Yesterday I went to the hospital for, I think, my twelth flexi sig although it could be more, I can’t remember. I felt more anxious about it yesterday than I ever have done before but I think it is because last time was pretty horrible as I had a bad cold and temperature which made the entire experience very uncomfortable.
I talked myself into calming down and my Mum took me to the hospital. When we arrived there were no beds as some of the morning patients were still hanging around. This was at 2pm so it was going to be a long afternoon! It was annoying but it had never happened before as they normally run like clock work. I am lucky to have a brand new procedure unit at our hospital which is lovely. There are lots of little rooms with beds in and you are each allocated your own room for the duration of your day stay. We share bathrooms but there are lots to go around and these are nice, clean little rooms too, not the grotty cubicle you normally get.
After waiting for an hour they took me to my cubicle and promptly got me to change into my gown and then administered the enema. They used to give me Kleanprep which is a truly disgusting substance you have to take with three litres of water over the course of 12 hours. It tastes and smells revolting and makes you want to throw up every time you drink some. I quickly refused to take that for my procedures as it made the whole process horrendous so they then started to give me picolax which is equally revolting but you only have two glasses full over 12 hours and the rest of the time you can drink plain water. Since switching from Colonoscopies to Flexible Sigmoidoscopies, due to my colitis being lower in my bowel and rectum, they now just give me an enema an hour before the procedure which is much better. With the other laxative preparations you are also not allowed to eat for 24-12 hours whereas I can eat normally up until the procedure now.
Stupidly the nurse forgot to do my observations (blood pressure, pulse and temperature) prior to giving me the enema so tried to do it afterwards. Firstly the battery died on the machine so I then gave her 30 seconds to do it before I had to go. I think she felt a bit silly, you simply can’t keep a patient with you for long once you have given them an enema!
It was then into the toilet for over 30 minutes. My bowel empies quickly on that stuff, baring in mind I had already been to the loo about 6 times that day. I was stuck in there so long because it was flippin agony. It is not normally so painful which suggests that my UC is quite bad again. At one point I was looking at the toilet floor thinking can I curl up down there? I decided not to as the last thing I need is MRSA! I just couldn’t make it back to my bed though. I finally took some deep breaths and headed back where they were waiting for me to take me down.
I was in so much pain it was utter relief when they injected the sedative. My Mum was telling me that it is Valium they use to knock you out. No wonder it is so addictive, it is so nice to just float away, I love it. I go out almost imediately and then can’t remember anything until they get me back to my room. I know my consultant said something to me about the procedure but I have absolutely no idea what. I think they said that they want to see me a week on Wednesday at clinic but I can’t be sure. I may have told them I was on holiday next week but I can’t believe I was that coherent and with it.
I always get up and out of bed the minute my eyes open much to the amusement and shock of the nurses. I drunkenly get myself dressed and meander (literally) down the corridor to the discharge lounge where this time my Mum was waiting for me. They insist on giving you a cup of tea and a biscuit which Mum informs me was amusing to watch as I tried to dunk it in my tea (I know – yuk!), kept missing and then dropped it in entirely 🙂 My Mum then held me up whilst I drunkenly made it out of the hospital at 5pm and she drove me home.
When I got home I immediately went upstairs to bed after saying hi to the kids and slept like a log until 7pm when my husband got home. All in all a succesful procedure and a lovely drunken experience on Valium – I love it.
People wonder why I never worry about having the procedure which ultimately isn’t that pleasant. It is because I am blissfully unaware of everything and am merely loving the sedative – I highly recommend it (scuse pun!)
Off on holiday now so shan’t be blogging for a while. Please, please let the weather improve.