the monitor while he did that. Then he just sucked it out with the probe.

2048 x 1536 640 / 1024 This is a closeup of the area around the polyp, which looks rather unusual. The doctor did some biopsies to check it out and I guess we'll see what it is then.