Doug first had a colonoscopy three and a half years ago when we still lived in Syracuse. Overall, it went well, but the doctor did find several benign polyps. Because of that and Doug's family history of cancer, Dr. Gerig recommended having another one in five years. Fast forward to last spring when Doug was in the imaging office having an x-ray for his chronic cough. The radiologist saw a concerning spot near his duodenum and recommended MRI. We thought that was a great idea because it would also scan his abdominal area. Doug was also at high risk of pancreatic cancer and that would take care of that test for the year. Of course, we weren't done then. The radiologist saw another concerning spot that led to a CT scan. That one was the most worrisome as it showed something in the colon. Once the gastroenterologist here recommended a colonoscopy, we hesitated. We knew that the chance of having cancer only three years after a colonoscopy was less than 1% plus Doug really didn't want to go through the procedure early unless absolutely necessary. I couldn't blame him for that.
Because Doug was switching jobs and insurance in October, the billing office suggested that we wait and have the colonoscopy until after the new year. That way we wouldn't meet our deductible the last three months of the year and then start over in January. That sounded good to us, and we rescheduled for January 16th. As today drew closer, Doug and I both started to question if the procedure was worth his time, the money and all of the prep that it took to have a colonoscopy. Doug called our family doctor to see if he could just redo the original CT scan. Because the radiologist had written that there was a significant concern about the spot, she felt better with the colonoscopy. We trusted her and Doug started the prep Tuesday night.
I must have been having "sympathy pains" for Doug yesterday as I really didn't eat much or maybe it was just because I didn't want him to feel bad when I ate. Either way, it was a lite food day in our house. Thankfully, I wasn't on the high laxative, only liquid diet that Doug was. I am sure that it was miserable, but he didn't complain. The nice part of the process was that Doug and I got to spend a lot of time together as he did his prep while working at home. Once he was done with SI Goldman for the day, we played Ticket to Ride and watched the 1982 movie "Deathtrap", a favorite of mine and now Cal's.
Today was a tough one for Doug as he couldn't drink anything after 8 a.m. for his 2:15 procedure. We got to the surgery center early, and then had to wait well over an hour to be called back for surgery. I was happy to be asked back when it was over but was appalled at the facility. There were no rooms, only curtains. As soon as Doug was dressed, they moved him to a chair by the utility sink to wait for the doctor. He wasn't offered a drink, food or even water. We waited over 40 minutes next to two other patients in chairs for the doctor to violate every HPAA rule that I had ever read when he announced each person's results in front of everyone.
The good news for us was that Doug's colonoscopy was clear and that there were no areas of concern. We were both very glad to hear that. We also learned from the procedure that Doug absolutely hated being put under and likened it to the final scene of the Blair Witch project when the boy gets "wacked" in the corner. I laughed about that all night.
No comments:
Post a Comment