Experiencing Endoscopy

Feb 15, 2010

It's somewhat early and I'm surfing the web just looking up anything and everything.  I guess I should document this whole experience.  On Thursday I met with my Dr. for my endoscopy (a word that I still have trouble pronouncing from time to time).  I wasn't scared but then again this was the second time that I had to reschedule my appointment and I was really nervous then.

I got undressed and put my clothes in the bag.  There was a guy who seemed eager to get my hep-lock started because he kept pacing back and forth when the nurse was talking to me.  He was nice and he wasn't lying when he said it wouldn't hurt when he was putting it in.  I told him to do it from the back of my hand because it's been my experience that that is where they have been able to locate a vein with no problem at all.  I have to admit though, that needle looked pretty big going in but it didn't hurt at all.  I was amazed.  Maybe it was because I was tensing up...who knows.  

My Dr. said hello when I was upstairs sitting in the chair waiting for my turn.  Even when I got up on the bed, I wasn't nervous but I was really tired.  I had stayed up late the night before but normally I would of taken melatonin to help me sleep but not this time.  I thought it was strange the Dr. Broderick asked about my last name.  He said that he never saw it spelled like that.  I told him that it wasn't mine but my ex's.  His great grandfather moved to Mexico from Germany and had their name changed.  He guessed it was to escape any affiliation with Karl Marx.  

The nurse sprayed something in my mouth and said it was for my throat.  If I had to describe it, I would say to imagine something cold, foamy, and the taste of something like cherry nyquil being sprayed into your throat.  She said to swallow it but I resisted, shook my head, and tried not to gag.  I swallowed the awful concoction in my throat and prayed my stomach wouldn't have a violent reaction the the foreign substance that was on it's way down.

I just remember being tired and was told to lay on my left side.  They put this light green plastic thing over my mouth and told me to bite down on it.  They said it was so I couldn't bite down on scope as it was going down my throat.  It reminded me of those S&M contraptions that I see on T.V.  You know, that one with the black strap and a red ball for the person to bite down on to help with the pain?  I laughed when I thought about it but I couldn't say anything because I had this thing over my mouth and it limited me from speaking.  I don't remember anything that happened after that.

I woke up and I was recovering.  I looked over and I could see that room that I was on previously had the blinds closed.  They were working on someone else already.  I tried to tell the nurse who was with me about that green thing and she didn't get it.  I guess she never heard of S&M or she didn't have a sense of humor.  What a loss.  I got dressed and headed down to meet my friend.  He was already in the car in front of the building.   When I got home, I think it was 11:30 a.m. and I went back to sleep.  I didn't wake up again until it was 6:00 p.m.

0 Comments