Starting Chemo Aug 09

I made the mistake of mixing the drink solution with crystal light lemonade, and now even the smell of that stuff makes me want to gag!  I had a really hard time getting the drink down.  The directions said to just gulp it down as quickly as you can, but I just couldn't do it--I'd gag every time.  I ended up having to keep sipping it almost continously.  YUCK! 

I. too, have not fond memories of my colonoscopy but it's done. Navymom, the procedure is a breeze. You will have to let us know how you do with the pills. I wonder what a amount of water you will have to have?

Our days in California last week were not fun. DH's dad is now in assisted living and his mom still in hospital after 2 strokes a few weeks apart. I was sick when we got back, but fine now. That's the only way I kept my weight down to no change on the TN ten pound take off thread for those of you on that thread. A whole week of restaurant food and sanwiches. So we are hoping for things to settle down now. We need to book tickets to go to England this summer for my mum's 80th birthday. I warned DH and boys (21 and 23) that this was not a choice, we are all going. It should b fun - visiting my family for a change.

LOL Navy.  I think I had some sort of general anesthesia... all I know is I went out like a light and woke up 45 mins later feeling like I'd had a great nap

Gosh, I'm sorry I've missed out on the all colonoscopy fun.   Crazy drinks, happy pills, I'm scheduling one right away!

Lilah - Beside pain, the other thing my Onc looks for is unexplained weight loss. I found this out because at my last visit with him asked me if I was on a diet.  I told him no.  He said "then I'm very concerned that you've lost so much weight in the past four months".   Huh??  Turns out...the person who checked me in wrote my weight down wrong!

Gill - Sorry you had such a miserable time in CA.  Caring for elderly parents can be a real challenge.

Patty 

I have not been getting any updates on my phone from this thread.....I thought nobody was talking so I decided to log on with the laptop and you guys are talking, about colonoscopies..lol!

Something must be wrong with my phone, is anyone else having this issue?

{{{HUGS}}} D

Donna - something has been going on this last week or so with this website. When I click on one of my "favorite" threads, it goes to the top of the current page, not the last post I read. It is so frustrating to have to scroll through to find my place. Others are having the same problem. So not getting phone messages might be part of the same bigger problem.

But Jenn might be right too!

I just received this in my email (from my gastroenterologist brother) and it is HILARIOUS as well as apropo of our recent conversation (I am glad I was not told to drink "Moviprep"):

DAVE BARRY ON COLONOSCOPY
(Dave Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist for the Miami Herald)

    Colonoscopy Journal:   I called my friend Andy Sable, a
gastroenterologist, to make an appointment for a colonoscopy.

     A few days later, in his office, Andy showed me a color diagram
of the colon, a lengthy organ that appears to go all over the place, at
one point passing briefly through  Minneapolis. 

    Then Andy explained the colonoscopy procedure to me in a
thorough, reassuring and patient manner.

    I nodded thoughtfully, but I didn't really hear anything he
said, because my brain was shrieking, 'HE'S GOING TO STICK A TUBE 17,000
FEET UP YOUR BEHIND!' 

    I left Andy' s office with some written instructions, and a
prescription for a product called 'MoviPrep,' which comes in a box large
enough to hold a microwave oven. I will discuss MoviPrep in detail
later; for now, suffice it to say that we must never allow it to fall
into the hands of America 's enemies. 

    I spent the next several days productively sitting around being
nervous.

    Then, on the day before my colonoscopy, I began my preparation.
In accordance with my instructions, I didn't eat any solid food that
day; all I had was chicken broth, which is basically water, only with
less flavor. 

    Then, in the evening, I took the MoviPrep.  You mix two packets
of powder together in a one-liter plastic jug, then you fill it with
lukewarm water. (For those unfamiliar with the metric system, a liter is
about 32 gallons). Then you have to drink the whole jug. This takes
about an hour, because MoviPrep tastes - and here I am being kind -like
a mixture of goat spit and urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon. 

    The instructions for MoviPrep, clearly written by somebody with
a great sense of humor, state that after you drink it, 'a loose, watery
bowel movement may result.' 

    This is kind of like saying that after you jump off your roof,
you may experience contact with the ground. 

