Barium for B'fast-UGH!

Well, I had the pre-testing done today at Lenox Hill and I am happy to report that I SURVIVED, lol. I just have to put it out there though for anyone considering going through this through Lenox Hill because I didn't have the greatest of experiences with the barium (who does)? First I had the blood taken and the lab tech looked at my arms and without even touching them decided I had no veins she could use...no tourniquet, nothing. She stuck my right hand and got somethin, but it burned so bad and after 2 vials it dried out so she had to stick my left hand, which didn't hurt at all. I now have a huge black and blue painful lump on the top of my right hand where she poked me so obviously she did something oddly. The EKG was a snap and the chest x-ray was a snap. The whole Radiology department was a scary thing, and "luckily" for me I woke up with the WORST tension headache so when the woman took me in for registration and I could barely open my eyes she had some sympathy on me and got me in right away so that I could take a pill for it. The whole locker room experience was shabby at best only to be let out into a waiting area the size of my bathroom with 10 other robed women sitting so close we were touching each other. I got called in and I told the tech guy how nervous i was about drinking the barium and that I had been dreading it forever, and he just kinda laughed at me and asked me what my worst fear was, and I told him I wouldn't be able to do it, and hejust basically ignored me. The chest x-ray was a piece of cake, and then came the UGI. Went into a room sat me down, lied me down, took an x-ray first. Then came in the wolf in sheep's clothing, aka the Radiologist. He came in and asked me what I was having and I said the band and he tried to make a joke like "Let's start up the band." I told him how nervous I was and I had tears in my eyes and he said oh stop, it's nothing, it doesn't taste bad. He approached the table and handed me a sportsbottle with the big built in plastic straw and said drink. I tried to ask him how much I had to drink and he just said something like look, you have to drink it, this is how I deal with my patients, I just tell them to keep drinking. So I start...one gulp, okay, not bad. Two..three..four...five....GAG. The man starts getting all nasty with me saying you aren't trying, we're going to have to stop, why are you doing this, it's just like drinking cardboard. So I tried to compose myself, and I did, and I manged a few more gulps and stated violently gagging, and he's telling me don't stop, don't stop, don't stop and I literally can't help from gagging (being it's a reflex and all) and he stops the test and proceeds to tell me that I'm ruining this and the he just can't work with me. I burst into tears and I tell him that he's not being a very supportive, understanding sympathetic doctor, that I can't help it. He gets offended that I tell him he's not nice and says something like well, this is how I treat my ADULT patients, if you want I can treat you like a baby. At this point I was hysterical and I'm telling him I'm trying and he's telling me I'm not. So he was like just try some more sips or I can just work with what we can get from this and I don't know if your surgeon will take it. So I drink a few more sips...gag. He says just a few more, I gag and spit up half of it on him. That was it, he said it was enough at that point, that he could get the pictures, and he apologized for upsetting me and I was on my way. I was so shaken and nauseous at this point that I just like ran out of there, got dressed and got in a cab and came home. I'M JUST *****ING HERE...I don't mean to sound like a big baby whiner, but I just HAD to share this experience. Maybe it was from reading some of the unfavorable reviews of Lenox Hill that I went in there looking at it through those lenses, but I didn't think it was the greatest, the nicest, the cleanest. Some people were nice, others could care less. But, I survived it, and if I can live through that I can live through anything. Thanks for listening, and just for anyone out there who might be coming up for pre-testing, don't take this too much to heart...I'm a big baby when it comes to eating or drinking nasty things and this doctor had an awful bedside manner which only made it worse....the TASTE of the stuff actually wasn't that bad, it was sweet and the aftertaste was very vanilla milkshakey, it was just thick and warm. After it was done he told me that how would I survive drinking it again after the surgery, and I reminded him at that time my stomach would be the size of an egg and he said oh yeah, I only have to drink a few drops....I could handle a few drops, but I don't quite understand if I'm gagging with a band and abdominal stitches how that will work...guess we will see. If they chilled the stuff it would be a lot better, why don't they think of that!!! :) -Stephanie (Just *****ing.)

Good morning. Sometimes it helps to ***** it makes you feel better. I'm glad you stuck it out. As far as the lab tech is concerned, you have the right to refuse and request another one if you don't like the way they handled you. YOu should not have a bruise/knot on your hand from the blood draw. You should write a letter to the head of the lab of the hospital with a copy to the administration. You have a right to be treated with compassion. When you write the letter, put it away for a day and then reread/rewrite it. Sometimes once we write out thoughts down we don't realize what we are putting into words, so by putting it away for a day our mind is clearer and we can make the words mean more. (I hope I haven't confused you with this) Good luck.

Yikes! Sorry you had to go through that. My surgeon had prescribed Urso Forte, which is similar to Actigall, both gallbladder protecting meds, and it was sooooo nasty tasting. After having those meds, the barium was nothing tor me-lol. If it hadn't been the first thing I had to have after two days then surgery, it would have been a breeze for me. I am not sure if bandsters typically have to take those meds, but my surgeon's is more bypass oriented, so we had a lot of bypass instructions. They've only been doing lap bands just over a year now. Kristine

What is a barium used for? I did my pre testing and didnt have to drink anything!!! Just curious?

Thanks all for the replies! :)