Oooh, lucky you!

Actually, it's not as bad as all that. The liquid goop they give you is minimally less disgusting if it's really cold. All the flavors are equally revolting so it doesn't matter which you choose. The first three or four glasses go down fairly easily. After that you get tired of it and just want to be able to stop drinking it. I can can still recall the texture.

The worst thing actually was the splitting headache I had the next day from dehydration. By that time I was wrapped in a surgical nightgown in the doctors' office, and freezing from the air conditioning, and idly staring at the IV they had stuck in my arm and wondering if it was true that if there's a bubble in the line, that it will kill you. By then I felt so bad I no longer cared, but I also felt vaguely guilty because there was a girl in her early 20's in the waiting room with no hair, and she wasn't whining.

Anyway, the doctor was as cheerful as a squirrel with a bag of peanuts, and he started giving me drugs, which were goooooooood. I did throw up sometime after waking up again, but I had the chance to announce it, and boy did they scramble to get me a barf bucket. I also was confused when one of my sandals fell on the floor upside down, and I couldn't figure out how to get it right-side-up. Those drugs, as I said, were good.

Gary had to scrape me up and load me into the car and drive me home, and I have almost no memory of that at all.

On the bright side, you probably won't remember much of the camera-driving part. I never do. (I have to have colonoscopies every two years, bleh.)

*puts on miner's helmet*

*flicks light on*

*holds breath*

Boy, it's just one wild time after another with you, isn't it?

"Fear of this procedure will keep the smaller systems in line."

I did that a few years ago. I was completely out during it and felt great afterwards. (I had the endoscopy because I have bad acid reflux.)

The prep, well, sucked.

I don't have to go back for 10 years, YAY!

I think this is the new 'rite of passage' of the early 50's. I was relieved to find out that my acid reflux hadn't damaged my esophagus. (From the conversation I had with my allergist a few weeks ago, I've decided that the esophagus is more interesting and more complex than I had expected.)

I was also completely surprised that I had no polyps, because I have a lot of skin tags, and I thought there was a correlation. (I've since discovered that it's not that clearcut.)

It's not the actual -scopy that gives me pause, it's the whole "don't eat for way too long" part. I'd feel more comfortable about it if I had someone who could give me rides to and from and make sure I don't come to some harm from undereating before or (inevitably) overeating after. :/ Waiting for a reliable blood test.

Oh, and about an hour after I started drinking the goop, a friend called me and asked if I wanted to go out for Mexican food.

Uh, sure, but I am pretty sure no one will want to be within a mile of me.

I had to have one at 19 and while it wasn't exactly a lot of fun, it was far easier than lots of other things I've been through.

Still, best wishs for a sparkling clean colon!

Oy. Best of luck with the gastro tour. May it quickly become a non-memory.

O_o Sorry to hear about your fun fun upcoming doctor's visit. Are they at least going to give you a copy of the video? :P