    MoviPrep is a nuclear laxative. I don't want to be too graphic
here, but, have you ever seen a space-shuttle launch? This is pretty
much the MoviPrep experience, with you as the shuttle. There are times
when you wish the commode had a seat belt. You spend several hours
pretty much confined to the bathroom, spurting violently. You eliminate
everything. And then, when you figure you must be totally empty, you
have to drink another liter of MoviPrep, at which point, as far as I can
tell, your bowels travel into the future and start eliminating food that
you have not even eaten yet.
   
    After an action-packed evening, I finally got to sleep.
   
    The next morning my wife drove me to the clinic. I was very
nervous. Not only was I worried about the procedure, but I had been
experiencing occasional return bouts of MoviPrep spurtage. I was
thinking, 'What if I spurt on Andy?'  How do you apologize to a friend
for something like that?  Flowers would not be enough.
   
    At the clinic, I had to sign many forms acknowledging that I
understood and totally agreed with whatever the heck the forms said.
Then they led me to a room full of other colonoscopy people, where I
went inside a little curtained space and took off my clothes and put on
one of those hospital garments designed by sadist perverts, the kind
that, when you put it on, makes you feel even more naked than when you
are actually naked.
   
    Then a nurse named Eddie put a little needle in a vein in my
left hand. Ordinarily, I would have fainted, but Eddie was very good,
and I was already lying down. Eddie also told me that some people put
vodka in their MoviPrep.  At first I was ticked off that I hadn't
thought of this, but then I pondered what would happen if you got
yourself too tipsy to make it to the bathroom, so you were staggering
around in full Fire Hose Mode.  You would have no choice but to burn
your house.
   
    When everything was ready, Eddie wheeled me into the procedure
room, where Andy was waiting with a nurse and an anesthesiologist. I did
not see the 17,000-foot tube, but I knew Andy had it hidden around there
somewhere.  I was seriously nervous at this point.
       Andy had me roll over on my left side, and the
anesthesiologist began hooking something up to the needle in my hand.
   
    There was music playing in the room, and I realized that the
song was, ' Dancing Queen' by ABBA. I remarked to Andy that, of all the
songs that could be playing during this particular procedure, 'Dancing
Queen' had to be the least appropriate.
   
    'You want me to turn it up?' said Andy, from somewhere behind
me.
   
    'Ha ha,' I said. And then it was time, the moment I had been
dreading for more than a decade.  If you are squeamish, prepare
yourself, because I am going to tell you, in explicit detail, exactly
what it was like.
   
    I have no idea. Really. I slept through it.  One moment, ABBA
was yelling, 'Dancing Queen, feel the beat of the tambourine,' and the
next moment, I was back in the other room, waking up in a very mellow
mood.
     Andy was looking down at me and asking me how I felt. I felt
excellent. I felt even more excellent when Andy told me that It was all
over, and that my colon had passed with flying colors. I have never been
prouder of an internal organ.
   
    On the subject of Colonoscopies -
    Colonoscopies are no joke, but these comments during the exam
were quite humorous. A physician claimed that the following are actual
comments made by his patients (predominately male) while he was
performing their colonoscopies:
   
    1. 'Take it easy, Doc. You're boldly going where no man has gone
before!'
   
    2. 'Find Amelia Earhart yet?'
   
    3. 'Can you hear me NOW?'
   
    4. 'Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?'
   
    5. 'You know, in Arkansas , we're now legally married.'
   
    6. 'Any sign of the trapped miners, Chief?'
   
    7. 'You put your left hand in, you take your left hand out...'
   
    8. 'Hey! Now I know how a Muppet feels!'
   
    9. 'If your hand doesn't fit, you must quit!'
   
    10. 'Hey Doc, let me know if you find my dignity.'
   
    11. 'You used to be an executive at Enron, didn't you?'
   
    12. 'God, now I know why I am not gay.'
   
             And the best one of all: 
   
    13. 'Could you write a note to my wife saying that my head is,
in fact, not up there?'

Ok I just un-checked and re-checked the email notification box, I'll wait now to see if it works...thanks guys! {{{HUGS}}} D

Lilah - Sooo funny! 

Patty

I know!  Wow BCO just made my day

Aw Jenn so sorry to hear you've been having pain (and not telling us -- you should tell us!)  But really glad the new med is working.  Last time you mentioned pain you had said they were giving you radiation to treat it.  That didn't work?  Or was that different pain?

How is your treatment going overall?

Sounds like a really fun birthday!  I envy you the nice weather.  We actually had some snow on Friday -- yes, that's right, snow on April 1!  It did melt the same day... but come on man!  I want me some spring!